Class XII Romeo would rather die for love than give exam

‘A love-struck Romeo sings the streets a serenade,
Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made...’
 

Iconic lines by none other than the ‘Sultans of Swing’ – The Dire Straits – from their hit song Romeo & Juliet. While romance may certainly have been the sign of growing up back in the day, here is an Amdavadi teen, who so revered his heartstrings that he threw caution to the wind and prepared to fail in the class XII exams for the third straight year.

That he was also mulling ending his life is how his tale of heartbreak came to the attention of the authorities. And, that certainly was not the song the woman police constable attending this teen’s call may have thought of at the time.

According to data available from the city police’s Zindagi suicide prevention helpline (1096), 19-year-old Sarkhej resident Naresh (name changed), was on his third attempt at clearing the class XII board exams when Cupid struck him. It came in the form of 17-year-old Minaxi (name changed), who studied in the same classes as him.

Following their acquaintance, their young love blossomed over subsequent months, till the day her parents found out about it.

There were no two ways about it for them because the romance had to die. For, the girl’s future was at stake with the board exam coming up. Ever since, Minaxi was barred from leaving home other than for studies.

At the other end of this love equation was our Romeo, Naresh, so hopelessly lost in love that he was all but prepared to fail the exam for a third time.

He was busy trying to rekindle their relationship over the phone, until finally the frustration of not having seen Minaxi got to him.

With less than a month to go for the exams, on February 28, he called the Zindagi helpline. He told the woman police constable on the line that he would “rather die for his beloved Minaxi than even spare a thought for the exams”.

The WPC counselled him out of his daze and explained to him the benefits of clearing the exams. She had also asked him to come to their helpline control room for one-to-one counselling. However, he remained out of touch ever since. When they last tried to contact Naresh, authorities said that the boy had been out of reach, hopefully preparing and appearing for his exams.

(Names changed to protect identities)

Other student suicide callers
Naresh is not the only one whose academic dilemma led him to call the suicide prevention helpline. There were five other such callers since February 14, said sources. The only female caller among these was an SY BCom student from Gandhinagar who was unable to bear the constant abuses from her parents. From the four others, two were also BCom students and one had a similar romantic case as Naresh.