SUNDAY FOCUS

But the reality was-- it wasnot the time yet. The next morning I accompanied my grandfather to the village grocer and found lumps of stool every two palm distance. I saw people pooping on the edge of the road. Iwas shocked not because of the people but because of the fact that the road was newly constructed and people there had no better use of it other than using the edge of the road as toilet.

I asked and discussed about it to my grandfather. I asked him whythese peopledon't usetoilets?The answer was these are from scheduled caste communities of thevillage, they don't use toilets even if they have.The statement pierced through me exposing the prevailing socialdivide in the society.

New Delhi: “Darkness was her only companion at that time.” 

Talking about mental health, Ashok Taliyan, a resident from Gurgaon explains her daughter’s situation when she suffered from-acute depression and anxiety. He said she couldn’t sleep and just remain confined to her room.“At the initial stage, we didn’t realize that there was a problem but after we consulted a psychiatrist, we understood the issue, decided to address it and did not feel ashamed about our daughter’s illness and nobody should be,” says Taliyan.

Any sign of deviating from the expected and usual, emotionally and behaviorally, is viewed with a sense of horror. For Indians, Mental Illness is still a taboo and we prefer not to talk about it. But one will be appalled to know that at least 60 million Indians suffer from mental disorders.