Sushant (SSR) : A Departure too Early!

In the afternoon hours of June 14th, 2020, people came to know about the tragic news of the death of the Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR). The suicide of this 34-year old young man who had just entered the best phase of his Bollywood career naturally sparked lot of debates across the media platforms. The tragic, abrupt and unfortunate end to a successful career left his family, friends, fans and well-wishers in a state of utter shock and disbelief.

The unnatural demise of this celebrity naturally sparked an outrage across Bollywood circles and beyond. It gave an impetus to oft-raised debate of Nepotism in Bollywood, with even some insiders blaming the patronage culture of Bollywood as the reason behind his suicide. Naturally, the fans and others having sympathy, high regard towards self-made actors and a grudge against the family prodigies, gave a call for boycotting certain production House films.

No doubt, the sudden and tragic death of a young, dynamic and successful celebrity like Sushant left many in a perturbed state of mind. It also refueled the discussions about taking mental health issues seriously and as a result, an exponential rise in the support offered by people towards those suffering from depression and other psychological disorders, was witnessed across social media platforms.

Many posts by people discussing the life of SSR and a suggestion by a friend to write about the incident made me do some research about his life. I scanned some news reports, blogs and wikipedia etc. to know more about Sushant and to have a better understanding of his life, family, education, career etc. I also looked into his Twitter, Instagram posts to have a better insight about his possible state of mind until a period of 6-8 months before his suicide. As all would know that he was being treated for clinical depression, a condition he was reportedly suffering from past 6 months or so.

In the process, I learnt that his father has said that the family (in Patna) was unaware about the fact that Sushant was seeking medical advice for depression. They only knew that he would often feel low, but couldn't ascertain if he was suffering from depression. Moreover, Sushant was very close to his mother, and her death in 2002 had left him heartbroken. This is also evident from the fact that his last Instagram post on June 3, 2020 was dedicated to his mother.

Further research made me more curious about his life. Some info that is already known to most of us like he dropped out of Engineering from prestigious Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) in third year of his college to pursue his passion in Dancing and Acting, his struggle to enter and establish himself as a known figure in Bollywood (before his stint in TV serials) etc. need no elaborate mention.

However, what made me inquisitive about him was the fact that despite dropping out of (mechanical) engineering, his areas of interests still included technology, space, cosmic phenomenon, Artificial Intelligence (AI) etc. Apart from these, his social media posts suggest that he was ambitious, aspirational, into spirituality, meditation, poetry, travelling, sports etc. Clearly, he was a person with diverse tastes and interests. An extreme step like suicide by such a personality indeed is shocking and worth investigating about (not because of conspiracy but as a case study into mental health issues).

Though he was moderately active on Instagram till his last days, his Twitter account suggests that he was last pretty active on twitter  in October, 2019, perhaps after the success of Chhichhore. His tweets about a list of 50 Dreams that he wished to live in reality included many diverse activities (you can check his tweets for better insight). He had also mentioned about the Dreams he had fulfilled. All this was during period of September-October 2019.

Thinking about the reasons behind his suicide, based on the above information, I would negate the possibility of love-life as a reason. However, I am no professional investigator and thus, won't attempt any further presumptions.

By his own admission, he was an introvert till first 18 years of his life. Moreover, his TV interviews also suggest that even afterwards, he was not very much talkative/extrovert. However, he was interested in publicly sharing about his areas of interest through his social media posts. This also included in a significant cases (and of late) spirituality, selfmusings, meditation, cosmic bodies, seeking to find a convergence between science and spirituality etc.

Why I have mentioned all this is just to substantiate that a person with so many diverse tastes would take such an extreme step in his life is indeed worth studying about. This also adds weight to the allegations of Nepotism in Bollywood that made him feel cheated, discriminated and left alone, that could have been a reason for his psychological state of mind.

Further, some news reports which mention that after the success of Chhichhore, Sushant had signed for many new film projects, but due to some reasons most of those projects/offers were rolled back. This could have further added to his psychological condition. However, in an interview in the past, Sushant had accepted the fact that Nepotism in Bollywood is very much a reality, but further improvised that it exists in every field, and if taken positively (in a positive competitive spirit), it could benefit all in the industry.

Anyways, these are still initial revelations and nothing could be conclusively said about why such a multi-faceted personality, in a successful phase of his life would take such an extreme step to end his life. But one thing can be said for sure, that at that very moment, he found dying to be rather easier than living. There might have been some hopelessness or gloom that might have overpowered his mind on that very day and at that very moment. 

But as a third person, who possibly has nothing to do with Sushant's life and seemingly no significant attachment to him, I can ( and I hope you too would agree) say that Sushant had many reasons to live than to end his life. Had he thought about his family, his 50 dreams etc. at that moment, probably he wouldn't have taken such a drastic step. And as I read somewhere, Suicide is not the end of your pain/problems, rather it transfers the pain to your family and well-wishers. Sushant's suicide has done the same.

Thus, I would request you that if ever you feel low, have a feeling that living seems tough to you, don't ever shy to talk about it with your family/friends. In such a case you can seek medical counselling/advice, as just like any physiological disease, mental health issues (including depression) are real, affect almost everyone, and do have cure/treatment. Never let anyone, anything make you belittle the value of your own life, for you have arrived on this earth as an individual and would die as one. But, in between, your social interactions do lead to natural attachments with/for others. 

Your life might be only yours, but your death is not. It affects a lot of people other than you.

Ending with the text of Sushant's tweet on October 15, 2019:

"He who has a Why to Live can bear almost anyhow" !!- Friedrich Nietzsche