IMAGINARY FEARS

On July 21, 1996, a tragic event took place in Subramanyapura, Bangalore. A boy named G. Harish Babu, who was a fourth-grade student at Vivekananda Higher Primary School, locked himself in a room at his home, poured kerosene over himself, and set his clothes on fire. As a result, he died from his burns. According to newspaper reports, the cause was his fear of failing in the exams:

“Fear of failure in examinations.”

The boy’s father, G. Gopinath, stated that Harish came home from school as he normally did. He told his mother, Leela, that his teacher wanted to see her. So, Leela went to the school. Afterwards, Harish went into the kitchen, locked the door, and set himself on fire. When neighbours heard the commotion, they rushed over. But when they broke open the kitchen door and pulled the boy out, they discovered that he had already died from the fire.

When Harish’s mother, Leela, reached the school, she received his report card. She was very happy to see it because her son had scored 379 out of 600 marks. However, when she got home, her joy turned to sadness as she found out that her son had committed suicide (The Times of India, July 22, 1996).

If Harish Babu had waited a few more hours, he would have realized that his fear was completely unfounded. He had passed the exam with good marks, but his imaginary fears consumed him to the point that he took his own life out of fear.

People often misjudge situations and become caught up in fears, only to find later that those fears never come true. When something is not immediately reachable, put it in the waiting category instead of seeing it as impossible and falling into despair and hopelessness.