The least accepted event in the life of human beings at large is the inevitable phenomenon of death. The land’s puranas and narratives in the epics are cited by scholars with a reference to fate (vidhi) mentioning that it doesn’t spare any living being, including divine characters. Whatever has been said, is being heard or written about death by whoever, generates both grim feelings and unbounded confusion. The news of death ending the life of persons of eminence as well as those in high posts in various regions across the land invites obituary details in glorifying terms. The news of death of others such as lay people and also of a number of people due to various factors such as epidemics, natural calamities, accidents, mishaps and so on, as promptly reported in the print and other media is read with awe but soon fades as the proverbial fleeting public memory. The wish of living to the ripe old age, free from stress of all kinds should remind us of the idiom “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride them.”

Living and dying are juxtaposed in a revealing manner by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968), American Baptist Minister, the most visible spokesman for civil rights, who is quoted as saying, “If you have nothing to die for, you have nothing to live for.” One wonders if any of those who voluntarily end their lives are fired up by what this evangelist has said in certain circumstances. We are talking of suicides making virtually daily news in the land’s media.

Psychiatrists are of the view that depression is the precursor of many people taking the extreme step of ending their life by resorting to consuming poison, hanging, jumping into turbulent water bodies and so on. The past few years have seen an unprecedented spurt in crimes being committed by different sections of society, including the high and mighty across the country. May be, news relating to those events was dominated by two specific phenomena, namely rapes and suicides by farmers, the former reflecting the land’s declining social image and the latter resulting to economic stress to both the Union Government and its counterparts in several States, including Karnataka.

The sad part of the dramatic rise in the incidents of suicide across the country is the loss of a good chunk of its youth population. Philosophically, those who resorted to the extreme act, much like all others who die due to age and illness, are undertaking a trip to an unknown territory.