“Conversations about how it’s okay to have a vulnerable day help others see that it’s part of life and human experience,” said Devanshi Rao, Counselling Psychotherapist at NMIMS Navi Mumbai, during a panel on The Role of Community in Mental Health and Well-Being. The discussion also featured Anmolpreet Singh, Organisational and Community Psychologist, and Ipsita Chatterjee, Psychotherapist and Founder of Thehraav: Unwind Your Mind.
SVKM’s NMIMS School of Liberal Arts, Navi Mumbai, marked Mental Health Awareness Week with a two-day celebration that invited students to reflect on well-being, explore the impact of community, and participate in activities designed to foster emotional intelligence, awareness, and empathy.
Devanshi Rao highlighted how everyday interactions shape mental health: “Community is anything that is around a person, peers, colleagues, friends, or even individuals who may not have deep interaction but are part of their lives. For example, the people we commute with, house helps, and family all create different impacts. Someone pushes me, I feel frustrated. Someone says something, ‘How to walk!’, it can still create a deep impact on me. Because the community around us defines what is good, what is healthy. It defines how an ideal self develops, what is healthy, what is unhealthy.”
Ipsita Chatterjee pointed out invisible aspects of inclusion and privilege: “It’s important to remember the margins, gender, sexuality, caste, and invisible labor that keeps community going. I think you start with yourself. We all have biases; acknowledging them is crucial.”
She further explained, “With so many of us being women, to be allowed to get educated, then to be educated in an English medium, it starts there. Look at how we enter campuses, can someone with a wheelchair enter easily? Inclusivity begins with being aware of privilege and taking accountability.”
Anmolpreet Singh reflected on acts of kindness and collective experiences: “When I just moved to Mumbai, I didn’t know how to travel by local trains. Somebody helped me book the ticket and guided me to the platform. That one act of kindness gave me a perspective about the full community. Born as a millennial, we used to play outside and have real conversations. Later, digital connections left us more individualistic. Social anxiety and being antisocial are now romanticized terms, rather than understanding what community means as a whole. Indian communities are collectivist; even at 50, parents’ guide you, that is community.”
As part of the celebrations, SVKM’s NMIMS invited 36 children from Renaissance Organisation, an NGO, to the campus for thoughtfully planned interactive activities designed to nurture well-being and emotional growth. The children explored a cognitive room, expressed themselves at an art corner, experienced calm and relaxation in a tranquil tent, and enjoyed a movie screening, creating an immersive and supportive environment for reflection, self-expression, and the development of emotional skills.
Students also explored Whispers and Wonders, participating in hands-on games such as Sensory Box Mystery, Mind Match, Emotion Match Cards, and Mind Scrabble, alongside team-building activities like Community Tower and Shared Goal Jenga. Events including Voices for Change, Hand to Heart, Notes From The Heart, and Mood and Mocha encouraged self-expression, empathy, and personal growth. The celebration concluded with One Stage, Countless Connections, a vibrant tribute to togetherness and community spirit.
