Suicide Notes

A research scholar by name Rohith Vemula committed suicide in the University of Hyderabad, India on 18th January 2016. He belonged to a marginalized community in India. He was subjected to institutional violence and pressure due to exaggerated campus politics. Some dramatic events drove him to take this grave step. His last words were introspective about his life and past. He expressed anguish over the degrading value of human potential. His suicide letter has lot to say about human worth. I felt very moved by puticular words from his suicide note which read as:

“I loved science, stars, nature. But then I loved people without knowing that people have long since divorced from nature. Our feelings are second-handed. Our love is constructed. Our beliefs colored. Our originality valid through artificial art. It has become truly difficult to love without getting hurt. The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity. And nearest possibility, to a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust. In every field. In studies. In streets. In politics. And in dying and living.”

I am going through a slew of blocked emotions over the entire incident which is being politicized. Reports of suicide always do this to me. Hence, this post. Do share your thoughts.

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