Suicides among teenagers and young adults continue to remain a serious issue. Every other day we come to hear or read about a teenager or a young adult committing suicide. The causes for suicides could be many - psychological, environmental or social factors. Youngsters remain stressed most of the time, they find it difficult to deal with their confusions, doubts, uncertainties about their career and future, and several other fears while growing up. But what is indeed very sad is that youngsters consider suicide as an easy solution to all their problems instead of fighting them out. They do not think about those who would be left behind - their families and close ones.
The novel "The Story of a Suicide" by Sriram Ayer is an attempt by the author to draw our attention to one of the most serious problems seen these days - the suicidal tendency among teenagers and young adults and resulting deaths that could have been prevented by proper guidance and assistance. It tells an engrossing story about four youngsters - Hari, Mani, Charu and Sam, studying in the same college in Chennai whose lives get intertwined in a mess of love, friendship, betrayal and revenge. They are like other normal youngsters of their age, however each one of them is shown carrying a baggage from their past. Hari, when he was still a small child, was continuously abused by his own uncle over the years and that left a very severe impact on his spirit and psyche. the worst part was that he couldn't share his misery with anyone. He did try to tell his mother about it but she ignored them all. Mani belonged to a poverty-wracked community, his mother worked in the brick kiln and was the prime bread-earner of the family as his father had left her for another woman. However he would often come back to them and harassed them for money. He would often see his mother being beaten up by his father but being so small, was helpless to help her. His father had even tried to kill him by drowning him in the well to force her wife to give him money. Charu though was a confident and free-spirited girl but she too was fighting with her own inner demons. Sam had recently broken up with his long-time girlfriend Priya and so he too was disturbed. But fate brings them all together when Sam and Hari take admission in the same college where Charu and Mani were studying. From the very first time that they meet, Sam gets smitten by Charu and eventually also falls in love with her when he feels like she too was reciprocating his feelings. But Charu being a free-spirited girl also wanted her own space while Sam was being a bit too clingy. So one day when Charu doesn't pick up his calls, Sam feels like she was ignoring him and thus ensues a misunderstanding and a fight. Sam is left heartbroken when Charu after the argument with Sam, in the heat of the moment, decides to write about it on her social media profile.
Youngsters these days have this strange fascination for sharing even their intimate details on the social media. Are they seeking approval from the society by doing this?
It creates a lot of ripples in the college and leaves Sam very disturbed. He decides to take revenge on her and being a tech geek, he succeeds in planting a trojan in Charu's cell phone by which he could take her photos too. He could also record videos from her cell phone.
On the other hand, Hari at once finds a connection with Mani and could share his past with Mani. Eventually they fall in love with each other as they both were gay. However one day Hari's trust on Mani gets broken when he forces himself on him, just the way his uncle used to do. Unfortunately the act gets recorded in the Charu's cell phone and gets uploaded on the internet by the trojan installed in Charu phone by Sam. The video gets viral and so Hari's family gets to know about it.
Hari feels betrayed both by Mani whom he loved very much as well as his own family who refuses to accept his sexual leaning and so he decides to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills mixed with vodka.
Youngsters often find it difficult to deal with depression resulting from failures, heart-breaks, fights in relationships and friendships, bullying, and low self esteem. However suicide can never be the solution to any problem.
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