By Anaita Sabhikhi and Kabir Sharma
On 21st January night, the Kirori Mal College hostel was drowned in commotion as a final year graduation student accidentally slashed his wrist- an act that could result in death. Under the influence of alcohol, he slit his wrist on impulse. Realizing the gravity of his action, he panicked and raised an alarm. His friends along with the warden found him in his room and took him to a nearby hospital. He is now stable and is on the road to recovery.
The main cause of this radical step was the depression he was undergoing on failing to clear a competitive examination. Having been a top ranker throughout graduation, the result shocked him.
The police, in their statement have informed that no case is being filed against him (In India, attempted suicide is a crime punishable by law) as he was in an inebriated state at the time of the incident.
Though the media sensationalized the incident far too much, disrespecting his space, the College has handled the issue maturely, honoring the privacy of the student and keeping the repercussions of the incident to a minimum.
The few students of Kirori Mal College we spoke to were in a state of daze despite the fact that they did not know him personally. His reputation as a quiet and studious student furthered this astonishment.
This incident forces the debate on the implications of competitive examinations into the immediate foreground. Is a test, the result of which depresses the brightest of students into questioning their very existence, a healthy mechanism of scanning talent? Are we really getting the best through such exams? Is the youth of India so dispensable that it can be murdered under the stress of exam results? Can the journey of a life be modeled around the outcome of a three hour paper? Are those three hours really a litmus test, failing which, life becomes worthless?
Life has fought its way back into his being. He now has the chance of seeing beyond the non existent dead-end that was overpowering his life. The world goes on turning, the universe remains the same no matter how one fares in an exam. Opportunities close, others open. The hard worker always finds his way.
The best approach now for us would be to stop hawking his life for details on why-how-when. It doesn’t matter. He has a second chance to his life now. Let him rejuvenate his mind and recuperate his life.
Comments are closed.