Doting parents place QR code on son's tomb to keep his memories alive

Thrissur: A QR code placed on a tombstone at a church in Kerala's Thrissur helps one to relive and reminisce on the creative work rendered by a doctor, who died young at just 26.

The parents of Dr Ivin Francis decided to place the QR code on the tomb of the youngster at St Joseph Church, Kuriyachira in the central Kerala district to give people a glimpse into his world as they can watch videos of his performances by scanning the code.

His family from Kuriyachira has designed a web page containing all the works of Ivin and linked it with the QR code.

Son of Francis, an officer with a private company in Oman, and Leena, principal of the Indian School in Oman, Ivin was well-versed in music and sports, and found time to indulge in his passion along with his medical course. He was popular among the community with his performances.

Ivin's unfortunate death came in 2021 when he collapsed and died while playing badminton.

"We wanted his life to be a motivation for everyone and that is how we thought of placing a QR code on his tomb," Francis said.

Ivin had created profiles of people using QR codes and his parents also decided to do the same. "He also used to send me a lot of QR codes for information. I could scan the QR code and could download the information I was seeking," the father said.

He said the idea of placing a QR code was of Ivin's sister Evelyn Francis. "My daughter told me that just writing something about Ivin on the tomb will not be sufficient to portray what all he did. We thought he may not be satisfied with just that. So, she said we can have a QR code linked to his profile and place it on the tomb. So, people who scan the code will know what was he and what all he could do. She created the site and QR code in 10 days," Francis said.

The doting father said his daughter had asked him not to inscribe anything on the tomb when he ordered it. "She created the site and QR code and asked me whether that could be printed on the marble tomb. So I asked the maker, and he said it can be printed," Francis said.

He said when the tomb is placed in a cemetery and people see Ivin's grave, there will not be anyone available to tell them about his son.

"Now, they can just scan the QR code and can know what sort of a person Ivin was," Francis said.

Francis said by scanning the QR code, people can see Ivin's photographs, his programmes at the college, his friend's circle, among other details about him. His keyboard and guitar performances can also be seen, Ivin's father added.