Harshal is a 23-year-old graphic designer with an eye for history, mythology, and art. He graduated from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, with a Bachelor’s in Design and Graphic Design.
Harshal comes from the vibrant town of Akola in Maharashtra, and his family includes his parents and a sister. When he looks back at his childhood, it’s the rain he remembers most, not for its beauty, but for the emotional downpours it brought along.
He elaborates that, although he shares a beautiful bond with his mom, his relationship with his father wasn’t very close during his childhood.
Harshal hates rain, which became an unexpected trigger in his life after an episode. He explains that these quiet turbulences shaped his life, and his mom and sister were always his emotional anchors in the journey.
Harshal elucidates being an outgoing and confident person in his early school years. However, once he changed schools, the isolation and language barriers he faced made him feel underconfident. These rains of loneliness made him experience impostor syndrome.
Despite these early storms, Harshal’s spirit found light in creativity. He was a curious child who always drew from his imagination and was good at it.
“I was good with academics in school, but still, I wasn’t given a choice to pick what I needed. I was forced to take science. Down the road, I set my mind on the college I wanted to attend, and I somehow convinced my parents.”
Things started going his way, and months later, while pursuing his bachelor’s, another storm hit Harshal emotionally. A close platonic friendship, forged over long conversations during the COVID-19 pandemic, ended in a painful silence. When Harshal and she decided to meet in person, she chose not to show up.
This made him feel angry, sad, and betrayed at the same time. It was during this phase that he remembered about the YourDOST platform, as their college had a subscription to it. He booked his first therapy session and started connecting with the expert.
“She listened to everything I had to say. It felt great to feel heard and seen for someone who had never had a safe emotional space.”
As the sessions felt a quiet shelter from the storms and rains of his life, Harshal opened up to the counselor about how disappointed he felt about his situation and shared about the time he cried out in his classroom.
Understanding his need for a space to pour out his emotions, his counselor introduced him to an essential practice of writing down his thoughts and goals.
“As I began putting everything on paper, I could feel the burden lifting. It helped me release the weight in my head and translated to creating a physical space in my life to focus on things.”
With the sessions and journaling, Harshal began noticing changes within himself. However, as the clouds started to part, a new downpour came. Harshal experienced a painful breakup after his first-ever romantic relationship ended.
His ex-partner went away without even giving him a reason, which made him feel abandoned once again. He had no friends to talk to. He turned back to therapy for the second time.
Harshal adds that this time, it wasn’t just about finding the techniques to overcome the situation but rather about having someone present who intends to listen.
As Harshal tries to move on from this issue slowly and gradually, due to his career and lifestyle, he still aches, and loneliness occasionally knocks. Despite such days, Harshal says he is in a better place and attributes therapy for giving him the hope that everything will get better soon.
“The sessions with the counselors have been my biggest motivator and driving force behind understanding that life isn’t over with these issues. It goes on and gets better as we continue to walk.”
As he thanks his counselor for listening to him patiently, especially when he needed someone to be there for him, he rates himself 4 out of 5 in terms of feeling better. We hope he attains continued growth and a contented life in the future.
Harshal’s Warrior Tips:
1.“Please talk to someone. Don’t carry it alone. There are people around you who care.”
2.“An internet quote that I would ask people to follow is:Don’t take the thoughts you have after 10 PM too seriously. Sleep it off and try again tomorrow.”
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