The world was engulfed by the flames of the pandemic, forcing us to retreat into our shells devoid of physical contact and serendipitous conversations that were pillars of our sanity. Amidst such a dreadful situation, there came into our inboxes an email chain that simply asked everyone on the MA DoHSS google group “what’s up?”. The email managed to garner unprecedented engagement and paved way to subsequent email chains that enquired people’s quarantine tunes, shows to binge and insti food that they frightfully miss. Mid-October, as the country was registering an average of fifty thousand cases each day, and students were wading through assignment deadlines that were the more imminent threat, the Alumni Relations Team invited Smita Mujumdar as a speaker for Alum Talks, to discuss ‘Mental Health’ in our department and, general lives. Smita graduated in the year 2015 after which she trained in Mental Health Education from National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences. She founded Monkey Shanti (word play on the phrase ‘mann ki shanti ’) in 2017 with an aim to impart life skills education in a creative manner.
Smita brings with her the experience of having conducted several sessions, workshops revolving around the same theme for college students throughout the country over years. But more importantly, she brings along a rich first-hand experience of having lived on the campus and dwelled within the challenges and expectations of the department. Smita begins the session by taking us through her journey on the campus. From her struggles with Development Studies major, having mental health issues during her time on the campus, her work as a teaching assistant for Life Skills course, to her involvement in the insti thesp scene and her life after college.
Smita, in her courses and sessions emphasises that happiness is not an instance but rather merely an environment under which different emotions (often, “joy”) are performed. Relating it to our circumstances, she goes on deconstructing the environment we find on the campus, i.e. a very competitive one. She talks about the stresses that accumulate from living independently for the first time in our lives, from the confusion of choosing among diverse interests and from the sheer drive to live up to the reputation of a “successful IITian.” Closer home, she talks about the struggles of being in a newly formed department, at least in comparison to the engineering program, having churned out its first batch of students only a decade ago. Although they have all gone on to tread different paths in life, the alumni network is still not that strong. There is hence, a lot of uncertainty in the air. The contrast in the placement scene in the department and outside on the campus does not help either. In addition to the circumstances surrounding us, Smita notes that the MA course itself instills in us a sensibility to be critical at every aspect around us. As a consequence, we see the dissonance between the ideal and the reality surrounding us causing a lot of discomfort and guilt within us.
She also highlighted the lack of proper and effective mental health services available on the campus and the feeble preventive mental health care activities that are present (read: life skills classes). Smita then, moves onto the last part of her talk where she knowingly asks if there is “hope?”. Having adulted for 5 years after insti and having seen a lot more of the world, Smita assures us that regardless of all our insecurities and anxieties, the bigger picture will look good. She emphasizes that each one is in a messy puddle looking at the stars, and each one a different cluster too and hence that each one will figure a way to there. She also asks for patience when aspiring for institutional changes before moving on to suggesting ways in which each one can help themselves at the moment. She asks the students to “ask for help”, help each other out and take care of one’s physical health to ensure a healthy flow of chemicals in the head. The session ended with a couple of pandemic-mental wellness related questions from the audience and a warm conversation that was prompted by the question posed by Smita, “What are your favourite things about campus”.
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