Teen Ink.

Teenage,the times often misprized. We laugh too much, love too much, shout too much, the times of fears, angst, secrets which we often prefer to hide,if at all it wasn't that easy   *evil grin*   . This phase all-in-all is a maze, a puzzle. To unjumble this you need to go to the roots deep down. Roots that have scars, scars that tell I have a story, that I am a survivor, that I am a fighter. Teenage, ah! You weren't that regretful,you were exciting.


Having late night life and late hangover mornings is the fashion, people say. But we the teenagers known for these deeds are the ones who woke up at four a.m. in the morning to march for Damini(for the ones who don't remember her, she's the girl who was raped in Delhi on 16th dec,2012). If we are greedy and we want our greed to be satisfied fast and this is the example then yes, I am greedy. In the freezing temp. of 2 degrees where we lay with our blankets till late mornings, we woke up, we woke up for our greed, our greed for a better place to live in.


I want better clothes, I want a new phone, I want new gadgets. Am I being materialistic? No, I just aspire to lead a better life. What's so wrong in it? I know there are millions of unprivileged children across this globe craving for a meal and I am doing my bit. I'm trying. I am just a teenager and you can't expect me to move mountains.



When I am angry, I am loud, very loud. Even if I want to shut up, I can't because I'm burning inside. My parents' often tell me I'm picking up the ways of my friends. I am often reprimanded for back-answering and misbehaving just like my friends. It just comes from within and I can't help it. I am not doing this because I'm influenced. I am doing this because you are scolding me and I am stating facts, what's so wrong in it? You tell me to speak the truth,why do you ask me to do so when you can't even handle it?


We are all in this together. You can't just blame me for all this and stand out. I am mad at times, I act immature sometimes, and I laugh for no reason at all, I share my secrets with my friends. But you know, DEEP DOWN I'M STILL THAT LOST CHILD,TRYING TO GROPE HER MOTHER'S HAND IN THE DARK. I WEEP ALONE IN THE DARK. I MIGHT OPEN UP TO MY FRIENDS BUT I CAN ONLY FIND SOLACE IN MY MOTHER'S HUG.

"I am fine" was her suicide note.

We come across, unfortunately with great frequency, many reports about student suicides, especially students belonging to elite institutions. Why would a young, hardworking, bright student who has the world ahead of him, do something like that?

The answer is simple- in our constant reverence for a great institution, we forget it's dark side. And the dark side is that we are afflicted by the quintessential Indian phenomenon of academic pressure, probably the highest in the world, and sometimes the pressure gets too much.

Leave alone academics, teenagers these days need a reason to suicide, be it, betrayal in love, disappointment in love, irreversible adolescence mistakes, parental separation, distress in the home environment and this is just the start the list just goes on and on.

The rationale for killing is simple-nobody loves me, my scores are awful, I have no future, what difference would it make to the world if I was not there? I have too many problems, I can't deal with all this anymore and yet again, the list goes on and on. People who commit suicide don't want to die-they just want it to stop hurting. It is a desperate attempt to escape suffering that has become unbearable.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that approximately 1 million people die each year from suicides. Remove guns, drugs, knives, poisons and other potentially lethal objects from the vicinity but do not, under any circumstances leave a suicidal person alone.

SO, IF YOU SEE A DISTRESSED YOUNG SOUL, LEND A SUPPORTIVE SHOULDER AND A NON-JUDGMENTAL EAR.

So, when we take this dreadful decision, all the lives linked to ours are shattered. I think we all need to learn to confide in our elders, they are our first people, they are the ones who'll help us when we need it the most. No matter what we go through in life, if God wanted us to take our own life, he would have provided a power off button. He didn't, so have faith and let his plan unfold for you.

BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW TOUGH LIFE GETS AND HOW MUCH IT HURTS, IF STREET DOGS DON'T GIVE UP THERE'S NO REASON WHY WE THE SMART SPECIES SHOULD. MAKES SENSE, RIGHT?