“Growing up with an alcoholic abusive dad, my childhood was no cake walk. But with time, I have risen above this and I can say with utmost guarantee that, I had never let my personal stuff come in the way of my goals and aspirations.
For one, I learnt to step out of my comfort zone and try on different things. While I was still in my school, our school had invited the founder of “Environment Foundation of India”. Hearing his speech kindly a strange spark in me to do something for our environment and I started volunteering actively with them.
I auditioned for theatre and once inside, it opened up an entirely new world for me. I gave many stage performances alongside many seasoned actors in the industry. I tried my hand at Ultimate Frisbee and trained almost every day and made it to be a part of one of the national level clubs of the country.
And looking back now, I see that, while pain was a constant, I had no qualms about making the most of it by making myself useful in different areas. During my one year course in Ashoka University, one of the best experiences till date, I had the opportunity to sell my own self designed sketch books and journals. It opened in me a whole lot of ideas which led me to start by own brand.
Until then, the misery and suffering I endured fuelled by hatred for my dad until a ted talk made me think otherwise. The speaker spoke about how alcoholism is similar to a chronic disease and how, the empathy and understanding a cancer patient receives is not given to alcoholics. In a lot of ways, this acted as a true turning point in how I viewed my dad and helped me relate to his issues better.
I started to empathize with him better and really understood the man behind his ailment. We have grown a lot as a family and I am proud of how far we have made progress. If anything, pain has only made me a believer.”

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