Dhruvatara

“When I discover who I am, I will be free”  - Ralph Ellison When was the last time you sat on your balcony with a cup of your favourite black coffee, wandering how beautifully your money plant is growing so fast and green? When was the last time you sat with your parents along with that old family photo album? When was the last time you played home cricket or dolls house together with your child? Well, while we are together fighting the time of COVID - 19, a time of panic, fear, doubts and social distancing, a time of complete lock down and no office work to do, can we make this time useful in any other way? Well, what about rediscovering ourselves? In this era of extremely busy schedules and long working hours, keeping in mind that we have got a few days off, why don’t we sit a bit, relax and do what we really wanted to do but never had time? Why don’t we just get to know ourselves on this quarantine? Here are some ways… START WITH YOUR FAVORITE HO...

We are social beings --- the need to belong, to be accepted, loved and respected is so important for us. However the current situation demands that we isolate ourselves and remain confined in our homes with our families and connect to the outer world through audio / visual media. Thank god for technology but it can get impersonal too. We miss meeting the people we relax and enjoy with. Our chats over coffee, watching movies together, our walks and even going to work. We miss our routine what we have so long been accustomed to.  I would like to share some simple ways to handle this phase: Firstly we need to keep reminding ourselves that this is a temporary period, a passing phase . Very soon we will get back to our routine and look back at this period in terms of lessons learnt, possibly the patience that we have developed which was earlier not there and the challenges we faced that might have changed us forever. Also aren’t we the blessed ones as there are so ma...

Starshine Lock down you say Nay if I may... Isolation is God's consolation It's not vacation It's our resurrection Emerge from the earth To understand the dearth Of love, affection and care The dark and the hideous They thought they had it all Until came a darker but brighter force to stall Arrogance, power, greed and hate Treachery, betrayal, our fate As the world cried God said, it's still not too late my mate, For the good to rise and shine I grant you my forces divine! Reach out to those suffering For they are looking for the light Born is a Dhruvatara so bright! So here we are to stay Isolation, lock down, vacation nay... With a  heart filled with love and care With hope and courage we too dare It's not too late as said God We can heal the earth Of its dearth Someone has to do it you know So here we are with a bow To hear all you want to say As we live again  another day ...

The MoHFW has listed down few of the best suggestions to combat CORONA Virus scare! Here's what you can do! Sourced from MoHFW ( https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ ) Compiled by Gyanshruti Mukherjee Image source: Google

Gujarat Digital Academy for Mental Health in collaboration with NIMHANS and ECHO India conducted a special session on 30 th March 2020 for “Training on Psychological First Aid” for Counsellors and Psychologists, during COVID-19 pandemic. The resource person was Dr. Mukesh Patel and the session was an initiative by the Government of Gujarat. The session highlighted the difference between tragedy and disaster. A disaster is an unfortunate consequence where there is great damage or loss of life and there is a complete failure as we can see in the current scenario. Developed nations are also not being able to manage the situation. Often times we prepare ourselves to manage a disaster when it is approaching us or manage the situation after the disaster already took place. But with COVID-19 we are in the disaster and the world is witnessing something that it has never witnessed before. §   The impact of the disaster can be personal, on a family  level,  soci...