Preventing suicides in cities

Preventing suicides in cities

Jan 24, 2010- IE, Sudheendra Kulkarni

Triratna Prerana Mandal, a slum-based NGO in Mumbai, is one of those dedicated grassroots organisations where the grass of voluntary social activism is always green, fresh and fragrant, no matter how many awards and accolades it wins. I had introduced it to the readers of this newspaper four years ago (‘Flushed With Pride’) as an NGO that began its work as the caretaker of a municipal public toilet and soon went on to create a micro-scale social and environmental transformation in its neighbourhood. As its patron now, I frequently visit its office, located on top of the public toilet, mainly to seek prerana (inspiration) from the young volunteers who always have a new idea to suggest or a new experience to narrate.

Last Sunday’s narration, however, shocked and pained me. One of Triratna’s founder members, an active young man, had committed suicide. What made him do this? Poverty? Marital discord? Whatever the reason, discussing it was pointless and, in any case, utterly incapable of lifting the pall of gloom that had descended on the organisation.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Preventing-suicides-in-cities/571040