Contributed the following article to the FEB '13 issue of VANAMUTHAM,
that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.
There have always been men and women who have voluntarily extinguished the flame of life in them, but SUICIDES have increased significantly in proportion over the last few years. Today Chennai, followed by Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, account for most suicidal deaths in India. Not a day passes without some suicide in some corner of the country rending our hearts with its gloomy detail. Suicide on one hand, smacks of man playing God by choosing to end his life that in reality is not his own. On the other hand, it also betrays a gloom and despair that most men are driven to, either momentarily or for a life time.
What makes one take the extreme step of snuffing out one’s life? Some are overcome by the guilt of a heinous crime they have committed – betrayal of the trust of a parent or a spouse. Some are haunted by loneliness – a feeling that they are alone while the entire world seems to be conspiring against them. Some are driven by fear of what tomorrow will hold for them – how they are going to repay the debt or bring up their family. Others are left to wallow in dejection and disappointment with no one to provide care or offer comfort. Reasons are many and real though these do not drive everyone to this very end.
Statistics reveal that for every successful suicide there are 10 to 20 unsuccessful attempts that go unnoticed. Why has life come to this? What is the anti-dote? Is there any good news that one can offer someone groping in this darkness?
The CAUSE:
The guilt, loneliness, fear and dejection all stem from a deep malaise within us. When we look around us, we find people to be selfish, jealous, greedy and proud. We see this same nature in us too, if we look deep within and honestly admit what we see. It is this nature in man that has made his surrounding a hell for himself and for those around him. Greed and lust drive him to steal, rape and kill. In the process, he makes someone else a pauper, a widow, an orphan, or worst a violated person. While a widow or an orphan often experiences the fallout of a trauma that the murdered directly experienced for a duration, a rape victim experiences first-hand a trauma that scars both her psyche and her image for the length of her life. The victim (widow, orphan, violated) is then haunted by loneliness, fear and dejection. Suddenly she is out of the safety of the world she had known all along and thrust into a wicked and uncaring world. Fear of those who seem powerful enough to determine everyone else’s future stalks her for the rest of her life. Fear of what the future holds cripples her.
The evil that our nature causes for others is real. There is no such thing as a harmless sin. The perpetrator of a crime who gives in to a moment’s greed and creates misery for others, is himself hounded by guilt for the rest of his life. His conscience pricks him and leaves him devoid of the pleasure or joy that he thought he will obtain through hook or crook. His sense of guilt is also very real and cannot be wished away. Men burdened by guilt try to manage it in one of the following ways. Some stifle the voice of their conscience so they can continue in their ways without any qualms. Others are too proud to accept that they are guilty. Still others are only afraid of being caught. But guilt catches up and drives one wallowing in it to life’s very edge.
What about ACTS of GOD?
But you may say that not all misery is caused by humans. What about natural calamities – flood, earthquake, Tsunami, cold wave, heat wave, drought, famine? There are enough things today that can rock the boat of someone who has been having a smooth sail. Imagine a world that is inhabited only by selfless individuals – most of these would not have the same debilitating sting. Destruction from floods, droughts and famines may well be prevented. In a country where rivers like Ganges, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Cauvery and Krishna flow, there are also states that do not have enough water bodies to provide for their drinking and irrigation needs. If only we can be selfless enough to allow these rivers to be interconnected! Damages from earthquake, tsunami and extreme temperatures may be greatly mitigated in a sharing and caring world. Unfortunately, our selfishness results in most help meant for the victims being pocketed by self-serving politicians and social service agencies, while the little that reaches the victims serving only the fittest among them.
In a world such as this, is it possible to not suffer any loss – man-made or nature-caused? While on the outside one may appear to have everything going for him or her, one could still be feeling very empty inside. Our values have all got so skewed. Our picture of the world has become upside-down. We often strive with the rest of the world after things that do not satisfy. We work hard that we may have money to relax and enjoy life. But the very thing that we earnestly seek – enjoyment with family – we lose in the seeking. The prophet asked long ago “Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy” (Isa 55:2) ?
The good news is that you can get out of this rut. Irrespective of whether you have been a victim or a perpetrator, there is a way out. You and the world around you can be different. Are you keen enough?
