Every Indian is helping CBI solve the Sushant Singh Rajput death mystery. News channels are all over it. Covid has taken a back seat as the novelty of the virus and the deaths associated with it has worn off. I guess human beings have always loved solving mysteries which explains the innumerable tv shows and films on murders, crimes, horrors, thrillers and what not. In fact I struggle to find a few good movie for N and myself to watch. Not the childish ones but not yet adult shows. ( Recommendations always welcome!)
Scrolling through corona updates on Twitter, it did shock me to read about Sushant Singh! Not that I’m interested in how he died but the death itself! I was neither a fan of him or his work, but our connection started from his first work, the tv show Pavitra Rishta. I was newly married, recently shifted to Bangalore and jobless playing with TV remote whole day. I accidentally started following the tv show from the start as the female lead was also named “Archana”! Though I discontinued it when the Saas Bahu drama strengthened, I kept following the fresh duo (or Best Jodi as they say) and their journey from being on screen lovers to a real couple. As like any other fan girl, I was thrilled to know Ankita and Sushant were dating in real life! I couldn’t follow much on their dance reality shows due to timing mismatch, but was disheartened to know that they broke up after so many years! Also, “Kai Po Che” was one of the rare movies we saw in theatres, as mostly it was an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat book (as part of the CB book phase) and also because of Sushant!
So apart from how his death became sudden jolt to me, it also affected that his death came soon after another death in our family. The atmosphere was depressing enough and my thoughts were all about death and shortness of life, life as a glass or a blink and all that. There was a Whatsapp forward that we miss the initial days of Corona when we were baking cakes and doing Dalgona coffee! Yes, I miss it too. The change of air brought by death in any family is huge, yet silent and subtle.
Long back I was deeply inspired by Dr.Brian Weiss regarding after life and spirits. Then there was a phase where I was introduced to Reiki. These beliefs helps in bringing stress relief and helps in detaching from material possessions indeed. It used to scare me like any other to know that money or house or other attachments are not permanent. Then it became easy to let go just like learning to let go of imperfections or anger. Another book, Brida by Paulo Coelho talks about witchcraft. For continuity I kept searching about the real practitioners, real witches, vampires (after the Twilight book series). It astonished me that there are real people who do all these in every parts of the world. Under different names, different rituals, similar beliefs, but a whole new world to explore. I stumbled upon recently about spirit sessions with Sushant Singh Rajput which reveals that he was murdered! The catch is that “Unless you believe, spirituality never works best for you”. That’s what the practitioners say about all of them. It makes me wonder, then how different it is from religious rituals.
As per this relevant article in The Hindu by Jeena Papaadi, discussion on death is needed with loved ones to bring about the closure. The sudden death of one elderly person has affected others in the circle and though the fear is invisible, its the helplessness I am scared of. The resignation of “nothing can be done” or “that’s how life is” doesn’t bring calmness at all. Yet, death has got us all connected in one way or other. In the silent grief or in thinking about the end, we dwell upon immortality. “Living in hearts” is a balm applied every now and then to pacify ourselves. As with Sushant Singh Rajput, he will be remembered for this mysterious death, if not for his films!
