Left Out!

The total population of the world is estimated to be around 7.5 billion, yet among such a large group of people there are so many of us who are left out. For some, the festival of lights is overshadowed by the murk of anxiety and depression. It is said that you may be depressed if you’re going through the following symptoms for more than two weeks;

• Feeling sad, down or miserable most of the time
• Losing interest or pleasure in usual activities
• Lack of concentration
• Relying on alcohol and sedatives
• Withdrawing from close family and friends

It’s pretty obvious that these symptoms are not easily noticeable due to its intangible characteristic. But, at the same time, it is equally dangerous because extreme cases of depression may lead to suicide.

Growing up in an enclosed society like ours can be really tough for the depressed victims (for the older generation it could have been worse). The fear of being misjudged often makes the victims lock up their frustrations within themselves. Now, for people going through such problems it is very important to communicate with other people. If you notice your elders (the older generation), they don’t have the freedom to communicate with their peers like we do.

I realized this when my uncle shared a few things with my grandmother. My uncle was stricken by blindness from a very young age due to which he couldn’t complete his studies. He stays home because he has no job. He is fully dependent upon his family. Whenever I used to visit him, he used to talk about random things (which kind of annoyed me sometimes). As years passed by, he became more and more quiet. God knows what was going in his head. This year, my mother told me that he said this was his last Tihar with us. That’s when I had this realization that my uncle was so freaking lonely despite having a family to feed him and take care of him every day. The guilt of not paying attention to his needs, not being there for him started to take over my mind.

We all are so occupied in our own hectic world nowadays. Thanks to cell phones it’s so easy for us to filter out people we need and people we don’t need in our lives. I hate the fact that these technologies have distanced us from our closed ones. There might be so many people, like my uncle, around us. Yet, we fail to see them because of our self centeredness. I promised myself that I would spend more time with him when I visit him the next time. If you’ve got problems share it with your people, but do learn to be selfless at times. We barely ask people how they are doing when we meet them. We’re busy sharing our own experiences and problems that we barely have time to listen to their problems. So, a request to you all…put down your cell phone and look into the eyes of the person standing next to you or in front of you, wherever they are; tell them, “It’s okay, I’m here for you. How are you doing? You can always talk to me whenever you want to.”

For more of his writing 

Please visit : https://joshidude3.wordpress.com/