Talking Shop: Gone way too soon

“It ain’t fair you died too

young. Like a story that

had just begun. The death

tore the pages all away.”

— Kenny Chesney

Just as Chesney in the quote above, writer-singer Billy ‘Piano-man’ Joel crooned his way into our souls when he penned ‘Only the good die young’. Admittedly though, it is a grim and sordid take on today’s living that we can relate deeply to these words, as also to the inscrutable and affable way in which writers often contraject any reference to fatality to make it seem quite quixotic, even romantic. At the end of the day, the truth is that lives are getting cut short in their prime with increasing frequency, many passing before their time. Some blame it on haphazard and erratic lifestyles, many on causes related to genetics. Some claim that the COVID-19 vaccine administered before being truly tested and proven is at fault, while many blame God himself.

No one knows, though, just what is taking loved ones past the pearly gates and into the all-new yonder. Last week, a happy-go-lucky and jovial bartender at a watering hole in Delhi-NCR made his exit from our lives following a massive cardiac arrest in the wee hours. Till late the previous evening, Prateet Uniyal was up and about, serving his regulars and spreading joy and bonhomie all around. Hours after he cracked some jokes that left everyone in the premises cackling and guffawing (me included), he was gone from the Club and our lives.

Just another statistic

Prateet has become the latest to join a list of growing statistics on sudden demise. In China, a couple in their early 20s, jogging in the morning wintry mist, collapsed and never got up again. In Jakarta, a youngster tripped on the dance floor of a discotheque and fell—just this much and he was gone. In Florida, a groom lifted his brand-new bride and suddenly collapsed into a chair holding his chest; before anyone could react, he was gone. It is a long list, and growing.

In India, as in the rest of the world, there is considerable anxiety regarding sudden deaths in young adults—some have speculated that this is a recent phenomenon, linking it to the COVID-19 vaccination. Such alarmists are speaking quite in the bubble, for COVID-19 was not merely a respiratory illness, it affected the inner lining of blood vessels too. During the pandemic, deaths occurred as a result of pneumonia, lung clots, heart disease, myocarditis, sepsis, kidney failure and stroke. Over the long run (this has been verified by the Indian Council of Medical Research), it was found that the vaccinated were less likely to die, compared to those who were not.

What is really happening then that is leading to young deaths? Studies indicate that sudden passing among young adults has a whole lot to do with lifestyles. Unhealthy behaviour such as smoking, drinking, insufficient physical activity and poor dietary patterns are important risk factors of non-communicable diseases. Researchers in Denmark and Spain say healthy lifestyles lower mortality, and that a ‘good lifestyle’ lower this risk by a staggering 66 per cent.

The Americans disagree

Not so, say most of the Americans. Year 2020 saw a spike in deaths in the Americas, smaller than during any pandemic, but an increase nonetheless. Year 2021 was dramatically different, with the rate of death climbing so thick and fast that it led to the CEO of the OneAmerica insurance company, Edward Dowd, claiming that during the third and fourth quarters of the year, death in people aged 18-64 years was 40-per cent higher than before the pandemic.

Then came in a study, which showed that lifestyles had a major part to play, with 79.1 per cent of those surveyed having abnormal Body Mass Index (BMI, read ‘obese’), 51.5 per cent being smokers, 12.1 per cent consumed excessive alcohol, 45 per cent had abnormal sleep durations, 52.8 per cent had insufficient physical activity and 60 per cent had a poor-quality diet.

While on diets, a fast-emerging and unnerving global phenomenon—crash weight loss—needs to be looked at closely, especially since the trend is catching on worldwide and in India. Studies show very-low-calorie weight reduction regimens, involving the consumption of only 300-400 calories per day, consisting entirely or largely of protein, lead to unhealthy metabolism, rapid weight loss, degenerating organs and, eventually, death. This is not anorexia that we are talking about, but a fad that is now running like wildfire through our metropolises.

Since we are talking conspiracies and sudden death, let’s take a quick look at Died Suddenly, a 2022 anti-vaccine film produced by far-right theorist Stew Peters. This dark movie promotes the (baseless?) theory that Covid-19 vaccines are causing healthy individuals to develop blood clots, palming this off as proof that “global elites” are using COVID-19 vaccines to depopulate the planet as part of a broader conspiracy to establish a global, totalitarian regime. Whew.

Depression and pressure

Depression and pressure are playing a part too and India is quite the leader on this front. The average Ram, Rahim and Radnor have never been so willing to put a gun in their mouth and pull the trigger. Something has changed. It is perhaps the failing global economy and India’s terrible assumption of the reality, the divides we see on many fronts, personal financial crises and the fallout, troubles at home and in the workplace, or plain and simple stress. Some or all of these factors are driving the average Indian emotionally and psychologically amok, with the world as they have known it flagellating beyond recognition, lives beyond acceptability. One way or the other, health is lost and death gained, or faith is lost and death embraced.

Look at these numbers—56 million Indians suffer from depression. Global data shared by the World Health Organization shows that economic losses due to mental health will be in excess of US $1 trillion (Rs 84 lakh crore) between FY 2012 and FY 2030. India accounts for 14 per cent of this, as per estimates from the National Mental Health Survey, with one in seven Indians needing mental health support. Further, the National Crime Reporting Bureau claims that 2020-21 saw the maximum number of suicides in Indian history, rising 7.29 per cent in 12 months—1,08,532 men committed suicide, as compared to 44,498 women (71 per cent were male). Experts say 15 per cent of Indians are now inclined to take their own lives.

The only hope is that the authorities take notice—on the physical, economic and emotional fronts—and come up with norms and the means to set things on an even keel, ensuring that a listing ship is up-winded and right-sided. We should remember that Lady Flora Hastings’ death at a young age caused quite the scandal for then young English Queen Victoria when she wrote: “Grieve not that I die young. Is it not well to pass away ere life hath lost its brightness?”

This is no time for scandal, or to give up. We need to be calm and act, and adroitly so.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal