Despite caste-based discrimination being outlawed by Article 15 of the Indian constitution, caste continues to play a pervasive and insidious role in today’s society. Anthropologist Louis Dumont termed Indian society “Homo Hierarchicus” in the early twentieth century – years later, this holds true. From childhood, caste influences one’s playmates and living situations, and in adulthood, one’s marriage choices, job prospects and leadership opportunities, and even social status. A Human Rights Watch study has found caste to be a “critical determinant” of inequalities faced by individuals across their lives. 

These structural barriers lead to significantly higher levels of mental distress. People from lower castes tend to experience depression 40% more than the national average in India.  Some students face difficulties in accessing care as well, as often, authority figures abuse their power. This has led to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies among students from marginalised communities. In addition to this, medical institutions carry out malicious forms of bias: low caste persons face longer wait times, and callous doctors, who refuse to touch the patients, or even admit them to their clinics. Some have complained that they have tried to share their problems with psychologists, but the burden of guilt is placed on them, rather than the medical professional: and caste affects how mental health practitioners understand or relate to clients. The very understanding of psychology within India is dominated by “elite upper caste Hindu professionals'', making it inaccessible and, in some cases, downright hostile to marginalised communities. 

How then, can we establish a more caste-inclusive and culturally sensitive mental health system? How can we combat the stigma associated with mental illness among marginalised communities? What policies and initiatives can be implemented to enhance the mental well-being of systematically oppressed groups? Join our panelists, Divya Kandukuri, Ambedkarite feminist activist, trainer, writer, media practitioner, and the founder of The Blue Dawn, and Paras Sharma, co-founder and Director at The Alternative Story, alongside moderator Ravali Pidaparthi, co-founder of Esther, a social-purpose organisation, as they delve into the societal, and cultural intersections between caste and mental health.

Our series on mental health is now in its third season. This capsule of discussions will focus on mental health and social fabrics, and how our social realities in India shape our sense of self; our identity; and our mental well-being. In the past, we have looked at addiction, disorders, the impact of the pandemic on specific populations, art and creativity – you can learn more here. This series is supported by the Raika Godrej Family Trust.

SPEAKERS

Divya Kandukuri is an Ambedkarite feminist activist, trainer, writer and media practitioner.

She is the founder of The Blue Dawn, a mental health collective that upholds anti-caste and feminist politics in its functioning. The Blue Dawn has been working on bringing discussions on caste and mental health to the forefront of India’s mental health discourse through its social justice lens towards mental health. Divya has also been a trainer for The Blue Dawn and works with social workers, media professionals, and mental health professionals to equip them with tools to incorporate discussions on the caste system, feminism and social justice into their practices. In addition to her work with The Blue Dawn, she is an independent media practitioner and video producer. Drawing from her lived experiences as an inter-caste, inter-faith individual, she focuses on inter-relations of caste, gender, pop culture, and mental health. She is currently producing a podcast series for Suno India on cinema, culture and literature from a feminist standpoint featuring feminist writers, activists, and filmmakers from India.

Currently, Divya also works as a Senior Projects Associate at Zubaan, a feminist publication house and an active archiver of feminist and women’s movements in South Asia. Her role involves working with Zubaan Projects, which works with a particular focus on historically marginalised and oppressed groups. Divya has gotten her International Diploma in Narrative Practices in 2021. She had published a chapter in Prof Radhika Gajjala’s book titled Digital Diasporas: Labour and Affect in Gendered Indian Digital Publics and a short illustrated story titled ‘Selavu’ published in The Bystander Anthology by Kadak Collective.

Paras Sharma is co-founder and Director at The Alternative Story – a mental health startup based out of Bengaluru. He holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling, and is soon to complete a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.

In a career spanning over 13 years – has worked in hospitals, helplines, corporate mental health organization and academic institutions. He has helped set up India’s largest counselling helpline run by trained mental health professionals, and has helped establish and train government helplines to address Violence Against Women in states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. He has worked in association with government and non-government organizations at the grassroots in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu to enhance community mental health.

He lives with mental illness and chronic illness and currently engaged in awareness building and research on the same.

Ravali Pidaparthi is the co-founder of Esther, a social-purpose organization that enables young women from marginalized caste backgrounds to have a voice and choice in their lives and aspirations. Esther has been working across rural Telangana and Tamil Nadu, transforming how first-generation learners navigate their transition from college to adult lives.

Ravali is a mechanical engineer by training and has switched to being a development practitioner for the last decade. Prior to starting Esther, she has worked on fostering and mobilizing the alumni network towards collective action for educational equity at Teach For India Hyderabad, enabled 500+ street vendors and nano entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and led curriculum design and program facilitation at Udhyam Vyapaar, established the value chain for a tribal-women-federation-owned business in Chattisgarh at SRIJAN India, and was trained at the Indian School of Development Management building knowledge, perspectives and skills required for prinicipled and value-driven leaders working towards social change. Having experienced individual prejudice and deep systemic inequalities first-hand as a Dalit Christian woman diagnosed with a mental illness, she is dedicated to working at the intersection of gender and caste, and hopes to make systems work for the many and not just for the few, through everything she does.

Ravali also deeply loves Hyderabad, math, hand percussion instruments, handloom, word puzzles, gardening, and trash-reviewing Telugu movies. 

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