Brave Talk Initiative by Maybelline New York in collaboration with Yuvaa

“You do not have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.”
– Daniel Jay Millman

With increasing awareness of mental health in present times, The Bhawanipur Education Society College opened its door to yet another initiative by Maybelline New York in collaboration with Yuvaa to start an active conversation about tips to address mental health in a new way. The “Brave Talk” initiative was a unique model that focused on combating mental health issues among teenagers in society. The session was held on the 12th of March in the Concept Hall from 11:00 AM to 1.00 PM.

It was evident that mental health is a much more relevant topic in today’s youth populace when more than 300 students from all disciplines in the college flocked to enter the venue and eagerly awaited to hear more from the speaker, Ms Janaki Godariya. Ms. Godariya, a Masters in Clinical Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, who works under Community & Campaigns at Yuvaa addressing issues such as gender, sexuality, mental health, and communal harmony was felicitated by Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi, Coordinator B.Com (Morning). She began by requesting the audience interact with her and encouraged them to stand up and express or share their thoughts or personal experiences regardless of judgment.

To enhance the learning of the students, Ms.Devki used a PowerPoint presentation that the Jed Foundation, a non-profit organization developed on protection of emotional health and prevention of suicide for teens and young adults in the United States. The ppt presentation that was displayed contained important tools that would help a person provide comfort to peers struggling with anxiety or depression and navigate through hard conversations. In her speech, she highlighted how aspects like the need for financial independence and achieving success can weigh down a teenager at this age while also commenting on how ironic it is that youngsters are highly vocal about mental health in reel life but suppress their true emotions and feelings in real life.

The other part of the 90-minute seminar put forth a ‘Guide on how to become a better friend’ which contained eye-catching information like the “BRAVE model for helping a friend”, and “BRAVE steps on how to be a better friend” that drew the students attention. The seminar ended with an activity where Ms.Devki asked everyone to close their eyes, inhale and pause for 3 seconds, then exhale their thoughts. After exhaling she asked 1 question after the other and asked everyone to clap once if they agreed with that statement. The aim was to create self-awareness among each other and help everyone realise that they are not alone and that others share the same feelings.

The session ended at 12:30 PM where students vacated the hall with a hamper from Maybelline New York which was the cherry on the cake. Such workshops are a constant reminder to be kind and are key to the regular well-being of students.

Reporter – Aniket Dasgupta
Photographer – Paras Gupta