SHAKTI PERSPECTIVES

Shakti perspectives: Dilpreet

Growing up a Desi girl is hard enough let alone have the space to talk about mental health. In a bid to prove I am not weak because I am a girl or that I will not cry over a loss because “that’s what girls do”, I somewhere lost the need to talk about the bad times. And the bad times were a real deal quite often. I started working a lot – on a lot of different projects – to solidify I am not less than any Desi boy. 

Trust me, when everyone comments how unfortunate your family is because you’re two daughters – life is not easy. Now, I am at a point where I have too much to do, anxieties are skyrocketing & I can only push through – because that’s the only thing I know to do. If I was privileged enough to know what counselling can do, I may have turned out to be a calmer person. I am learning self care, sometimes when it gets bad, I watch a Bollywood film, call an old friend or sit in the sun with a cup of chai. It helps as much as it can and things seem doable for sometime.
Desi parents need to learn how to talk to their children and I don’t mean the usual “how was school” maybe try “how’re you” once in a while. Understand what societal pressures can do to us so we don’t grow up self-hating, overworking but somehow powering through tired Desi kids.