In this episode of Stories of Change, we talk with Ekta Prakash Sharma, Founder of Humanising Lives on how her nonprofit uses storytelling to reduce the stigma around mental health.

Transcript of this episode 

Simit: Thank you so much Ekta, for being on this podcast. Really a pleasure to have you here.

Ekta: Thank you, Simit. It’s a new experience for me altogether.

Simit: Great. You’ve been working in the mental health space for some time now. Could you tell us a little bit about the work that Humanising Lives is doing?

Ekta: So, Humanising Lives is a non-profit organisation which we started in the first phase of the pandemic. It was a very simple space with the idea that people needed somewhere to talk and share what they were going through. There were no strategies involved, like a clinical space or a therapist.

We just started with the concept that someone needed to hear you out. But yes, of course, it’s always good to have a trained professional. So we hired a team of fresh psychologists and we began creating this space where people could come and talk about their sorrows, issues, anxieties, depression, and then slowly it started growing into a full-fledged organisation.

Now we have around a team of 11 psychologists, 6 or 7 junior psychologists, and 4 or 5 senior psychologists. Everyone and anyone is welcome here to share whatever they want. If they need a safe, non-judgmental space, we are here for them.

Simit: Even today, there’s a stigma around mental health. People don’t want to talk about it because, the moment you say, “I’m seeking therapy” or “I’m going through certain issues,” people judge you. There’s a certain way they look at you. 

As an organisation, how do you drive the narrative that it’s okay? You don’t have to be ‘sick’ to take therapy, and it’s normal. How do you normalise therapy?

Ekta: One thing I’ve experienced with my organisation is that a lot of times these conversations only reach you through social media, or if somebody is sharing their story. Storytelling is the most powerful medium—that’s how you create empathy. Sometimes we take permission from our clients and ask, “Can we share your story on social media?”

Storytelling is the most powerful medium—that’s how you create empathy.

They often say, “Yes, you can share it, or you can remove certain parts of my story, or tweak it a bit so that it doesn’t look exactly like mine.” They do allow us sometimes. When we share stories, people read them, and sometimes the representation is so strong that it just hits you, and you feel like, “Oh God, this is so me.”

That feeling of so me and so relatable comes through storytelling. People drop into the DMs and say, “This is what I’ve been through. Can we talk? How does it work?” We guide them, and sometimes we also have conversations over a call to explain what therapy is, what the involvement is, and what commitment is needed from them and from us.

In my personal experience as a founder, most of our clients come to us either through word of mouth or because we shared certain stories on Instagram.

Simit: You made a very important point about the role of storytelling. In your experience, when it comes to the stigma around mental health, do you see a shift with more people, including celebrities, talking about it? 

Ekta: Most definitely. The reason I mentioned storytelling is that when people read or hear someone else’s story, they think, “Oh, they’re sharing. They’re speaking up.” We all have similar stories, but we’re all hiding them. Someone’s story always gives you the strength to say, “If they can speak, so can I.” It’s like when you cross a road or go to a haunted place—you want someone to hold your hand so you’re not alone.

A story does the same thing. It makes you think, “If they can talk, why can’t I? The same thing happened to me.” Storytelling helps us remove that stigma, because what you’re going through is very common. It’s not just you. It’s most of us. Most mental health issues, anxieties, or stress stem from daily life struggles.

Storytelling helps us remove that stigma, because what you’re going through is very common. It’s not just you.

Whether it’s work, your spouse, your family, parenting, or just you and your friends, you are a byproduct of your environment. In the end, everyone has a similar story. You sit with four people, and all four will have a similar experience. So when we share these stories on social media—maybe through a live session, maybe through a post—it creates a connection. Sometimes, we also post stories of celebrities like Hrithik Roshan or Alia Bhatt, who are vocal about their mental health.

Alia Bhatt has spoken internationally, in Arabic Vogue and elsewhere, about her anxiety and how she manages it. She recently mentioned she has Attention Deficit Disorder. These are stories we read in magazines, see on Instagram, or watch on TV, and they create empathy. It makes people think, “If they can talk about it, why can’t I?”

That’s how we’re tackling the stigma—by normalising it through storytelling, through sharing our struggles and experiences across all platforms.

Simit: As you mentioned, celebrities are sharing their experiences and stories, and I noticed that on your social media you’ve been posting stories of everyday people—about their experiences, their battles with mental health. Could you tell us more about how this started and the idea behind it?

Ekta: When we initially started the social media page, because that’s where most of the clients come from and where most people learn about mental health and how our organisation works, we posted things like tips on anxiety and depression, which every other page was doing. I feel people are very much aware of these things now.

We don’t really need to tell them the five tips or ten signs anymore. Everyone is reading about it; the information is available. You can read it, Google it. What we felt was different, though, was when we started bringing stories to the page. These were very authentic, relatable stories, and after reading them, people felt, “This could be me.” We started receiving messages.

People would say, “This has exactly happened to me.” Because when you share stories, it creates a bond. As you read them, you visualise them. That dopamine release you get from reading stories makes you feel connected to the person, even if you don’t know them. It’s that connection.

That bond gives people the feeling, “I think it’s time I talk about this too.” This is what happened when we started sharing stories. Our stories really helped people come to us and become more aware of mental health issues. They realised it’s not just a mental health problem, but a daily life struggle we need to share and talk about, which might make us feel better. So that’s how it started.

Our stories really helped people come to us and become more aware of mental health issues.

We began focusing more on stories, and there are no visuals—just words. But when people read them, they create their own visuals. They enjoy it and form a bond with that unknown person in the story. Reading it gives them strength to come out and talk about their own issues after seeing others share theirs.

Simit: Absolutely. I’m sure when you’re dealing with mental health and such sensitive topics, privacy is something you need to be cautious about. How do you handle privacy when sharing these stories? 

Ekta: These are general stories we come across from people who share with us, and we ask, “Are you okay with us posting this?” They’re often more than happy for us to share it, because they feel, “If this can help others, why not?” We do change names, we tweak the story a bit, and we don’t include any parts they don’t want shared.

It’s their story, their life, so we have to be respectful when we share it on social media. It’s an open platform and everyone can read it, interpret it, and take from it what they will. But yes, we always have full consent. These are general stories from people we meet and talk to.

Sometimes, it’s even the story of a friend or relative, and they’re okay with it being shared. That’s how we do it.

Simit: While you’ve been working on Humanising Lives for the last few years, I’m sure you’ve come across many stories. Some must have really inspired you. Is there one or two that stand out—something that has really motivated or inspired you? It could be any story of resilience, any story of heartbreak or whatever, you know. Is there anything that you would want to share?

Ekta: So, I’ll tell you one thing. I was a very different person when I started Humanising Lives. And once I started Humanising Lives and I started getting to know so many stories about relationships, parenting, marital issues, and any kind of relationship, it just changed me as a person. I’m the most non-judgemental person right now.

And this all happened because of the stories I got to know through my organisation about what people are going through. I really can’t name one story because every story has brought some changes to me. And today, I can frankly tell you one thing: there is no right and wrong. Everyone has their own right, and everyone has their own wrong.

I really can’t name one story because every story has brought some changes to me. And today, I can frankly tell you one thing: there is no right and wrong.

For me, it’s just a situation where people react in a certain way because that is what they feel is correct at that time. Maybe when I hear it, I think, “No, what you did was wrong.” But that was right for them. So I have just stopped being judgemental. I stopped thinking, “This should have happened like this. This should have happened like that.” Everyone has their own truths. Everyone has their own rights.

And one story which really brings a smile to me is about a 17-year-old boy, which we have also shared on Humanising Lives. He was queer, and he thought that it’s a disease. One inspiration for him was again a story from one of Ayushman Khurrana’s movies. He thought that if Ayushman Khurrana can be gay, then why can’t he?

Because of Ayushman Khurrana, and Bollywood movies, he gained the strength to reach out to us. He wrote to us saying, “I want to come to Bombay. I feel like actors are allowed to do anything. I have seen their movies. They are allowed to do everything. I want to become Ayushman Khurrana.”

So again, what brought him to us was a story. And he was a 17-year-old boy. We said, “You’re a minor, can you wait before you approach us?” And he also approached us again when he was 18 years old because there were only six months left for him to turn 18. So after six months, he wrote to us again.

“I want to speak to you all. I want to become Ayushman Khurrana because I feel like I am like him.” So somewhere through that story, he learned about himself—who he is, what his sexuality is, and what he wants to be. Then he approached us, and we posted his story. Through his story, so many people approached us after, saying, “You’ve helped him. Can you also help us?” So it became a chain. I think this was very inspiring for me, and that’s when I decided there should be more storytelling on my page.

I guess this is something I would only admit anonymously, and now that I am on the podcast, I feel like it’s anonymous enough because I have no idea who will listen to this. But yeah, I’ve always considered myself a strong person, like nothing really affected me too much. But I realised that I wasn’t as strong as I thought. I feel like a lot of the things I am about to share could resonate with people. It’s not that I’m out of it yet, but sharing these things, I think, helps.

I’ll give you a little background, though, to make sense of everything. So, I am a people-pleaser. I was very used to living my life for other people. I wouldn’t make decisions for myself, and I would always prioritise others’ needs over my own, regardless of how it made me feel. I guess that’s because I was raised in an environment where I was taught to always think about others first. The feeling of guilt always came if I put myself first, even at the cost of my mental peace.

Anyway, fast forward to my early twenties, and I had a decent life. On the outside, everything looked fine. But mentally, I was struggling. It was like a slow burn; nothing major had happened, but over time, little things started to build up. It felt like I was stuck in a loop where nothing ever went right, even though I had a good life, you know? Like I had no reason to complain, but I still felt hollow inside. Does that make sense?

Simit: Yeah. I mean, stories really have a way of finding themselves, right? The medium itself is so powerful. And I see that you’ve been using different forms—it’s not just static stories, but even carousels, for example, or videos. And I think social media lets you do that.

At the end of the day, I see a lot of social media pages dedicated to mental health. Typically, organisations post ‘Five Tips to do this,’ or, ‘How tos,’ ‘What is ghosting?’ or ‘What is this and that.’ But these stories are actually so important because you connect with them at a very deep, personal level.

When you see that there is a story about someone, maybe an office colleague, for instance, you start to think about your office. I think the story has that power, the visual power of stories. Somewhere, somehow, it makes you relate and resonate with that cause.

Ekta: Yeah. And I think, Simit, the best thing about storytelling is that you feel, “Okay, I’m not alone.” That feeling of “I’m not alone. I’m not the only one. This has happened to others” gives you a sense of strength and satisfaction. Even if you don’t know that person, you’re just reading it, and it makes you feel less lonely.

The best thing about storytelling is that you feel, Okay, I’m not alone.

That feeling of being less lonely is very important when it comes to mental health and wellbeing. The emotions you derive from reading that story—there are many stories you read and think, “Wow, this is so nice.” Sometimes it also gives you a different perspective. Maybe the same thing is happening in your life, but your perspective changes when you read someone else’s story because how they dealt with it is different.

Then you derive inspiration and feel like, “Maybe I could have also done that.” Even if you don’t approach us or talk to us, that story might help you in connecting your own dots. “Let me do this. This makes so much sense.” It only happens when you have a story of another person in front of you.

And because of the storytelling we did, I designed the programme called ‘Baatcheet’.

Simit: Yeah, I was just going to ask you about ‘Baatcheet’. But please, go ahead.

Ekta: So, ‘Baatcheet’—like a post we do on Instagram, something that you’re just reading and you don’t know the person—but ‘Baatcheet’ is a storytelling session for us. We have all unknown people sitting around a table. We start the conversation, and everybody brings one story to the table: “This is what I was feeling. This is what happened to me.” When you listen to their stories, you walk out of that café or space as a changed person.

A lot of people don’t talk; they just listen. Once the session is over, they slowly come to us and say, “You know, this has exactly happened to me. I was cheated on in the same way. This is the reason I’m not able to talk to my mum, but after listening to her, I feel I should do exactly the same thing.” Your story has the power to not just change you, but to change others as well.

This is also happening on social media through ‘Baatcheet’, at my coffee table. Everybody derives something from it, goes back home, and thinks about it. Stories stick to you. They always stick to your brain, and even while you’re sleeping, you’re thinking about them, visualising them. When you visualise a story, something comes to you—even your own interpretation. Like, “Okay, this is what I can do. This part of the story is what I needed to fix my life.”

We’ve built a community of over 150 people from different places. We also have a ‘Baatcheet’ dedicated to the queer community.

Simit: Okay.

Ekta: Yeah, which usually happens on Zoom because we tried doing it in cafés, but a lot of them feel uncomfortable talking. Many have different appearances or a different way of dressing, and people stare at them. When you’re sharing your most vulnerable side, you need a safe space.

So we started doing it on Zoom, and we call it a ‘Ballroom’.

Simit: Okay.

Ekta: Yeah, we call it a Ballroom. So ‘Ballroom’ happens once a month, and we have a lot of queer community members who join, along with a queer-affirmative therapist. The therapist is just there watching, in case there is any trigger, crying, or anything else, to hold that space and make the person comfortable. It’s all about them talking to each other—about what happened, how it happened, how someone came out, how someone tried convincing their mother, how someone was cheated on by their partner, or what happened on Grindr.

It’s all storytelling, and collectively, everybody comes together, listens, and takes something from it. “Okay, this is what I should talk to my parents about. This is how I should talk to my partner. This is the dating app I should avoid, and if I’m on it, how should I deal with it?”

So there’s a lot of internal therapy going on within the community. Like how you say, “heal your neighbour.” And we are healing our neighbours through storytelling, through conversations.

Simit: Yeah. Oh, there’s, I mean, there’s a lot going through you, right? Like with these talks across different cities and different kinds of communities. I want to bring an alternate kind of perspective in. You know, like there are a lot of people who say that all this is farce. Mental health and therapy. In earlier times, there was nothing like this. And people still went about their own business, and people dealt with their issues in their own way. But today, if anything happens, then suddenly people start taking therapy, for example. So there’s that kind of perspective as well, right? Like resilience, in a way, has reduced. People say that. How do you look at this in that kind of context or perspective?

Ekta: I mean, you’re very correct. Very correct. If you go to your family’s own grandparents, your parents would say things like, “What is all this? All this did not happen with our generation.” But the bottom line is, you’re human and you have emotions. You have all kinds of emotions by birth. Even an infant has emotions; it feels hungry, feels angry, it does not feel good.

The bottom line is, you’re human and you have emotions. You have all kinds of emotions by birth.

So we are human when we have emotions. So of course, mental health is also there. Our brain has muscles, so of course there is mental health. That is obvious. But what used to happen earlier is we used to heal each other. Earlier, there were joint families. We used to sit together, talk to each other. All the females of the household used to sit together to make ‘papad’ and ‘achar’ and vent to each other. They used to cry. So that was a form of therapy. Back then, that was therapy.

It is just that now, as globalisation increases, external forces increase. Heart attacks used to happen earlier also; cancer existed earlier as well. Today, why do we feel like cancer has spread so much? Because now we are becoming aware. We are reading about it. There is a lot of exposure: social media, news, magazines. Earlier, there wasn’t much accessibility. There’s more accessibility, there’s more exposure, there’s more awareness.

People are fewer. We have fewer people around us, and that’s a fact. In today’s date, we don’t have our family, we don’t have our spouse, nor our friends because everyone is busy. Everyone has something or the other going on. Everybody is sitting there to say something. They are just waiting for you to finish speaking and then add, “Are you mad? There’s nothing like this. Come, get up.” If there are boys, “Come, let’s have a cigarette.” If there are girls, it’s “Come, I’ll take you shopping or let’s go watch a movie.” Everyone is waiting for you to finish speaking so they can give you advice so they can get it over with.

Simit: No one wants to listen.

Ekta: Then there is a community that does not speak at all. Because nowadays, shame has become attached to everything. We are very image conscious. In our time, I have been brought up in a joint family for certain years. I have seen my Taijis, Mummies, Buas sitting together and sipping chai. There was no shame. They were talking about what they wanted to talk about.

They used to share that today someone did this, someone did that. Sometimes small fights would break out. Sometimes they didn’t speak for two days, “I won’t come to your house.” But the third day, a nice meal would be cooked and sent to everyone’s house, and then evening teas together would start again.

Simit: Right.

Ekta: All these things are not there anymore. That community does not exist anymore. Sitting together and speaking, I feel like now we don’t even have tea with the people in our own house. Even for that, you need to wait for a Saturday. After that, even if you’re drinking tea together, you’re watching reels, you’re scrolling with one hand. So physically you’re there, but emotionally and mentally you’re just not there. Then come the professionals. Of course, you need to talk. At least there is someone who is providing you with a safe space, a non-judgemental space. And they’re professionals; they’ve been taught how to handle emotions, how your brain functions.

So when you come to them, you feel different, and it’s a necessity now with the changing times, with the changing scenario. Family structure has changed. People are living alone; there are no friends, no families, you have a tight schedule. Other times you’re in the office or you’re in your car. You need someone, right? So why not?

Simit: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you’re very right. Now we have nuclear families. And people just don’t have the time.

Ekta: They don’t have time. Nuclear families are there, even if spouses are in one house, they’re not together.

Simit: Yeah.

Ekta: They’re not together. They’re in one bed, but they’re turned away and both of them are on their phones. And when morning comes, everyone goes to work. If you have some time, your conversations are very transactional. School fees, groceries for the house, a vacation to keep your child happy. But you go like, “vacation?” So, these are your conversations. Where are you talking about yourself? You’re always wearing a mask. Always. In your office, on the street, with your friends, with your colleagues, with your spouse. Because there is no patience anymore. There is no time. That bandwidth is not there. If I sit and say, “Please not now.”

“I’m just tired, you know I just came.”

“My head is hurting a lot right now; I just can’t.” So there’s no time. There’s no connectivity. And whatever time is there, everybody wants to relax on their reels.

Nuclear families are there, even if spouses are in one house, they’re not together.

Simit: And even with friends. Like once in a while when you share, they’ll be happy to listen to you and give you a patient hearing. But if you’re sharing your issues constantly, how much will they listen? I’m sure that person has his or her own life.

Ekta: Of course. They also have their own burnout. They are also coming to you so they can forget about their sorrows. They want to sit down and joke around, bully you, tease you. They want to laugh. Even in those moments, if they constantly have to listen to your problems, then after a while, they might stop meeting you. Or they may say, “That’s enough. Stop it.”

So you need someone who’s just made to do that, so that you learn about your emotions. You learn how to regulate your own emotions, that there’s less emotional dependency on people around you. And when you meet them, you have detoxed so much in therapy and you have vented so much that when you go to your loved ones, it’s only to have a good time, to share positive emotions.

So I think it’s a necessity now because we are so exhausted emotionally and mentally, and we have no space and no place to go. So it’s like how you’re maintaining your body, how you’re maintaining your nails with your manicure, pedicure, how you’re maintaining your skin by going to the dermatologist. Just maintain your emotions. And I think half of the problem will be solved.

So it’s like how you’re maintaining your body, how you’re maintaining your nails with your manicure, pedicure, how you’re maintaining your skin by going to the dermatologist. Just maintain your emotions.

Whether that’s a gut problem, a digestion problem, or even your skin problem, whatever hair loss, everything is stress. You just have to go seek nice therapy, have a good conversation, come back, and half of your health issues will also be solved. So, you know, there is research that shows this for most women.

Loneliness is a very big, responsible reason for cancer. For women, breast cancer and ovarian cancer and all these things. The women who are lonely and less loved, they get into this disease of cancer. They have higher chances of cancer. And half of the women aren’t loved nowadays, right? They are lonely. Your heart attacks, your diabetes, these are all causes of your loneliness and stress.

And even if you have, you’re lonely, you’re stressed, you’re not happy.

Simit: The odds of these things happening.

Ekta: The odds of these are cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks.

Simit: The odds are a lot more.

Ekta: Yeah, yeah, a lot more. And we’re not understanding that.

Simit: Yeah.

Wow, that’s some food for thought for a lot of people. But thank you so much, Ekta, for sharing about your journey, sharing about the work that Humanising is doing, and really a pleasure to have you here. Thank you so much.