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One mad moment was all it took for Stella to come to this decision. Just one mad moment was all it would have taken- To speak up. Or to speak to someone.
She answered the phone after three rings.
“Are you okay?” “I don’t know. I am pissed and sad. I’m furious and I can’t stop crying. She could have talked to someone. Anyone.” Silence.
Trigger Warning: This article is an account about suicide with some graphic details that could be triggering for survivors.
I usually had sharp counters when she was furious or upset. This time however, I was blank. As blank was a dead phone line. Not even a static “hmmm.” A few minutes clocked away.
“Any idea how?”
“They found her like that. Swollen red patches here and there. She had broken fat a few inches from all that swelling. Eyes shut. Mouth shut. Looked like they beat her. It hasn’t even been two years. She was only 29.”
I try to remember Stella. I’ve met her once. She was always pleasant. Lata always spoke of how strong Stella was. She was the first woman in Lata’s family to have an engineering degree.
Education, strength. Think empowerment.
“How are the others holding up?”
“They are devastated. It would have been bearable had she died of a heart attack. You know, it wouldn’t have been something that was in our hands. But this! We have blood on our hands. It was us, we drove her into this marriage. We are responsible. Yes, we failed her. ”
Empowered.
What did the word mean? Educated? Stella was educated.
She had an engineering degree.
Did it mean being financially independent? She had a small tutorial where she taught kids. Stella didn’t become an engineer. But she didn’t take money from anyone. She made her own.
Did it mean being happy? Stella, too, looked happy. Her dark skin glowed as she doted on her one and a half year old son.
My professors taught me that a woman is empowered when she spoke her mind freely and made her own decisions. Stella decided to die.
No one knows why. It will not be long before we hear people speak: How could she do this to her son? And how will her husband raise a son all by his own?
Whatever be the case, she could have thought of her son before she died.
Maybe her husband was suspicious.
Or may be she had an affair. I saw her with a man on the other day.
Maybe she tested her in-laws’ patience. You know she is too lazy.
Maybe she didn’t have a person to confide in.
Or maybe she thought this was easier that speaking up.
Maybe she didn’t want to get married in the first place.
One mad moment was all it took for Stella to come to this decision.
Just one mad moment was all it would have taken- To speak up. Or to speak to someone.
But it didn’t. She didn’t. She shouldn’t. Or maybe she couldn’t.
We will never know.
If you or anyone you know is feeling suicidal, here are some of the helplines available in India. Please call.
Aasra, Mumbai: 022 27546669
Sneha, Chennai: 044 2464 0050
Lifeline, Kolkata: 033 2474 4704
Sahai, Bangalore: 080 25497777
Roshni, Hyderabad: 040 66202000, 040 66202001
Picture credits: Pexels
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If her MIL had accepted her with some affection, wouldn't they have built a mutually happier relationship by now?
The incident took place ten years ago.
Smita could visit her mother only in summers when her daughter had school holidays. Her daughter also enjoyed meeting her Nani, and both of them had done their reservations for a week. A month before their visit, her husband told her, “My mom is coming for 4-5 months!”
Smita shuddered. She knew the repercussions. She would have to hear sarcastic comments from her mother-in-law for visiting her mother. She may make these comments directly only a bit, but her servants would be flooded with the words, “How horrible she is! She leaves me and goes!”
Maybe Animal is going to make Ranbir the superstar he yearns to be, but is this the kind of legacy his grandfather and granduncles would wish for?
I have no intention of watching Animal. I have heard it’s acting like a small baby screaming and yelling for attention. However, I read some interesting reviews which gave away the original, brilliant and awe-inspiring plot (was that sarcastic enough?), and I don’t really need to go watch it to have an informed opinion.
A little boy craves for his father’s love but doesn’t get it so uses it as an excuse to kill a whole bunch of people when he grows up. Poor paapa (baby) what else could he do?
I was wondering; if any woman director gets inspired by this movie and replicates this with a female protagonist, what would happen?. Oh wait, that’s the story of so many women in this world. Forget about not giving them love, you have fathers who try to kill their daughters or sell them off or do other equally despicable things.
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