News.Scotland.Org

October, 6

He was one of the rarest visitor to Scottland’s eastern shore, he battled for hours before taking his last breath, he succumbed to his injuries, last night was a black day for him. He is said to be the guardian of the sea, this young basking shark died many miles away from his home.

Eye witness told that this rare visitor struggled for few hours at the Fisherrow in Musselburgh. This all started at 8am, many local resident rushed to the coast to take a glimpse of this rarest sight. One of the nearby resident Heather Walker and her husband said that they sighted some moment at the beach; they waded out on the shore to check what’s there, and were alarmed to see a basking shark fighting hard to survive.

The Scottish SPCA and medical team with Dr Mauvis Gore, a basking shark expert reached the site to rescue the fish. By that time a huge crowd was also there to see drama. This 3.2metre-long shark was wounded said Stuart Davenport, a marine mammal medic. He said by looking at the fish it seems it has been hit by something. By this it would have got disorientated and came to the shore.

Many of the marine experts expressed that these sharks are rarely seen on the coast, it may be possible that there was not enough food which forced it to come up to the shore. The basking shark battled till afternoon and by that time even the experts had left hopes to rescue it. Later a specialist vet was called on to end his life, all eyes were on this creature as it finally moved for the last time.

Occtober, 5

In an effort to break the age old stigma about mental illness, comedians are all set to address this sensitive issue by using their humour skills. This new way to make people understand the need to break such taboos is a nice beginning to tackle this huge dilemma. Taking initiative comedians will take the centre stage in the Scotland’s first Mental Health Arts and Film Festival which showcases films, debates, exhibitions and other events.

In an effort to change the ideology of people towards mental illness, which even many comedians are victims of by humour as a tool to project this dilemma. It is known that many famous comedians like Stephen Fry and late Spike Milligan have suffered from dispersion in their career. Expressing his views Raymond Mearns one of the comedians said, comedy would make people to understand this serious issue which they may have ignored if told in some another way.

We are eyeing to project this huge problem in a lighter and humorous way cutting the boring aspect of it, said Mearn. Mr Mearns, star of BBC Scotland sitcom Legit, also appears in a new DVD which will be launched at this festival. With the help of humour he had tried to narrate the story of a man’s battle against stress.

In this fast life where one has no time for himself, all are at some point caught under stress and mental tensions. Mr Mearns further added that there are many people I know who have suffered by this stress factor in their lives. Gail Porter, an Edinburgh born TV presenter was the victim of anorexia and manic depression; she even tried for suicide at one time of her life. Humour is a best tool one can use to present a serious matter in a simpler way, says Suzie Vestri, acting director of the campaign group See Me.

Earlier humour and comedy were used only to undermine and humiliate people with mental health problems as figures of fun. But now it is helping people address these issues making it acceptable to talk about them, said Lee Kniston, the director of the festival.

With the start of this festival which lasts on 19th, lets hope people understands the message these comedian will feature in their humour style. And the thinking of the people also changes about the mental illness and they take it in a positive way.