THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Have you ever gone to a psychologist?” Sherin Noordheen pops the question with a sense of abandon, her eyes glued to the road as she wheels around her car. The question just whirls in the confines of her car for a few seconds before it is addressed. A question which could easily make many in this part of the world uncomfortable.
Her composure and sense of conviction are intact and this is a question she expects you to answer without giving it a second thought. Would that question make you insecure and flustered or would you acknowledge it if you did? For Sherin, it is this stigma associated with mental health that she is trying to dispel. ‘To see a world without suicides’-that’s the dream of ‘Let’s Live’, a non-profit launched by Sherin.
So, when you feel low or are tormented by a heartbreak or a failure in exams and the pangs of loneliness and depression gnaw at your very being, you can head over to ‘Halfway Cafe’, an open space where you can just ‘be’. Sherin is gearing up to open her Halfway Cafe in the city where the cafe will be used as a method for mental health intervention.
“It’s like a one-stop solution for mental and emotional well being,” Sherin says. So you get to munch on the ‘Uplifting Cake’ or gulp down the ‘Borderline Shake’ or ‘Schizo Mocktails’. In an effort to raise awareness, the menu will bear the name of various mental illnesses.
Sherin says that working for suicide prevention was always close to her heart. “Even while working, I was making money but there was no happiness. At some point, I fell into depression. I was fortunate enough to get timely help. But not everyone will be fortunate,” she says. And that is how the woman who worked as a business consultant for 10 years made the switch. Sherin recalls how her father’s suicide when she was young affected her. “I had to lie about how my father died from the age of seven. I was told we will be judged and at some point, I decided I will not lie anymore,” she says.
The project attempts to intervene in the first level when a person feels lonely. “When you are sad, all you need is a place where none will disturb you. We are creating that environment. If that doesn’t make you okay, there is always coffee. If you need to talk and reach out to someone, there will be people who will lend you an ear without judging,” she explains the model of the cafe.
There will be a huge wall where one can scrawl one’s pain. “You can paint, write poems, or share your experience and how you overcame it. When you see that a hundred people have been there and done that, you will know that you are not alone,” says Sherin who is a catalyst (teacher) at Kanthari. A video where 365 people will share their experience on how they overcame suicide will also be released. Once the Cafe gets going in Thriruvananthapuram, outlets will be opened across different parts and every place will have a halfway cafe where people can access the services.
The soft launch and pilot run of ‘Monsoon Cafe’, a project of the non-profit, was held at the Kanthari campus in Vellayani wherein three sessions were held. Children from Vellayani participated in the first two sessions while the last saw the participation of the inmates of Nirbhaya home.
“The cafe will be open to all but the primary focus is on children and young adults. It is a place where they can come and share their experience and reach out, an open space to eradicate the stigma associated with suicide and mental health issues,” Sherin explains.
“We are not doing a clinical intervention. It is like spreading happiness, no judgment. You are sad, then let us come out of it together,” she adds. To address the issue in rural areas, a mobile cafe will course through the hamlets located on the fringes. It will stay for a week and raise awareness. Suicide is one among the top three causes of death among youngsters, she says. After delving deeper, Sherin feels that it is like a labyrinth of a multitude of issues which requires intervention in multiple levels.
“While we were sitting and discussing, three people would have committed suicide. It is such a grave issue,” Sherin lets out a deep sigh. “If we could save a few lives, then..” her voice trails off. “What we are trying to say is that it is okay to be not okay and that we are here for you. When life itself becomes a choice, choose to live. Let’s Live,” she adds.