Phone A friend

Nikshubha Garg chats with psychologist Shruti Naik, who kicked a cushy job and moved to the interiors of Telangana to help distressed farmers

- Nikshubha Garg

A farmer gives birth to a baby in Adilabad (Telangana), but is unable to lactate due to malnutrition. Bogged down by the helplessness, she asks her husband to fetch some milk powder to feed the newborn. He blatantly refuses owing to lack of money. An argument follows, and a few days later, the woman consumes herbicide. She is rushed to the hospital, but doctors are unable to save her life.

In another incident, sensing the pressure her husband was under, a farmer’s wife tells him to seek consultation, but he doesn’t believe that mere conversation can yield positive results. A week later, unable to deal with years of bottled up emotions and stress, he commits suicide.

These are just a couple of the countless instances that Shruti Naik, a psychologist at Kisan Mitra, a distress helpline for farmers in Telangana, has encountered.