Two suicides in the neighbourhood within a fortnight served as a grim reminder of the vulnerability of the human spirit that buckles at the slightest provocation of the transitory impulses that could have been overcome if only the wavering mind had regained control in time to nourish the spirit back to life.
One of those who resorted to the extreme step was a young girl, all of seventeen. She chose to hang herself using her mother’s sari, locking up in the bedroom, even as the unsuspecting mother was cooking her dear daughter’s favourite dish in the kitchen on that fateful morning. It was the season of results and the newspapers had already reported a handful of student suicides. Having exhausted all sorts of conjectures, neighbours narrowed down on poor academic performance as the possible reason for the desperate act of the girl.
Much has been said about the pressure that builds up in schools and homes as children are trained to commence their shopping for success by climbing the ladder of high school education. As the glory and innocence of childhood wither, the child learns his first lessons in making a killing in the hot chase for centuries, not on the cricket field though, but on the warfront of education.
As the tough spirits sprint their way to the finish line with a flourish, the dreamy kids are tossed in the melee to emerge with jaded score cards that point to an uncertain future in the arena of formal education.
It is a pity that despite cries against commercialisation of education we have done little to instill confidence or revive the spirit of the crestfallen student. All through the academic sojourn of our kids we seem to have consistently failed to teach them to handle failures, defeats and disappointments or to equip them with ethical and spiritual values that will replenish their sagging spirit and prepare them to face the challenges and surprises that life has in store.
If science and mathematics are priorities of academic life, strength of mind and conviction in oneself are the priorities that have perennial relevance in all phases of life. If we have understood this, we have erred with fatal consequences in not passing on this knowledge to our children.
It calls for a collective endeavour to assure the limping boy that he could still make it to the goalpost despite a slow start. The remedial action should begin at homes and schools. As a parent, teacher, brother, sister or a friend it is our foremost responsibility to call upon the stumbling kid to dust his back and steer forward unmindful of the taunts of those around him. Now is the time to pat the desolate boy reassuringly on his back before he tightens the noose around his neck.
To waver or dither or to trigger a scholastic debate over unviable solutions is nothing but passing the buck.