Sreemukh Kardas is a 30-year-old corporate employee who works as a senior manager in analytics at a corporate company in Hyderabad. He has finished his postgraduate studies in Management with a PGP course from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB).
Born in Hyderabad, Sreemukh grew up with two younger sisters and his parents. He adds that he has always performed well in academics during school and worked hard to enter IIT Kharagpur for his undergraduate studies and IIMB for his master’s.
“Getting into the top colleges of India felt like a fair amount of success for me, but I didn’t stop there and kept working towards my goals throughout the course.”
Sreemukh elaborates that he started preparing for civil service exams when he was 22 and took them continuously for 5 years. It was challenging for him when he reached the final interview stage and couldn’t crack it.
He explains that five years felt lengthy, and the preparation time had many challenges. He had to isolate himself from social connections and stay between four walls. While following up with his civil service preparation and doing his master’s, Sreemukh needed an outlet for his emotions.
“My parents were very good to me, but opening up about your struggles and emotions was never a thing in our family. They weren’t welcoming when I tried to speak up.”
Faced with issues with his career and relationships, Sreemukh explains that he tried to self-reflect and understood that voicing his feelings was highly significant for creating a change in himself. He saw it as the first step towards improvement.
During this overwhelming phase, where he felt anger, anxiety and sadness together, Sreemukh came across a poster related to mental health in his college.
After reading the poster, he became aware of his college’s subscription to the YourDOST platform for the mental well-being of the students. He also recalled his professors mentioning it during his introduction session.
“I needed someone to understand my thoughts and values and to know my rights and wrongs. Connecting with the experts at YourDOST gave me that option.”
Sreemukh started taking chat sessions with Ms. Sudipta Mitra because he found her warm, welcoming, and trusting. I felt that he could share everything freely with her.
Sreemukh noticed that every time he faced a difficult situation, he would experience the same thought patterns and emotions. He shared that with his therapist as well because he wanted to work on changing that.
“Ms. Mitra allowed me to express myself openly and validated my thoughts and emotions without judgements. She was helpful with her techniques and was consistent throughout all my sessions.”
Sreemukh explains that the counselor encouraged him to manage his emotions through journaling. She made him write down his thoughts about specific issues or someone, like a letter, to let everything out without piling them in his mind.
He was asked to read those letters to himself rather than show them to the concerned person or the therapist to help him gain insights about himself. Sreemukh adds that after these techniques, he felt more in control of his feelings and could feel light after letting it all out.
“I started feeling more confident about myself. Previously, everything was black and white, but with the understanding of my emotions, I learned that life is more nuanced, and I also learned the art of self-compassion.”
For these progresses, Sreemukh adds that he feels grateful to his therapist, who has extended support, helped him move forward and positively influenced him.
As Sreemukh Kardas understands himself better and rates himself 4 out of 5, we wish him all the best for all the battles he hopes to conquer.
Sreemukh Kardas’s Warrior Tips:
1.“You must be kind to yourself and give the self-love you deserve.”
2.“When things get tough, seek help when there are professionals to help you.”
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