I Understand

“Harshita, I have to tell you something which has been running through my mind since quite a days”, Utkarsh texted his wife before boarding Indigo flight from New Delhi.

Harshita knew what is going to happen when her husband returns home. She was sure this moment had to happen someday. And that day happened to be today.

With moist eyes, she laid on the bed looking at the ceiling. The fan is running at its high speed but certainly slower than her thoughts.
Tears started flowing down the cheeks thinking how everything started and going to end so soon.

Utkarsh and Harshita were classmates during Engineering. Having adjacent roll numbers and both being friendly in nature, there was this magical connection from the very first day. This connection got a name called “best friend” in the 2nd year
and upgraded to “something more” is just a matter of months. One fine day, Harshita proposed and everything was colourful from that day.

Despite stern consequences from Harshita’s father for any kind of wedding out of the same community(caste), both of them got married in Arya Samaj. Harshita’s parents stopped talking to her for tarnishing their image.

Calling bell interrupted her memories to find Utkarsh arriving with a lawyer with divorce papers.
It has been hard for both of them for a year when Harshita got to know about Utkarsh’s affair.
The day she found this, there were no arguments, no fights, no drama nothing.
She just ignored the existence of this guy whom she believed at the cost of her family.
Although they lived under the same roof, it felt they are separated by hundreds of miles.

“You can make someone like you, you can make someone to hate you but remember You cannot force someone to love you”

Society started showing its real faces, Harshita’s parents refused to live with her as she disrespected family by marrying Utkarsh.

They want her to realise the consequences of this. Colleagues started making up stories, she is all alone now with no support from anyone. She cries every day at night and drags herself to the office every morning. It has become hard for her to sleep at night.

Being alone haunts you like anything. If there is no one to share, then it feels completely unworthy in this world. As they show in the movie INto The Wild, “Happiness is real only when shared“, that applies to any of the human feelings.

29th April 2015, as a final attempt, she calls the suicide prevention centre and utters for the last time in a sad voice and teary eyes “Life holds no intrigue”.

—————————————————————————————————————–

What is the point in this narrative?

Is that why arranged marriages are better?
or that how husbands cheat wives?
or how society treats a woman?
or is that what happens if one goes for love marriage?

Absolutely none of the above. They are all the negative sides of a system which has been accepted since centuries and it will take centuries to change a system Let’s not talk about that.

My concern was her state of mind before she takes the last step. Often it is like getting into an infinite loop thinking about the same thing again and again which cannot be undone.

It is like an underwater current. People don’t even realise. It is depression.
It is the phase before someone takes the extreme step.

She may be a divorcee, she may be deeply hurt but she did not deserve death.

Had there been her school friend with whom she might have cried her heart out,
Had there been a colleague who could have noted the change in her behaviour,
Had there been a helping hand or a shoulder to rest.

She could have been saved.

Not only her, but thousands of people like her could also have been saved. That 10th class boy who jumped out of the school building, that love failure girl who took pills, that drug addict who slit his wrist etc. They need people around them who say everything is going to be okay and it is just a phase. Had there been a single person who can identify what’s going with them, they could be saved.

Do you know what happens when people call these suicide prevention centres?
Cries, curses, complaining about life this that and all?

Once again none of the above.

Then what do the victims speak then?
Nothing. Absolutely blank. They call and they remain silent. There will be pin drop silence. They call but they don’t utter a word. They cancel the call and before any action could be taken by prevention centers,………..

My request to all my friends like you who are reading,
the next time you see someone with any of these little hints of depression,

Tell that teenage girl that she may need a beautiful face to become Aishwarya Rai but it just needs a beautiful heart to become Mother Teresa.
Tell that 1oth class boy that marks are not the end of the life and there lies a lot ahead.
Tell that beautiful girl that if one guy leaves her, that doesn’t mean she has no worth on this earth.
Tell that girl who feels she is not enjoying her life looking at her friends’ photos on Instagram that, it is an illusion.

And most importantly, tell that mischievous guy not to comment like “moti”, “kali” or “R&D” on any of her pictures.
Words can make a person or break a person. DO not vent out your frustration online and contribute for a bad cause.
And keep in mind, “It is a sin to kill a mocking bird“.

Dear friends, Let’s say you get a random call from someone you know or someone you have not spoken since ages and she/he wants to share something with you, just hear it out. Sometimes what people need is a person to hear what they have to say without any judgements.

If at all you want to make them feel good, say
“I understand“. This phrase can do wonders. Period.

If you ask me what is the most powerful phrase ever I would always say without a second thought,it definitely is “I understand”.