'A small time sociology student, with uncontrollable reactive reflexes.' That's how Rohith Vemula, the research scholar, who was found hanging in a hostel room at Hyderbad Central University, had described himself on his Facebook profile.
Skimming through Rohith's Facebook timeline, all the while discovering a whole new dimension of the PhD scholar, were it not for the fact that media is constantly feeding us with the details of his death, one does not feel this Chaplin-quoting, Vivekananda-hating, Ambedkar-loving guy would ever give suicide a thought.
His suicide note reads: “The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust. In very field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living.” Prolific, yes, and therein lies his genius, in what perhaps was written minutes before his death.
Fairly active on Facebook, Rohith had shared quite a lot of images on his profile page. Here, we share a few poignant ones.
In an album titled My Home, which was updated a year ago from Savitribai Nagar, Guntur, he had shared these: