I mentioned earlier that one of my classmate recently committed suicide. Without exaggerating I can say that I was shocked and numbed by his death. Did I know him well? Hell, no...In fact beyond some fairly inane conversations on Facebook, I hardly knew him. I had no idea that he was going through a lot of distress, both financial and otherwise. But yes, like most of my classmates I believed he was doing well in life...of course we were way off the mark. Since he was a journalist I could have at least tried to help but I had no f****** clue that he was going through tough times in life.
As I grow older I guess I have somewhat accepted the idea of death. It has to happen...there is no escape and one cannot do anything about it. However, there is still something shocking about suicide. I find the idea of consistent despair difficult to deal with. Like most of us I have also faced difficult situations in life and more than once, I have muttered or thought, "I feel depressed and I don't think I can survive this," or even "I am positively suicidal." But even I know that I am just saying it and don't mean it. However, to feel it in your bones, to be convinced that there is no other option but to embrace death is scary and literally the thought is enough to give me goosebumps. It sends shiver down my spine (in a bad way) and scares the hell out of me.
I think we have to be aware and be sensitive of what people around us are going through. I, like most of my generation in India, didn't take depression seriously. Nothing more than regular blues, I would think but post this incident I have made it a point to talk to a few people I know are going through tough times.
As I grow older I guess I have somewhat accepted the idea of death. It has to happen...there is no escape and one cannot do anything about it. However, there is still something shocking about suicide. I find the idea of consistent despair difficult to deal with. Like most of us I have also faced difficult situations in life and more than once, I have muttered or thought, "I feel depressed and I don't think I can survive this," or even "I am positively suicidal." But even I know that I am just saying it and don't mean it. However, to feel it in your bones, to be convinced that there is no other option but to embrace death is scary and literally the thought is enough to give me goosebumps. It sends shiver down my spine (in a bad way) and scares the hell out of me.
I think we have to be aware and be sensitive of what people around us are going through. I, like most of my generation in India, didn't take depression seriously. Nothing more than regular blues, I would think but post this incident I have made it a point to talk to a few people I know are going through tough times.
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