“In life, I have tried on many hats before discovering my true passion that involved kids. I remember back in my school days when I used to travel by bus, I used to narrate so many small stories to my friends sitting next to me! And you would be surprised to note how all the kids sitting in the front would turn their heads and listen in on keenly because the story was that engaging!
People always complimented me for having excellent storytelling skills but it was never considered as something that I could do as a career; it was more or less a hobby! So I continued to do just another run-of-the-mill path deciding to study medicine which eventually saw me do physiotherapy; followed by an MBA which led to a job at a BPO. But here is where I found myself hitting a dead end and I decided to experiment a little; I ventured into theatre!
Earning some experience in my college theatre team, I dived into doing theatre full time and joined Evam, one of the prominent theatre groups in Chennai. Here, I worked on developing modules to help teach drama to kids. What stemmed there was a keen interest to see how expressive kids actually were and to help them realise their truest potential. I became a full time children’s life coach and eventually came to be recognised as India’s first theatre based coach.
I started my own venture of saying small bedtime stories for kids in the lockdown. Owing to complaints from parents about kids not sleeping and eating well, I started a community where every night just before bed, the kids would login to my session and I would narrate a small story. Initially, it started with the stories we all knew and slowly with time, I started narrating my own stories as well. What started as a passion project, was eventually compiled by one of the parents who agreed to write all the stories and I published my book of 50 short kids stories!
Seeing the success of this initiative, I started a morning program called ‘Young Achievers Morning’ where the kids in my community would login early in the morning and we would do small warm ups, read affirmations and complete it with a small journaling activity.
In this long journey as a life coach for kids, I have been mentoring different children and helping them understand the one thing that makes them special – their unique self! We explore and together try and analyse what is the one quality that makes them stand out from the crowd and how they can use it to make it big in this world.
The opportunities I wish I had for myself are all of what I am hoping to bring out in my children! Children are the light of the world and they hold so much hope for the future. It is our duty to guide them and enable them to find their calling in this life.”