No Points for Suicide

“Suicide points” exist all over the world and myriad lists have been made of the ones most appealing to those with a fatalistic bent of mind. With everyone from Shakespeare to Dhanush glorifying the mortal act,little wonder that these passionate plunges are also called Lovers’ Leaps. In the process,many a decent bridge or hill gets stuck with this inappropriately romantic moniker.

Lovers’ suicides in particular have always been great plot material. We’re all familiar with the tragedies of famous doomed lovers,but there are also the happy endings — like the fable of a Native American tribesman who jumped off “Blowing Rock” in North Carolina only to be blown back by the wind into his lover’s arms. A silver tongue and a skilled hand can lend eternal magnificence to the most depressing of human actions.

Sadly no such grand fate awaits 21st century romantics. Lakes are filled with crocodiles and valleys with jagged stones,and what would have become a legend in another age is reduced to a 100-word news brief in this one. Modern public memory is short and its patience even shorter. There are some kindred groups out there — like Pune-based NGO Connecting — that are willing to help those who are feeling alienated and suicidal. Yet people who need help very often become pariahs even to themselves.

Folks who’ve been bashed by life enough to throw in the towel come in different shapes and sizes — poor farmers,stressed students,abused spouses,jilted lovers,and conflict-zone soldiers. The support their families receive is often just lip-service — and survivors of failed attempts are called weak or cowardly in uncharitable whispers. (This is a tricky academic question: does it take courage or cowardice? To end your life when self-preservation is the strongest human instinct?)

The fact is,many of us wouldn’t even know if someone physically or emotionally close to us is having morbid thoughts about life. This is especially true in younger populations — like students in high school and college,whose friends and family just assume they must be happy because youth is amazing by default.

I remember being curious about the door marked Counsellor at my school. My nosy questions elicited the adult response that this was a place for “girls who get into trouble”. And mine was one of the few schools that even had a token counsellor. Call me a cynic but I doubt any earth-shattering change has taken place in the past decade.

With the idea of discussing your fears and confusions with a professional counsellor being dismissed or laughed at even before you reach adulthood,it wouldn’t be surprising if that rope hangs there forever.

*The author is a chess grandmaster and former national champion