THE INTERLUDE
by Fardeen Naushad

It’s everywhere. Everybody’s always talking about it. There’s not a single person on earth who doesn’t know someone who hasn’t attempted it or succeeded at it. It’s hot news. Always. And yet we do so little about it.

I walk into Café Coffee Day and all I can think about is the now dead founder of the group. He committed suicide due to financial stress, we’re told. But is that really enough of a reason to take one’s own life? If someone like him couldn’t get help when he needed it, then what becomes of you and me?

Is suicide a solution, though? I keep wondering. Does it really solve the problem or just transfer it to someone else? We’re all aware of this suicide because the founder of the group was famous. But imagine the number of suicides that happen every single day, that go unrecognized or unacknowledged. Is suicide about acknowledgement?

Or is it really all about pressure: the pressure of debt, relationships, education and several other related things. It’s so easy for one to be dismissive of the whole thing and call people who have attempted suicide as cowards. But aren’t they really victims? Some believe they will have a better after-life. Some don’t care and just want to end this one. Simply put, this world is so cruel to so many of us, that escaping it seems like the only option, even if it is through death.

I know this is wishful thinking, but I really wish we could all talk to people who have overcome suicide around us. For every successful suicide, I am sure there are at least ten others who didn’t and chose to live life instead. I wish their voices were louder and more accessible. It would do the world a big favour to have them tell each and every one of us — how suicide… while it might seem as the only option at a particular point of time… that belief isn’t necessarily true.

If you are ever suicidal, please reach out to someone. Life is really worth the living and we could do with you here, alive, sharing the human experience with all of us. Every big problem seems like it can have no solution. But, there, just around the corner… lies the solution. You just need to muster the courage to take that turn.