Suicide

Raj pulled the stool to a spot right below the fan. He got up onto the stool and tied a rope around the fan thereby creating a noose. He put his head through it, closed his eyes and stood in silence. He would be the second student of a reputed engineering college to commit suicide this month.

 

His phone rang at that moment which suddenly made him open his eyes. He took the phone out of his shirt pocket.

An unknown number.

He had half a mind to cut it and throw the phone but for some reason, he picked it up. “Hello”, he said.

“Hello Mr. Raj Srivastav. I am calling from NiceCall. I wanted to tell you about the new packages of ring-tones and caller-tunes that are now available starting from Rs.23 all the way to Rs.100”, said a female’s voice at the other end.

“Trust me, I am really not interested at the moment”, said Raj.

“Sir, but at least let me tell you about the packages. I am sure…”

“Will you benefit in any way by selling me one of these packages?”  asked Raj, cutting the NiceCall lady.

“Not exactly, Sir. But along with you, if I am able to convince many others to buy these packages and end up highest, then I might get some bonuses. So actually, in your small way, you could help me Sir.”

“Okay. Give me the most expensive one. Thank you”, said Raj, now getting slightly fidgety on the stool.

“Sir, but don’t you want to know what all you will get in this package? You will get all the ring-tones and caller-tunes from the latest Bollywood movies including…”

“No. That’s okay. I am sure it will be the best!”

“Am I interrupting you Sir? I am Sorry but I forgot to ask you at the beginning if you were free to speak.”

“Not exactly”, said Raj. “In fact, you might be the last person I ever talk to and I don’t even know your name.”

“What?!” the operator almost screamed.

“Have you ever thought about suicide, Miss…”

“It’s Sneha Gokhale. And I have, Sir. “ said the NiceCall lady.

“Really? When?” asked Raj.

“ Well normally, I won’t be telling a stranger about me but I think it is needed here.”

“Sure. Go on. Please do tell. I have all the time.”

“Okay”, she said, making it very clear that she didn’t like his behaviour given the situation. “ First tell me, why are you going to take such a drastic step?”

“Usual story”, said Raj. “I didn’t want to do Engineering. Peer pressure. Good in studies so got a good score in CET and thereby a good College. Now can’t cope with all the pressure. Failing in exams . Also my Girl-friend of two years left me recently.”

“That’s it?” she asked.

“That’s it?!” he snapped.

“Well, I was once an Engineering student like you. I wanted to become an IT Engineer and I had got into a very good college and pretty soon I made some great friends !”

“Can you please get to the part where the story turns dark?” asked Raj.

“Okay. In my SE, I met Rahul. He was from the North. He was the cool-dude rich-brat kind of guy and out of all the girls, he started showing an interest in me. I really wasn’t interesting in getting into a relationship at that time and I made it pretty clear to him but he was still always around me.”

“And eventually you started liking him too?”

“Yes, I did. Soon enough, we were dating and we were like the ‘It’ couple on campus.”

“What happened then?”

“My parents fixed my marriage in BE to the son of my Father’s friend from college or something. I told them that I wasn’t interested. That I wanted to work for a few years after my BE. But they refused to listen. I told this to Rahul and he just said five words.”

“What were those?”

“Let’s run and get married.”

“So you did?”

“Kind of. After graduation, I told my parents that I was going out and partying with a couple of friends. We took a train to Delhi that night and from there we went to his hometown by bus.”

“Sounds like a nice filmy ending”, said Raj. By now his legs had started paining and he took the noose out from around his neck and sat down on the stool, listening intently.

“His parents were obviously surprised at first but his Dad soon became friendly with me. However, his Mom hated me from the start.”

“Go on”, said Raj.

“I’ll skip all this part, Sir. Those few months were horrible. I had to just stay at home and do chores while Rahul would spend the day hanging out with his friends, partying and also spend his time learning his Dad’s business. He started neglecting me completely. We had a few fights and he started getting violent. In the end, it was all too much for me, so one day, I packed a few belongings, took some money from Rahul’s wallet and took the next train back to Pune.”

“When I went home, my Dad refused to take me in. At that time, my little sister was in the 12^th and my Dad announced that she was the only child he had. My Mom didn’t dare to speak against my Dad’s anger. I left and went straight to my friend’s house. She was with me in my Engineering College. I told her everything. I cried a lot that day. I don’t think I have ever cried that much in my life, Sir.”

“What happened then?”

“At that moment, I practically had no family, no friends and I had just wasted six months of my life. I tried to take up a job but I couldn’t get any. My friend worked at a call-centre. She pulled a few strings and here I am !”

“What about your family?”

“My Dad still refuses to talk to me. My Mom doesn’t either as she is scared of him. I am in touch with my sister though. My friend and I have now rented a flat. 1 BHK. I have a steady salary. I have made some good friends. I have recovered.”

“And when had you thought of suicide?”

“The time when I came back to Pune. Two months, I just cried through the day. Sulked. I had nightmares at night. I felt that nobody would even miss me if I did end up killing myself. However it’s two years since that time and thanks to my friend and my sister, I have managed to get out of it completely.”

“Wow. You’re right. My reasons are almost nothing compared to yours.”

“Exactly. You’re still in your SE. You can still explore your options. I know people who left Engineering even in TE because they had finally discovered their ‘passion’. Mainly, you have the support of all your friends and family behind you."

“I am really glad I took this call. I had half a mind to throw the phone”, Raj said and he started laughing. “I’ll work harder now. I am going to make the best out of my life. Thanks a lot, Sneha Gokhale. I really hope I can meet you some day.”

“You can actually. We can meet today. Right now”

“Now?!”

“Please don’t freak out when I tell you this. The story that I told you was completely real but I am not Sneha Gokhale.”

“Who are you?!”

“I am her sister, Seema Gokhale. Actually I am in my friend’s hostel room right now and a while back, I saw this guy trying to commit suicide in the hostel across the road. So I decide to save him.”

Raj started laughing at this sentence. “How did you get my number?”

“My friend is in your class-Neha. I knew your name since I saw you recently participate at an athletics meet. Neha had gone to an adjoining room, but luckily she had left her phone here. So I took the number and dialled from my phone as I knew you would have her number saved and you might have not picked up. And please don’t ask me why, but the moment you picked up, I pretended to be a call- centre employee and soon enough, I ended up telling you my sister’s story.”

“How did you come up with this phone-call idea?” asked Raj. He placed the stool near his desk, came to the window and waved to her. She waved back and said, “I figured it would be too late before I could get people up to your room.”

Raj smiled. “You have saved my life, Seema Gokhale.”

“I am really glad I could”. She smiled back.