Students from 20 schools, led by Aditya Birla World Academy, took part in the second edition of ‘The Happy Place’, India’s first student-led mental health festival, on October 13 and 14.
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The inter-school festival was co-hosted by the Mpower initiative of the Aditya Birla Education Trust and the Aditya Birla World Academy.
The competitions were crafted to bring out the various themes related to mental health, apart from various students’ talent in fields like music, dance, photography, public speaking and drama. The aim of the festival is to encourage students to explore and share their understanding of mental health from their perspective.
This year, over 200 young participants came together to talk about mental health wellness in India through workshops, engaging activities and creative competitions over the weekend. Students across Classes VIII to XII brought their unique energy, ideas, talents, and passion to deeply engage with the topic of mental health through varied academic and artistic media.
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The festival is the brainchild of Neerja Birla, founder and chairperson, Mpower. Ms. Birla said it is an endeavour to affect change and proactively champion mental health causes and create awareness. “The Happy Place is an initiative that aims to encourage students to have conversations about mental health. Young people have an amazing capacity to champion and promote the things that they believe in. We need to empower them by creating awareness, fostering education and alleviating stigma vis-à-vis mental health. If our youth, the change-makers, can subscribe to the simple idea, ‘It is okay not to be okay’, then the world will be a better place for all of us,” she said.
Radhika Sinha, principal of Aditya Birla World Academy, said youth can bring about change in this country by carrying forward a thought. “Mental health is a stigmatised topic in our country. Over the past few years, we have seen a rise in individuals talking about mental health.”