Friends, faculty mourn suicide of University student

New details are coming out in the June 8 suicide of College and Wharton senior Shalini Narwani. As family and friends mourn the loss of Shalini Narwani, a bright, soft-spoken woman bound for the international arena, new details have surfaced about her suicide. Narwani, a College and Wharton senior, shot herself in the chest last week in her Center City apartment. She was 21. Sharmila Narwani, Shalini's sister and a first-year design student at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, found her sister dead the morning of June 8 and immediately alerted police, according to Philadelphia Police Detective Sean Brennan. Police arrived on the scene at 10:52 a.m. and quickly ruled the death a suicide. Narwani left a note that "stated she was depressed," Brennan said. He declined to comment on the contents of the note or on the details of the incident. Although friends and professors said they were shocked by the circumstances surrounding Narwani's death, several said Narwani appeared to be disenchanted with life after studying abroad in India last fall. Narwani, who was concentrating in Hindi and Finance through the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, first journeyed to Pune, India in the summer of 1996 under a PennAbroad program, and returned to the country last fall under a Wharton School program. "The genesis of the problem lay there," Penn-in-India Director Surendra Gambhir said, noting that Narwani stayed for the duration of the summer program but left the Wharton program mid-way through the fall semester. College and Wharton senior Jessica Polansky, who shared a room with Narwani freshman year, said her friend had problems with the strict curfews and cultural differences she encountered in India, which translated into a noticeable difference in her personality upon her return to campus. "She had always been quiet, but now she was quiet and depressed," Polansky said. "She kept on saying that she needed to get into the swing of things." Narwani spent the remainder of the fall semester with her family in Trinidad. But according to College and Wharton senior Cherianne Clarke, her friend's experience in India had "broken her spirit." That spirit, according to those who knew her, was embodied by a studious, sweet and articulate woman nicknamed Shal, who was destined for the corporate world. "Whenever I saw Shalini, I used to imagine her interacting in the corporate worlds of the United States and India," said Gambhir, a senior lecturer in South Asian Languages and Linguistics who taught Narwani in a first-year Hindi class. "She was one of the best on campus," he added. College and Wharton senior Katherine Winquist said Narwani impressed her entire history seminar with her motivation and eloquence. "When she spoke, you listened," Winquist stressed. And Polansky recalled a smiling Narwani who enjoyed dancing at the Diwali celebrations sponsored by the South Asian society. Narwani, a Hindu of Indian descent, developed an interest in Hindi and Indian culture early in her Penn career, Polansky noted. Narwani took a leave of absence from the University last spring and had been living with her sister at the Wanamaker House, located at 2020 Walnut Street. "She said she wasn't feeling well... and I told her to take care of her health," said Gambhir, recalling the conversation he had with his former student about her intended leave. Narwani had switched to a vegetarian diet in India and had not been eating properly since her return to the states, Clark said. Last month, Polansky, who is currently studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina, received an e-mail from Narwani in which her friend acknowledged that she was depressed. "She's not the type of person that would say that," Polansky said, adding that the message disturbed her. Narwani's family could not be reached for comment yesterday. The Huntsman Program will hold a memorial service for Narwani in the fall. A date has not yet been scheduled.

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