A Glimpse into the Events
दोBaatein
On 16 March, दोBaatein, the offline edition of Ted Stories, was held at TOT Studio, Lajpat Nagar. Founded by Neha Duseja and Hritik Vats, the platform offers a safe, non-judgemental space for artists and individuals to share poems, stories, and lived experiences – qissas and kahaniyanalike. Through performances addressing love, loss, self-worth, and mental health stigma, the event fostered emotional safety and peer connection. Hosted by Swastika Rajput, with a guest performance by Herok Pal, the evening demonstrated how storytelling functions as an accessible, early mental health intervention.
Dear Prakarti
The Mind Diaries also partnered with Dear Prakarti (Kala aur Kranti 04: Prakarti aur Mai), a nature-based baithak led by Pragya Sikka and Harshit Singh at Qila Rai Pithoda. Using tactile art practices and guided dialogue, participants explored climate change, development, displacement, and environmental anxiety through lived experience. The session concluded with reflective commitments to sustainable action, transforming climate concern into personal responsibility.
As a media partner, The Mind Diaries amplified these grassroots efforts, extending their reach and reinforcing the role of arts-led dialogue in building emotional resilience, social awareness, and community well-being. Funding support enables continued partnerships that bring such critical conversations into the public sphere.
No Shame Chapter 5.0 | Challenging Stigma Through Poetry and Storytelling
No Shame Chapter 5.0, presented by The Modern Poets at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Saket, was a powerful poetry and storytelling programme that confronted everyday forms of shaming and their impact on mental health. The Mind Diaries partnered as the media partner, amplifying voices that are often unheard and narratives that challenge deeply normalised social behaviour.
The programme created a safe platform for artists and participants to speak openly about body shaming, colour shaming, voice shaming, marital rape, grief, and identity – issues that are frequently dismissed as ‘harmless’ comments but can cause lasting psychological harm. Performances addressed how language, judgment, and social conditioning shape self-worth and emotional well-being.
Through deeply personal poems and stories, participants reflected on the hidden weight of everyday remarks – questions about appearance, voice, skin tone, or body size – that are rarely questioned yet deeply internalised.