HELPING TO HEAL

Eight years ago, Deepika Padukone spoke up about her depression. Today, she tells THE WEEK about her foundation’s mental health outreach programme in rural communities

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

On a warm October afternoon in Chinna Ikkam village of Tiruvallur district, about 80km from Chennai, six women in pink saris are seated on plastic chairs in a semicircle. They are all facing Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone. The women, all Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), discuss in detail the numerous mental health issues prevalent in their communities-postpartum depression among new mothers, suicidal tendencies and stigma-induced trauma amid people with disabilities, and more. The actor, plainly dressed in a beige salwar suit, with her hair pulled back, listens to each one intently.

For instance, an 18-year-old underwent acute pain while delivering a baby and became averse to the very idea of motherhood. She refused to nurse her baby and contemplated suicide. In another village, a woman in her early 20s was sent back to her maiden home within a month of marriage because of her obsession with washing hands. It drove her to depression. E. Sangeetha, a village health nurse from the Primary Health Centre of Kalyanakuppam, mentioned "the failure of love marriages, unwanted pregnancies, and difficulties associated with early menstruation" as the most-observed issues plaguing women in her area. After the initial inhibition of opening up to a celebrity, the women spoke with animated enthusiasm. They spoke in Tamil, a language we were told that Deepika was not fluent in. But she never showed it. She would give everyone a patient hearing and would keep nodding her head to denote comprehension. For, Deepika, from her own battle with depression eight years ago, has learnt that listening is the first step towards empathy and it transcends the language barrier.