Lonely planet

Lonely planet

The seemingly disparate deaths of Nadira, 73, and Kuljeet Randhawa, 26, have a common thread: loneliness. Is this the new epidemic in Mumbai?

Mumbai Mirror Bureau

On the face of it, the deaths of two actresses in the city yesterday were entirely unrelated. But there was something in common between the queen of yesteryear Nadira and promising TV actress Kuljeet Randhawa: a sense of loneliness that a fast-paced urban culture breeds.

While Nadira had been out of the public glare for several years now and was living alone in her spacious Peddar Road flat, Randhawa had recently gained great visibility on television and had a growing set of friends. Yet, while in one case, the apparent seclusion fed a sense of loneliness, in the other, a failed relationship created the feeling of being alone in a mammoth crowd and exacerbated depression.

According to actress Deepti Naval, Nadira's closest friend in her last few years, "Loneliness was Nadira Aapa's main problem.

There was so much love in her that she wanted to give, and so much love that she wanted in return. Whenever she felt lonely, she would call me. She'd often ask me, "When are you going to come and be with me?""

Randhawa too lived alone in her Juhu apartment and was part of an urban culture where excessive work at a crazy pace can leave little room for inner growth and fulfilling relationships.

Deconstructing the phenomenon, Dr Harish Shetty, one of Mumbai's leading psychiatrists, said: "Mumbai does not walk but runs. So while you can connect to someone in New York, thanks to a computer, you may not be able to do so with someone next door. The pace results in exhaustion, depression and anger against oneself. This anger against oneself is the reason for self-harm or suicide."