How did you first develop your interest in psychology?
I knew right away that psychology is just the right field for me. At an early age, I was intrigued by the idea of learning about people, studying their behaviour, finding out why they behave in a certain way and helping them deal with them. I always had the nag for it and wanted to pursue it, so I started reading about it, and it intrigued me to the core. I got into Lady Sri Ram College, Delhi University and it being one of the best colleges for psychology, I never looked back. I used to write poetry about people based on their emotions. I just observed people, their ways, feelings, and it allowed me to dive into a more profound sense of their self. This helped me out with my poetry and writing skills and I published my book while still being in college. I am also a trained dancer. I started learning dance professionally at an early stage. By the time I graduated from school, I had earned my degree and was also teaching other students.
With different skills, I was able to teach dance to kids and empathize with others, reaching out to them through my psychological background. Being from a humanities background did not stop me from opening my enterprise. I always wanted to work independently, be it publishing my book or teaching kids how to dance.
Tell us about your venture and the idea behind it.
Education in India is more about marks, less about learning, and questions our emotions and feelings.
The knowledge about therapies and ways to deal with feelings is very inclusive to psychology students but not to the world; that knowledge can help others. It paved the way for me to start Emodite to simplify psychological principles and social-emotional-learning into simple self-help ways to propagate emotional quotient and emotional intelligence into the education system to bring happiness back into education. That was the idea behind starting Emodite.
How did the pandemic affect your work?
We started working in the pandemic, basically in March. It was a difficult task since we had to change our execution plans and also move forward. Conducting workshops on stress management was needed more than ever because it was the need of the hour. We had to mould our workshops according to the school's necessities.
Some of the most challenging parts were reaching out to the schools NS building the team online since multiple brainstorming sessions needed to occur, which was very difficult as people weren't frank and comfortable online. Another challenge was to conduct sessions with 200 students. However, we managed everything and have been working well.
How do you think your venture is beneficial to society?
A lot of workshops have sprouted up by those who do not have any background in psychology. There is just so much pressure on mental health, but most people pursuing psychology are pursuing it for their own benefit. I'll say that knowing your goals is essential in this field because talking to 100 students is not easy, designing the module isn't easy, and many times your mental health might also be suffering. It is infinitely more difficult when you do not know your goal. It takes a lot of hard work to do it. You need to be a constant learner, someone willing to learn from the students, too, since it isn't a one-way thing. Mental health should be accessible to everyone.
What advice would you like to give to the fellow students reading this?
The only message I want to give to my fellow students and entrepreneurs is to start their work, there isn't any right time; it is just now. Keep taking that step. It'll be hard, build relationships, take to people, and understand their ways, behaviours, and demands and situations. Do not get hindered when someone says you're too young or old. You do you focussing on yourself and your work. It will all be worth one day.
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