Nandana was a beautiful girl born and brought up in a conservative Hindu family. At the tender age of twenty, she was married to Surya. As a young bride, she looked forward to a happy and peaceful married life. But life had other plans for her.
Soon Nandana’s miserable life began. Surya was forced into the marriage, against his will, and he could never accept Nandana nor their marriage. He started physically abusing Nandana to vent out his frustrations. And as any traditional Hindu bride, she was not allowed to visit her father’s house or even talk to them or any of her siblings or friends. This continued for a year when her in-laws started mentally harassing her for a male heir. In any social gathering, which she was part of, she would be
This continued for a year when her in-laws started mentally harassing her for a male heir. In any social gathering, which she was part of, she would be mocked and laughed at, and she was always degraded. She was subjected to this kind of mental torture for fourteen long years – day in and day out she was harassed. For fourteen years she was denied the right to talk to her parents, siblings and her friends.
This kind of mental harassment left an indelible mark on Nandana’s mental well-being and took a big toll on her health.
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She soon developed symptoms of Schizophrenia and started talking to invisible people. On one moment she would laugh loudly while on the other she would sing and dance. When Nandana’s conditioned worsened she was shown to the family doctor. The doctor suggested them to take her to a mental health care center instead, as he believed she may be having psychological issues, and needed medical intervention immediately. But her family, out of the fear of being judged by the society, became paranoid and never took her to the healthcare center. Reason: for the family, mental illness and seeking help was a big taboo – something they could never accept and understand. This continued for a year, and when there were no signs of improvement in Nandana’s condition, they started seeking advice from other relatives.
One such crazy relative suggested them to adopt a child and her mental illness would go away! They did. Although Nandana was happy to see the baby, she was not in a condition to take care of the baby. Her family tried to take care of the baby for her for a month or so but soon got fed up. Then another crazy relative suggested that Surya, Nandana, and their daughter should live separately. Surya’s parents convinced him to move to an apartment, and he did.
One day, all three were in the balcony of their apartment on the tenth floor. The child was in Nandana’s arms and Nandana was singing a lullaby and was caressing the baby. When Surya’s mobile phone rang and he rushed to take the call. Suddenly, Nandana sat on the railing of the balcony with the child facing outwards. Nandana started singing
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Hush a bye baby on the treetop, when the wind blows the cradle will rock, and when the bow breaks the cradle will fall and down will come baby, cradle and all…..
And then the unthinkable happened. Nandana dropped the child from the 10th floor. When Surya came back, he was astonished not to find the child. He screamed at Nandana, and she, out of shock fell from the balcony.
That day two lives were lost, and so was a family.
On the 13th day, when all the relatives gathered for final rituals, they made speculations of what may have happened. Some said Nandana was possessed by an evil spirit while some thought Surya may have pushed both of them from the balcony to get Nandana’s property.
The family doctor too visited the funeral. And with a sad voice and heavy heart he said to himself, that Nandana could have been alive if she would have received the treatment on time.
While this is not exactly a real story, the condition of mental health in India and its patient is quite similar. Why do people turn a blind eye to the mentally ill patients? Do note that mental illness, is just like any other (physiological) illness. It can happen to anyone but it’s curable provided the help is extended at the right time. Let’s take a stand