(April 17, 2022) At 17, Aaryani Sahay knows a thing or two about mental health awareness. The young changemaker became a social entrepreneur after she launched Project Let’s Talk in 2018 in a bid to break the stigma around mental health and to create awareness among adolescents. Started in partnership with counselling skills assets, the project conducts sessions across rural and urban schools in Karnataka, and currently has an 18-member team apart from 200 volunteers. The team has so far conducted more than 180 awareness sessions and impacted over 20,000 people.
Aaryani Sahay, founder, Let’s Talk
This has earned the Bengaluru resident several awards, including the Diana Award, the Karamveer Chakra, the Indian Achiever’s Award, and the Young Leaders Creating a Better World for All award by the Women’s Economic Forum. However, not without her share of challenges. “It took me a long time to disclose to my parents, teachers, and friends about my mental health issues. When I did, I found many adolescents around me opening up about their mental health issues too. This inspired me to start Let’s Talk,” the young changemaker and social entrepreneur, who finished her IB Diploma from The International School Bangalore, says.
From darkness to light
Today, this young changemaker is full of joy. However, this was not the case five years ago when she was battling mental health issues herself, curled up in bed, frequently missing school, and unable to sleep. Her panic attacks and resultant breathing troubles were initially diagnosed as a seasonal bronchitis attack. But the teenager knew it wasn’t bronchitis but a mental health issue. She finally summoned the courage to confide in her parents. A year of therapy later, she was finally better and ready to embrace life as a teen.
Today, her mother, a businesswoman, is her biggest support system. Given her own struggles with mental health, Aaryani is determined to create a world where nobody hesitates to seek support.
Domestic violence, academic pressure, bullying, low self-esteem, uncertainty about the future, and financial constraints are some of the topics openly discussed during the sessions. Focusing on taking care of one’s mental health in such scenarios, dealing with vulnerability, and being comfortable in talking about their emotions is a priority. Since volunteers are of the same age group, inhibitions are usually shed easily and connections fostered.
Going strong
Aaryani lists empathy, integrity, authenticity, and leading with kindness as her core values and enjoys exploring the intersection between psychology, anthropology, economics, and political science. Adept at public speaking and advocacy, she has been reaching out to people through events, sessions, posters, and the project’s portal so that they can access hotlines and learn about mental illness, including its symptoms and treatments options.
As an Ashoka Young Changemaker, who was selected as one of the top 19 from over 1,800 candidates, Aaryani works with Ashoka Innovators to empower youth through national and international projects. The smart orator has given insights on her advocacy on reputed platforms like TEDx, the women’s initiative for social entrepreneurship summit at IIM Kozhikode, the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and 1M1B Activate Impact Summit, United Nations, New York. She also spoke at the UN summit that had representatives from 11 other projects in attendance; Let’s Talk was voted the number one project by panelists.
A good start
The Bengaluru teen launched Project Let’s Talk with co-founder Kashish Singh in 2018 after attending a course ‘Future Leaders’ by the 1M1B Foundation. The project works towards creating safe spaces for students and the content which is delivered is created in collaboration with experts.
Aaryani with Let’s Talk’s co founder, Kashish in an interactive session
Initially, the duo faced challenges in terms of resistance from schools as they could not trust such young girls discussing a sensitive topic with their students. However, with persistence, the situation began to change. The other challenge was language: with Kannada being the language of communication in government schools, the duo roped in translators to bridge the gap.
Pandemic and mental health
With mental health ailments going up during the pandemic, Let’s Talk pioneered a nationwide webinar, chapter, and mental health brochures to promote mental well-being. More than 1,000 mental health brochures have been distributed and 35 chapters have been launched across India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. “We have a replicable model, and we provide mentorship to chapter heads with our insights,” informs the young changemaker.
She also co-authored The Book of Wellness with mental and physical health experts. Proceeds of ₹1 lakh raised from the sale of the book were sent to MCKS Food for The Hungry Foundation to provide over 7,000 meals.
Action, reaction and intervention
Aaryani has also developed the ARI (Action, Reaction, and Intervention) framework. “Schools need to take action and conduct regular mental health classes just like physical fitness classes with a focus on normalising the sharing of emotions. Since students spend most of their time with teachers, there should be empathy from their end. Schools need to know how to intervene and provide an environment where students know where to go on a bad day,” says the youngster, who loves to unwind with a good book, painting, and yoga.
- Follow Aaryani Sahay on Linkedin
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