Yesterday we all were left shell-shocked with the news of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide: From a small-town and making a successful transition from TV to Films, his was a success few others have been able to replicate.

According to media reports he was suffering from depression and this is what made him take his own life.

But can we ever know what goes inside someone’s brains?? When do those billions of neurons in the brains start malfunctioning? Who are we to judge and offer solutions?

Are suicidal thoughts a pre-cursor to an attempt to suicide and is attempt to suicide a step towards that last fatal one? When staying positive and strong does not help what do we do? How do we seek help?

Not everyone is blessed with family/friends to take care of one’s mental health even they are sometimes ill-equipped to handle these matters. Seeking help of a psychiatrist conjures up all kind of reactions and reluctances.

Every other day we read stories about suicide for one reason or another, how does one start the journey on the ardours road? I have an aunt who is known to have luckily unsuccessfully attempted this thrice and each time she has managed to have her way and come out stronger. She has been lucky that her family was there to support and listen to her but not everyone has fate on their side.

These are the beautiful lines from a song of Ghazal Maestro Jagjit Singh’s album Someone Somewhere that he released after the death of his young son in 1990 that encapsulates the feeling beautifully.

फ़ुर्सत किसे थी जो मेरे हालात पूछता,  हर शख़्स अपने बारे में कुछ सोचता मिला

उसने तो ख़ैर अपनों से मोड़ा था मुँह,  मैंने ये क्या किया के मैं ग़ैरों से जा मिला ….