For Light Within The Tunnel

He apartment where I now stay has 35 floors, and the higher balconies afford suicide points.

- C P SURENDRAN

A few years ago, a large and lugubrious family man, who would acknowledge me with a half-smile, jumped to his death in the stairwell of the building. He left behind three children, his wife, and his father. I never got to know why he let go of his life and responsibilities in this painful manner.

Was he taking upon himself all the faults of life? Suicide bets not on reason, but on a sense of inadequacy and a lack of faith in life's benign forces. In short, we choose to die not because we are fed up, but because we want to live better.

If you stare at the road below, you must work on yourself not to give way to gravity's terminal call. If you are a man, the chances are that you stand to end your life more than a woman who may be toying with the idea. Contrary to given wisdom, in the much-maligned patriarchal society, we must face up to more patriarchs dying than women, their victims. Behind the stark numbers lies a web of social pressures, economic burdens, and cultural expectations shaping India's suicide epidemic. In 2022, the nation recorded 1,71,000 suicides, with significantly more number of men dying by suicide than women. This gender disparity, consistent across urban and rural landscapes, demands a closer look.

Suicide is a pressing public health crisis in India, marked by a stark gender divide. According to the 2022 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, 1,22,000 men and 48,000 women died by suicide—a ratio of roughly 2.5:1, with men accounting for 72 percent of all deaths by suicide. The male suicide rate stood at 17.6 per 1,00,000 population, compared to 6.9 for women, against a national average of 12.4.