Janvi (name changed), a 22-year-old undergraduate student at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore, is on her journey towards empowerment and success. She is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in textile design.
Janvi comes from a nuclear family that includes her parents and elder brother. She explains that her relationship with her family is complicated because their values and opinions don’t match hers.
“My brother is ten years older than me, so we always had a communication gap. My father used to work in a different city and come only once in three months, so affection was out of the question, and my mother had a bad temper, so I mostly feared her.”
Janvi recollects being alert and fearful all her childhood. Since she couldn’t connect with people at home, she says she tried to trust her cousin, which went wrong and created trust issues in her.
Despite everything, Janvi managed to develop a variety of interests since childhood. She describes herself as a creative and curious person who loves reading, writing, watching documentaries and learning new things.
Janvi also says that she is a visual learner, and her curiosity to learn more about art drove her towards finding her passion for design.
Janvi moved to Bangalore to pursue her passion by taking a textile design course. As Janvi’s life progressed, her family presented her with a problematic proposal during her third-semester holidays. They tried to force her to get married to one of her cousins. This caused Janvi a lot of anxiety, and she simply said yes to get out of the situation and come back to college.
When Janvi was looking for a way to deal with her situation, a friend taking counseling through her college introduced her to her college’s subscription to YourDOST. With her help, Janvi took sessions from the experts on the platform.
“My counselor listened to me empathetically and let me go on at my own pace. I had a lot to say in the first session, but she was so attentive that she remembered every piece of information, even in later sessions.”
During her sessions, Janvi discussed handling her family and overcoming everything. Janvi was uncomfortable with her family taking away her right to decide about her future.
“I tolerated everything my family put me through, but this was beyond a limit. Even though they called off the proposal after my family caught my cousin in a mistake, it was overwhelming.”
Janvi felt hopeless and taken for granted by her family’s decisions. Talking to her counselor helped her break down all the information in her mind and organise her thoughts to understand better.
Along with therapy, Janvi’s therapist also made her take personality questionnaires to help her understand her patterns better and taught her some breathing exercises for when she gets anxious.
Janvi explains that she understood her thought patterns and behaviours in every situation, which helped her understand how to respond even in dire situations.
As Janvi overcame her situation, she thanks her counselor for understanding and assisting her more practically.
She started focusing on academic success and prioritising herself above everything. Janvi rates herself 4 out of 5 in being at peace with herself, and we are proud of her for breaking out of the stigmas and working on herself!
Janvi’s Warrior Tips:
1.“The biggest thing is to remind yourself to be patient with yourself when things get complicated.”
2.“Have faith in life, whether in something particular or yourself; it will give you hope that things will improve soon.”
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