Uncertain journeys, in caring company

It was a journey across 2,779 kilometres. Geographically, that is. Emotionally, it was a trek into the world of societal norms that mock those who suffer from unseen, painful maladies of the mind.

Seher Hashmi’s own battle against clinical depression and borderline personality disorder has given her first-hand access to the emotional landscape of people with mental illnesses and to the social stigma surrounding this condition.

On 20 April 2025, mental health activist and fashionista Seher Hashmi and social activist Dev Desai embarked on a long road trip. Seher and Dev led on their Royal Enfield bikes. Nazneen Shaikh, activist and singer from Dhule, Samanyu Shukla, a filmmaker from Satna/Rewa and Mehrajuddin Bhat, a medical graduate from Kashmir, followed in a car with a movie camera.

‘Breaking Stigma: One mile at a time’ was underway. A campaign conceived by Seher with a threefold purpose: to raise awareness about mental health issues, encourage young people to seek professional help if they face these issues and foster a supportive environment for those affected by mental illness.

Many people, especially in India and South Asia, suffer in silence, unable to access professional help due to the stigma surrounding mental illness. Determined to change this narrative, Seher began sharing her story through powerful videos and workshops.

She crossed the threshold of her home to set off on a journey during which acceptance, acknowledgment and reciprocity were far from guaranteed — courage and determination was the name of the game.

Seher’s own battle with mental health gives her an authentic understanding of what it feels like to stifle one’s feelings. Her triumph over isolation and exclusion has led to a profound personal transformation, also shaping her resolve to undertake this challenging trip to try and ‘break the stigma’ around mental health.

The campaign Seher dreamt up was not just looking to debunk the myths, prejudices and false narratives that surround mental health issues but also to trash the shame of stigmatisation. Seher’s caravan travelled through the towns and villages of northern India conducting a series of interactive workshops.

Close to 3,500 young men and women came for 30 interactive sessions—in Anantnag, Baramulla, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jalandhar, Jammu, Kangra, Khumriyal, Kupwara, Ludhiana, Mukerian, Narwana, Rohtak, Sogam, Sopore, Srinagar, Pattan and Wavoora. There were school and college students, various village communities and mental health professionals in the mix.

The workshops were constructed as a reciprocal space: as their interlocutor, Seher shared her own experiences with mental health and trauma, and in so doing, made her audiences, both young and old, possibly confront realities they hadn’t been able to earlier.

Her campaign, she fervently hopes, will bring some attention to the lack of understanding, empathy and support for people grappling with mental health issues. The message that rang out of these workshops was: ‘Fight the stigma around mental illness and encourage those facing mental health issues to access professional help.’ (Follow the campaign @thementalhealthdiarybyseher on Instagram)

Nature too played its part in testing the resolve of these young pioneers—the biting cold, the snow and a cloudburst that closed NH44 for a week! But our intrepid campaigners took the toughest, most treacherous route through the mountains— via Rajouri, Surankote, Shopian, even crossing the 11,450 feet high Pir Panjal pass—their biggest reward perhaps the warm, hearty welcome they were extended in countless places en route.

Bravo, Seher, Dev, Nazneen, Samanyu and Mehraj! As the poet Haider Ali Aatish said:

सफ़र हैै शर्तत मुुसााफ़ि र नवााज़ बहुुतेेरेे,

हज़ाार-हाा शजर-ए-साायाा-दाार रााह मेंं हैंं।

(The journey is the pledge, and fellow souls are kind / A thousand sheltering trees along the way you’ll find)

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SYEDA HAMEED is a writer, social activist and former member of the Planning Commission