In an Orange saree, on a Spring afternoon

A girl leapt off the fourth floor and died the morning of November 26th, 2018.

I repeat,

 A  bright girl in her early 20s from the School of Visual Arts and Design, Beaconhouse National University plunged to her death earlier this morning.

She was immediately taken to Bahria Hospital where administration, reportedly, refused her the treatment because it was a case of attempted suicide. She was then rushed to General Hospital Lahore where her treatment began. Too little, too late. Poor soul succumbed to death a few hours later. Her peers took to twitter to pour their hearts out and mourn the loss of a beautiful life. An artist, a writer, a soul full of life, gone too soon.

https://twitter.com/aymenacee/status/1067074833828192260

https://twitter.com/haseemuzzaman/status/1067078680449638400

Not the first time this year that we have lost someone to depression and bullying. September 1st, Anam Tanoli, 26 year old beautiful model claimed her own life after being subjected to cyber bullying and workplace harassment. She was found dead in her apartment where she’d apparently hung herself from the ceiling. Social media flooded with condolences and awareness messages but what did we really achieve? We are still losing young lives to depression so there must be something fundamentally wrong with how we choose to counter depression. With a head too anxious to focus on anything else I figured what it takes people to seek solace in another life.

Anam Tanoli didn't commit suicide, it was a murder, we as a society killed her. I'm sorry Anam Tanoli but we couldn't save you from these social media bullies, may your soul rest in peace.

— شاہ زیب خان (@shzbkhn) September 2, 2018

We are a part of a culture that trivializes mental illness to a point of demeaning it. A culture that systematically ignores the significance of emotional well-being by telling people to “snap out” of mental illness like it’s a dream that you can jerk awake yourself from.

Here’s a reality check for you…

Hate to break it to you but the over-inflated sense of self that puts you on cloud nine as you proclaim yourself morally superior and deign to verbally correct everyone around you, extending zero courtesy to anyone who doesn’t fit under the umbrella of your definition of “normal” or “good enough” , is good-for-nothing/nobody. Allow me to elucidate…

You are incessantly on the lookout for someone whose lifestyle, opinions, or PERSONAL choices you detest only so you can delve into your paradise of intellect and assert what a self-righteous little piece of fuck you are, ALL OF THIS JUST SO YOU can satisfy your over-inflated ego. So while you brutally attempt to drive your point home (mostly by resorting to a tone of condescension), you are shattering someone’s confidence, one that took him forever to build. You are thrusting him into a gaping abyss of isolation, a point of no return.

Like our diverse body chemistry, our coping mechanisms too can be dissimilar. Our expressions too can vary a great deal likewise. While some of us lie in bed wriggled and cry ourselves to sleep as we plot our own death and mull it over until the impracticality and fear vanquishes the thought, there are others who cope with it through humor(as a defense mechanism) and build a make believe world on their own, an alternate reality that is somehow better than their existing reality only to alleviate  their own misery, to pretend, in fact, lie to themselves, hoping that someone might catch the flags they had been hauling up every now and then or the hints hidden in the trail they are leaving behind for someone to follow.

About time we allow ourselves to be more open to variety and individual differences and exempt no one from our compassion and courtesy. Be on the watch for people who conceal their pain with a smile. Listen to those with a broken speech because depression is crippling. It strips you off the ability to talk or move.

Remember once and for all,

Telling people to develop a thick skin is not okay!

Dark humor is not okay!

Bullying/Trolling is not okay!

WE CANNOT LOSE ANY MORE GEMS THAN WE ALREADY HAVE!