Let him RIP

It was sometime in Hyderabad, during my MA days. Some time around Holi, it was when we, the first years were accused of almost killing an innocent boy. I recollect the memories well as we were boycotted in the campus, we had to gather ourselves together and go to the mess to have our breakfast, dinner or lunch, trying to avoid the glimpses of the others toward the accused.
Well, the reality was somewhat different from what was portrayed around the campus. We were objectified as the murderers of the boy, who had faced death after his fall from the terrace of the boys' hostel. The campus was thronged with posters which depicted the scene is a somewhat different sense. A poster which had marked a blotch in my heart was a poster which was stuck outside our favourite Sagar store. The poster was handmade and a picture of a boy lying in a pool of blood with a number of blood smeared hands trying to kill him. Doubtless, the hands belonged to us and it was metaphorical. Incidentally, the day the boy was dead was the day before Holi, and we, accidentally had played Holi, trying to erase the gloominess that pervaded all through the campus. Alas! we were the murderers who had played Holi with the blood.

This incident happens to be repeating itself this week, when the media is flooded with sympathetic images of the suicide of a budding actor in Bollywood. Apparently, on Sunday, the news of the actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, who hanged himself in his Mumbai apartment was circulated all over media. He was suffering from depression, which we all go through at some course of our lives, sometime. Well, celebrities have their own different set of problems and issues, which does not match our own set, of course. The sympathetic Indian mass seemed to mourn the death of the actor for a day and celebrate depression, which, of course, is a common feature noted among many Indian women and men. Though the issue of depression among women is shushed and hushed in our larger middle class society, we still need to contemplate over this issue a lot. Depression in our society, is widely celebrated over, when the illumined faces of the society seem to face it and talk about it. Whereas, the other general mass is never allowed to plunge into the darkness of depression. No one has ever spoken about the hundreds of scholars who commit suicide unable to tackle the pressures of loneliness and frustrations, no one has not spoken about the depression a woman gets into when she is married into a new household, trying to adjust with the changing situations and circumstances, no one has ever celebrated the depression which grasps a mediocre earning man trying to meet his ends, a child trying to impress his/her parents by scoring the highest marks in the class. The irrational society has never thought about it, never spoken or celebrated these common people. It is a vain attempt to talk to people who don't understand you, while going and talking to somebody who might lend out a helping hand might prove to be fruitful. No, I am not an expert in the issue of depression and nobody to speak about it. Just like the other girls of my age, I had my own gloomy days and nights....
 
It has been two days since the death of an actor, and suddenly the internet is stormed with videos of another actress who seems to be accusing the top shots of Bollywood for nepotism and over ruling the judgements of others. Though there was no clear mention of the reason that provoked the actor to commit suicide, a new set of actors and members from the film fraternity comes up with their own views and motifs, giving it a contrasting angle. Well, well, well, they did not urge the actor to commit suicide, but the whole world is talking about a woman's voice being stifled and the big shots trying to suffocate the budding talents. The incident of the dead boy in our campus and we being accused inflicts similar traits, while I read through the articles generated and the videos and voices of the aam janta circulated all through. Do not mistake me for a die hard fan of Salman Khan or the other hot shots who have been accused. Yes, they have been slitting the throats of the serene faces and talents, but is this a time to play foul with this incident and mould it into venting your anger on them? Where was the mass when award shows portrayed body shaming and insulting the low budget actors was ongoing? We can speak and internet is an excellent media to vent out an anger on anyone and everyone? Has the world really turned insane as to celebrate the human in such an inhuman way?

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