The world is changing, cultures evolving, and to keep up with it all we youngsters are constantly in a dilemma – whether to disappoint oneself or the society.
I logged in to my social media account after a rough day to read some light hearted posts, but much to my dismay I come across this article instead – ‘Sushant Rohilla, a student who committed suicide after being barred from an exam.’ And I could at once relate to it, because I have personally seen my peers, and myself to a certain extent, nearly falling off the edge on a couple of occasions. The urge to commit suicide completely blurs your judgment; the words “be brave” never cross your mind because all you want is to relieve yourself of seemingly insurmountable agony and hopelessness. You feel rejected and defeated, you forget the ones who value you and the emptiness you are going to leave in their lives.
As per ‘YOUR STORY’ at least15 people commit suicide in India every hour, which approximately rounds up to 1.3lakh people per year. Out of this 6.1% (7930) are young adults. ‘THE LANCET’ further reveals that the suicide rate among youths in India is the highest in the age group of 15 and 29 years. And as per ‘Scroll.in’ the factors usually are lack of social, economic, and emotional support.
I know our culture and value system is very rich, in fact we are very well disciplined citizens – respect our elders, help one another, harbor a deeply ingrained sense of “collectivism”. But to be honest the constant need to act in ways that protect and preserve our acceptance in society (regardless of your own personal values being compromised in the process) is nerve wracking and stressful. The world is changing, cultures evolving, and to keep up with it all we youngsters are constantly in a dilemma – whether to disappoint oneself or the society. Failing in our country is like one’s life is over, yet we preach about becoming successful individuals – what hypocrisy, I say.
The education system in India is very robust; from a very young age we are told if you don’t top your High School you will end up nowhere – I topped my boards and still I am not liberated to make my own choices (I am in fact in constant fear of how to dodge the civil service nightmare while I am trying struggling towards my dreams – which obviously isn’t acceptable to society). I know the rules set up by institutions in India are to push students to do better, but I am really ashamed and sad to say we are scared of you, “Please don’t forget we are human beings at the end of the day.” We respect your authority, but we can’t always be perfect, we are bound to fall short at times and your mercy (for the right human reasons) will only motivate us to do bigger and better things instead of us ENDING OUR LIVES.
To the parents and elders of our society – we respect you so much, we are blessed to be raised with such rich values and principles. We appreciate the fact that you are constantly trying to guide us, but how can you expect us to fully grasp anything when we are living in separate worlds – we will never desert the values you have instilled in us, but to keep up with the changing times we have to re-fashion some of what you’ve given us, right? We are constantly torn between living with our realities and negotiating them on your terms, and at times we end up falling short in your eyes. We are really sorry, but if possible, “Dear parents and elders, can you meet us half way?”
To all my fellow Youngistaanis – if you are going through a tough phase (financial, emotional etc) and feel ashamed of your weakness and helpless to overcome it, all at once, I urge you to remember that everybody hits these lows. We are all in this together! You are not alone, and this is not the end. Cry your heart out if you want to, but please don’t give up on your precious life. Failure and success are peers; and neither is bigger than you, they are moments in a lifetime, don’t give life up for them.
Stay Strong!
