Culture >> Browse Articles >> Current Affairs
Why Are Indians Suicide Prone?
Featured Author:
N. Vasuki Rao
N. Vasuki Rao, in a journalism career spanning nearly four decades, has worked for the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore in different capacities including Special Correspondent, Senior Assistant Editor and Business Editor. He has also worked for US and UK publications such as the Journal of Commerce, Fairchild Publications, McGraw Hill publications, and Agra Europe London as their South Asia and India correspondent for over 15 years. He is now based in Bangalore.
You can read Vasuki’s Blog here
More articles from this author:
April 21, 2008
The Indian people generally are a hardy lot. Due mainly to their philosophic nature, they are able to withstand immense hardship and gamely live on even in the most poverty-ridden districts of the country. What drives them to despair are often the government’s “development” programmes that uproot them from their traditional habitats and destroy their community linkages with nature. Therefore, I was surprised to read that the rate of suicides in India is among the highest in the world.
According to the Tuesday edition of Times of India, Bangalore, 118,112 persons committed suicide in the country in 2006, up 3.7 percent over the previous year. The four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore accounted for 50 percent of the suicides reported from 35 mega cities. Among these four metros, Chennai had the highest number of suicides at 2,427, followed by Bangalore 2,008, Delhi 1,296, and Mumbai 1,195. It is interesting that the two southern cities of Chennai and Bangalore should top the list. South India has sometimes been called a “suicide region.” Not surprisingly, Mumbai as a city had the lowest suicide among metros, which is a tribute to the enterprising spirit of the people living there.
However, if you take a broader look at states, West Bengal tops the list, accounting for 13.3 percent suicides country-wide, followed by Maharashtra (13.1 percent), Andhra Pradesh (11.2 percent), Tamil Nadu (10.5 percent) and Karnataka (10.3 percent). The usually-arrogant Left comrades should take note and wonder why their state tops the suicide list. Are the people so fed up with Left rule that they are taking their own lives? Maybe not, but the reasons are worth looking into by an academic.
The disturbing thing, however, is not just the rising number, but the fact that children between the ages of 10 and 14 are becoming vulnerable to suicide because of academic and parental pressure, depression, helplessness, and low self esteem. People in the age group of 17-25, it appears, make the most suicide attempts. What drives people to suicide? According to expert studies, these include family conflicts, domestic violence, academic failures, unfulfilled romantic ideals, wide gap between capability and aspirations, disintegration of the traditional social support mechanism, and in the case of farmers, failure of crops and rising debt. Studies also suggest that in the case of children, sensitive teachers can spot suicidal trends and begin counselling. Parents too should reduce pressure on children and watch out for danger signals.
