In this issue

India reported the highest suicide rate in its history in 2021, with 12 suicides for every 1 lakh people. But people who choose to die by suicide are considered cowards and criminals. But we don’t pause to reflect that those whom we call perpetrators are, in fact, victims. They need our empathy not judgments, helping hands not cruel whips. If the right to live with dignity is essential, then so should be the right to die. This, too, is freedom.

DECODING DESPAIR

“Why did she do it? Nobody dared to ask. Because—what courage! Who had the courage to burn herself ? Twenty aspirin, a little slit alongside the veins of the arm, maybe even a bad half hour standing on a roof: We've all had those. And somewhat more dangerous things, like putting a gun in your mouth. But you put it there, you taste it, it's cold and greasy, your finger is on the trigger, and you find that a whole world lies between this moment and the moment you've been planning, when you'll pull the trigger. That world defeats you. You put the gun back in the drawer. You'll have to find another way.  What was that moment like for her? The moment she lit the match. Had she already tried roofs and guns and aspirins? Or was it just an inspiration?” — Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, published in 1993.

6 mins

Break the Silence

Creating a world where women Can openly discuss their mental health struggles and seek help is crucial

5 mins

The Deepest Cut

Death has no vocabulary in Indian families—so how does a daughter find a way to mourn her father’s accidental death?’

5 mins

Right to Die

The debate has remained alive over the years, but ambiguity remains

7 mins

No Trigger Warning

Insensitive media coverage of deaths by suicide is a blatant contravention of the prevalent guidelines

6 mins

Anatomy of a Death

Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide was too complex for many to process. So the country indulged in a baffling alchemy: converting suicide to murder

5 mins

The Sting of Stigma

Why some men find the weight of masculinity too heavy to bear

6 mins

The Kota Life

Lakhs of young students arrive in Kota every year with dreams in their eyes. These dreams turn into nightmares for many students and their families

8 mins

SEEDS OF DISTRESS

Mounting debt is pushing farmers in Maharashtra and Karnataka to end their lives

7 mins

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

A Bollywoodesque saga of hope in the mission to combat suicide

3 mins

The Pain of COMATOSE

For 42 years, Aruna Shanbaug lay in a vegetative state after she was sexually assaulted at the hospital where she worked as a nurse

5 mins

Bollywood's Tryst With Suicides

Barring a few films made recently, Indian cinema hasn't quite probed the deeper, more fundamental meaning of suicide

7 mins

Distress in the Deodars

Shimla’s devastation is due to unplanned construction, disregarding alerts about its susceptibility to landslides, seismic vulnerability, overpopulation exceeding its capacity and ecological instability

8 mins

Book exhibiting the relationship of Sikhs & Modi released

The 110 pages coffee table book, by Dr Prabhleen Singh, published by Outlook Group, brings to the fore how various steps taken by Modi's government over last nine years has brought relief to the Sikh community and also evoked the pride of Sikhs in various aspects of their lives

2 mins

The Beautiful and the Damned

There is a pattern of natural disasters in the Himalayas, which leaves the local population caught in a cycle of construction and destruction

6 mins

PRESCRIBING GENERICS -why not make it mandatory?

When a patient visits a doctor, the patient rightly presumes that the 'doctor will look after my best interests' and this behooves the doctor's ensuring that, the patient not only gets the best therapeutic outcome feasible, but gets a standard medicinal product (s) that meets all purity and efficacy parameters at the least price payable

2 mins

Reinventing G20

India has set the bar high for G20. But will decisions taken at the summit be translated meaningfully on the ground?

5 mins

Electoral Dividends?

Modi has successfully furthered his cult by the diplomatic engagements surrounding this summit. But there are limitations

5 mins

Measuring Poverty

A process for gauging poverty in India covering select dimensions has been institutionalised, but many are critical of this approach

5 mins

Your Legend, My JM

The love and compassion one encountered in poet Jayanta Mahapatra's company are legendary. The luminary who passed away last month has left behind the undying zeal for life

8 mins

NRI market for Indian properties becomes positive

Recent expert surveys indicate a remarkable growth in demand from non-resident Indians in the country's residential real estate.

3 mins

Breathe the Poetic Breeze of Bombay

Reading verses of poets who trained the lens on erstwhile Bombay during poetry walks provides a new dimension to understanding their work

6 mins

Read all stories from Outlook

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