THIS 'N' THAT
Panic that results set in...

By Renee Ranchan

"THE job market is tight, too tight no matter what they say about the opportunities multinationals are providing". This comes from the father of a boy who has managed 80 per cent in his plus two examination. No wonder then that pressure and panic is experienced by young adults and their parents. But is this reason enough for high school kids to hang themselves till life is sucked out or set themselves on fire...? Why? Because those English grades are not up to the mark or a compartment means you will have to sit through that exam again and even then be unsure of the outcome? Or because an academic year plus the thousands papa has put into those serial tuitions has gone down the drain because you have not passed the examination? The father did not seem to be listening to me — either that or he was too busy panicking about his son’s future. His son should have paid heed to his warnings — the ones given every morning over breakfast — and studied a good 16 hours instead of the measly 12 that he clocked in. (As you can make out the father is not satisfied with the boy’s result...) To rabbit away from this gentleman : I now go over to the aftermath of the declaration of Class X results. As I opened the morning’s paper, I knew that there would be reports from all corners of the country telling us how many dejected, frightened students attempted to take their lives. And how many actually ‘succeeded’ in doing so. I even toyed with the idea of giving the paper a pass but you know what they say about matters of habit.

A sample of the news: A Delhi boy could take it no longer. He had failed yet again. For the third time in a row. And God knows, he had tried. May be he did not have what it takes to succeed academically. Time, therefore, to call it quits. The 19-year-old locks himself in his room and hangs himself with a chunni from the ceiling fan. Two girls in Bhopal take their lives as soon as they find out they have flunked their board exams. Another in Gwalior immediately consumes poison and dies soon after. In Nagpur, 17-year-old Nisha is battling for life in a hospital where she was admitted after setting herself ablaze.

With 90 per cent burns, it is doubtful that this ‘failed’ student will survive. There is more, but for me that is enough. You, I know, feel the same way. After the plus two results were declared, a young woman who has been volunteering for a helpline tells me how every night she goes to bed drained and depressed. For the uninitiated, helplines are a relatively new phenomenon (if that is what you can call them). Their existence just goes to show how things are getting worse and worse. Distressed, panic-stricken children have to just dial the helpline’s number and pour out their troubles to the ready listener at the other end. And no, you do not have to reveal your identity. The comfort of anonymity is all the more helpful. After patiently lending an ear to an almost suicidal student or definitely a depressed one, the helpline worker doles out advice. "Setbacks, failures, that is what life is all about and it makes one all the more determined and strong." No, not getting through an examination is the most ridiculous reason to throw everything away". "And have you not heard, tomorrow is another day...." Truly a commendable service, these helplines. But to return to this helpline volunteer. I am told since the day after the Class XII results were announced, her organisation had received a 1000 S.O.S. calls or more. And she was comforted by the fact that they had been able to make "some difference".

Speaking of Class XII students, I (try hard as I may) have not been able to rid myself of the image of 18-year-old Deepak Chauhan plunging to death from the second floor of his school all because he had flunked in one subject and would have to reappear. The papers later came up with the theory that the lad took the ‘final step’ because he believed he had failed the board exams... he had mistaken another’s result for his own. Speculation, that is what I say to that. Could be so but even a ‘compartment’ is enough to trigger off such a decision. So reports the helpline volunteer and yes, I do believe her. And the fact that there are many Deepak Chauhans out there, is extremely painful.