No Tilte

Depression, there I said it too….! Was that such a big deal…? Wasn’t that difficult, was it? No! It’s just a word but when you say it out loud, it seems like half the battle is won; when you acknowledge it, its existence, you know, it’s no longer an unbeatable monster that you thought it was. It’s only a monster if it is hidden, if it is out of sight. And perhaps if you push further and make an honest attempt to understand it, preferably without mocking it, then you realize that this so called ‘monster’ is just a burden many of the unfortunates carry, a monster that can be destroyed. But out of our ignorance and continued denial the monster, the burden, the enemy, increases in power, claiming lives. This is exactly what Kairavi Bharat Ram is attempting (a very admirable yet bold attempt) to explain, in her impressive yet heart-breaking book, C is for Cat, D is for Depression. Although this book caters to young adults (teenagers mainly), it is universal in its approach. With this book, Kairavi Bharat Ram is not only trying to make sense of the world surrounding the people struggling with depression but also of the darkness within, and is further giving them hope, in the form of light at the end of the tunnel. As depicted and beautifully illustrated in the book, when one suffers from depression, one’s entire existence comes under scrutiny, everything becomes useless and every solution becomes a question, our beliefs and ambitions and our talents become pointless, life becomes purposeless, and it is perhaps at this lowest of the low, when people around you need to make an effort to reach out to you and you, most of all, need to strive out of this unending darkness.