Euthanasia

Hrithik Roshan's movie 'Guzaarish' is about a quadriplegic man who after living 14 years of his life, confined to a wheelchair, decides to end his life and files an appeal to the court for euthanasia (mercy killing). 'Euthanasia' derived from the Greek language means 'good death' and refers to the practice of ending a life in order to relieve the person from pain and suffering.

On 7 March, 2011, the Supreme Court of India turned down a plea for 'euthanasia' for Aruna Shanbaug. I happened to read the story, no...the reality of Aruna's life a few years ago. By the time I was done reading the article that afternoon, I was sobbing profusely. Even now as I am typing this, there is a lot of sadness thinking about Aruna for whom life has been anything but fair. Aruna Shanbaug was a nurse at the KEM hospital in India. In 1973, she was sexually assaulted at the hospital by a ward boy. The assault was so brutal that it left her in a vegetative state. Aruna was 25 at the time and was to proceed on wedding leave the next day as she was getting married to a doctor from the same hospital whom she was in love with. But destiny willed otherwise and for 37 years now, Aruna has been in a vegetative state on a hospital bed, blind, paralyzed and unable to do anything except feel pain. No relatives visit her and she is basically alone in this world. The ward boy, was caught and convicted of robbery and attempted murder (yes, he was not tried for the sexual assault) and after serving a 14 year sentence is out free somewhere in the world. Yes, life has truly been unfair to Aruna Shanbaug.

My take on 'euthanasia'....I honestly don't know. Ideally I would say it is wrong to take a life...but I also know that if it was me in a vegetative state, I would not want to go on living like that. At the same time, if it was my loved one, I would never ever let them go...holding on to the last thread of hope. So, as far as 'euthanasia' is concerned, I don't know what the right thing is.

So, the next time life feels unfair because of a missed promotion, a traffic jam, a broken relationship or any thing which makes you say...life is so unfair...think about 25 year old Aruna Shanbaug whose life was completely snatched away from her in a matter of minutes one brutal night 37 years ago....and I am sure you will be able to put a much more positive perspective on your own life.

Signing off with a very heavy heart thinking about Aruna Shanbaug and this couplet by Ghalib quoted by Justice Markandey Katju while starting his 141 page judgement on the euthanasia plea for Aruna Shanbaug

'Marte hain aarzoo mein marne ki, Maut aati hai par nahin aati'
(Translated as - One dies longing for death, but death despite being around, is elusive)