Chronicles of the Psychology Alumnus

RISHI DAYARAM & SETH HASARAM NATIONAL COLLEGE & SETH WASSIAMULL ASSOMULL SCIENCE COLLEGE Department of Psychology Chronicles of the Psychology Alumnus - Under the guidance of Dr. Meghna Basu Thakur

R.D. NATIONAL COLLEGE Newsletter of Activities and Achievements

2019-2020 R.D. NATIONAL COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY ACADEMIC YEAR 2019-2020 Dr. Meghna Basu Thakur Head, Department of Psychology Associate Professor R.D. National College Contact No: 9821067319 [email protected]

2019-2020 PAGE 1 FACULTY MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY Dr. Meghna Basu Thakur Head, Department of Psychology Associate Professor, R.D National College. Dr. Meghna has been working at R.D. National College since the year 1999. She started out as a assistant professor and through persistent hard work and diligence she made her way to the position as Head of the Department of Psychology in the year 2012. She is extremely motivated and efficient as a leader and guide's students towards success through various endeavors. Over the years, Dr. Meghna has written and published multiple research papers. She strongly encourages community service and undertakes every challenge in her way with grit and determination serving as a role model to the students of the department. Ms. Shweta Mishra Assistant Professor from A.Y. 2019 - till date R.D National College Ms. Shweta graduated with a Masters in Clinical Psychology from V.E.S College, University of Mumbai. She is very involved in all the activities the department conducts and undertakes. Ms. Shweta is very passionate about research. She is extremely encouraging and compassionate as a teacher. She provides a fresh approach to teaching by incorporating her experience into subject matter.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 2 STUDENT PROGRESSION AND RESULTS

2019 - 2020 PAGE 3 CONTENTS 1.Gender Logue 2019 - 20 ...4 2. Youth Mental Health: Contemporary ...6 Complications 3.Dairy to Dish: Paneer Recipe ...13 Competition 4. Youth Mental Health First Aid: A ...16 short-term course 5.Poster Painting Competition ...18 6.14th Inter-Collegiate Avishkar ...21 Reserach Convention 7.Group Therapy Workshop ...25 8. Ramp Walk for the Differently Abled ...28 9.11th Annual Psychomagicum ...37 10. 27th BPA Annual Conference in Goa ...53 11.Two-day External Viva Session ...54 12. Paradigms of Careeers in Psychology ...55 13. Acknowledgement ...57

2019-2020 PAGE 4 GENDER LOGUE JULY 2019 TThe Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is a non-profit German foundation committed to the values of democracy and social Genderloguejustice. “” is a series introduced by Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung, India office, to provide a platform for India wide deliberations on issues which matter to and for men, women and indeed all genders. Maniben Navavati Women’s college in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) provided students from various colleges of mumbai one such platform for open debate and exchange of new ideas on gender related issues. The inter-collegiate event took place on the 30th of July 2019 in Maniben Nanavati Women’s college, Vile Parle. The themes for the year 2019-2020 were: 1. Gender Violence 2. Substantive equality The event started with an inauguration ceremony by the Chief guest Dr. Manjusha Molwane (Member Secretary, Maharashtra State Commission for Women, Mumbai). A panel of other eminent speakers addressed the issues of gender in various domains such as law, media, workplace and in other spheres of life. The speakers also addressed how incidents such as the Mathura rape case and social media campaigns like the #metoo movement give impetus to social and policy reforms.

2019-2020 PAGE 5 GENDER LOGUE JULY 2019 Seven TYBA Psychology students of R.D. National College participated in the event, out of which 2 participated in debate, 2 in elocution and photo exhibition, and 3 in video screening. The topic chosen by the debate team was “Social media is the most powerful platform for negotiating gender equality in todays day and age”. Each participant in a team of 2 was allowed to speak for two minutes. In round 2, the team faced questions by other participating teams. The students who participated in video screening filmed a short video on the topic of gender violence. The focus of their video being “eve teasing”, a significant community problem faced by women at least once in their lifetime. They shed light upon the number of women who face this form of violence and yet choose to remain silent. They questioned the very notion ‘women are not as strong as men' and the downside of having such beliefs. It was made clear to the participants that no winner will be declared as the purpose of providing students with an opportunity to express their views would lose meaning if turned into a competition. The event concluded with the distribution of certificates to all the participants and a vote of thanks was proposed to the hosts and the organizers of Genderlogue 2019-2020.

2019-2020 PAGE 6 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH: CONTEMPORARY COMPLICATIONS AUGUST 2019 The Department of Psychology of R. D. National College organized a seminar titled Youth Mental Health: Contemporary Complications on the 27th of August, 2019. The seminar was held in the college auditorium, which housed over 700 students from 32 colleges all across Mumbai. It was held with the purpose of giving a voice to various mental health issues that are currently faced by the youth in order to understand and find ways to cope with them. The five themes revolved around the central core of Contemporary Complications. Esteemed speakers with expertise in the field of Psychology as well as two guest celebrities were invited to deliver informative and interactive presentations on the themes.

2019-2020 PAGE 7 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH The event began at 8:30 AM, with registration as well as he 32 collegesthe serving of breakfast to the audience. T that attended the seminar included Raheja, CHM, Royal college, N.G Acharya, NMIMS, KJ Somaiya, SK Somaiya, KES, Nagindas Khandwala, Mithibai, Bhavans, IGNOU, St. John, SPN Doshi, Idol, KC college, SIES, Gundecha Education Society, VES (Vivekanand Education Society), Amlani college, Thakur College, SNDT, MMP Shah, Amity, Wilson, Maniben Nanavati, and R. D. National College. In this turbocharged neurological, physical, and emotional transition from childhood to adulthood, young people face a range of issues; many of which are linked to wider societal determinants and social norms. For example, pressures to conform to ideals about body image, normalization of recreational drinking in media, social exclusion, challenges in accessing support services, coupled with rapid physiological and neurological changes and the urge for exploration and experimentation, can make it hard to cope with the multi-faceted challenges that today’s youth encounters. Although this phase can be fraught with difficulty, there is also an enormous opportunity to nurture future health.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 8 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH Often for the first time, young people will be making independent decisions about what to eat and how much, whether to do regular sports and exercise, whether to engage in safe or unsafe sexual practices, or whether or not to try addictive substances such as drugs or alcohol. The lives of people whose ages range from 10 to 24 years are characterized by growth and development, but also a phase of immense vulnerability. To talk about this contemporary complication, we had amongst us Dr. Gaurav Kulkarni. Dr. Kulkarni did his MBBS from the University of Mumbai in the year 2008 and earned his M.D. in Psychiatry from Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University (SBVU) in the year 2014. He is an M.D. Psychiatrist, Sexologist and an Addiction psychiatrist with 11 years of overall working experience. He has been a trainee at NIMHAMS, Potentialities Unlimited and The Academy of Stress Management.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 9 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH Our first celebrity guest was RJ Glenn Saldanha from Mumbai’s no.1 radio station fever 104 FM. He’s the host for a popular breakfast show #Madmornings. He also hosts the super famous ghat show “see tare masti mein” on masti the music channel. He’s Bollywood’s one stop shop for trailer launches, movie launches and of course red carpets. Having hosted over 1000 corporate shows and events he’s Mumbai’s favourite host. 'The thing about Glens all across the world is that they are amazing all rounders and leave us in awe with their performances. His presentation truly captured the audience’s attention and touched their hearts. Everyone cheered loudly and was taken away with his words. The 21st century claims ownership of the globalization of meme culture. Alongside the development of Generation Z, the growth of memes has risen to influence all aspects of our lives – politically, socially, and psychologically. The ever-growing number of teenagers expressing themselves and influencing each other through social media pose the threat of trivialization. In order to sound “relatable”, adolescents end up downplaying and ridiculing the realities of issues concerning mental health.

2019 -2020 PAGE 10 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH Dr. Sharmila Banwat addressed this issue. Dr. Banwat completed her PhD from Jankidevi Bajaj Institute of Management in the year 2013. She is currently practicing as a Clinical psychologist, Occupational Therapist & Clinical hypnotherapist at the Mindspa Clinical and Dr. Balabhai Nanavati Hospital with 19 years of clinical experience. She also works as a life coach for employees in the Corporate Industry. She completed children and adolescence – primary & advanced practicum in Rational – Emotive & Cognitive Behavior therapy from Dr. Albert Ellis Institute in the year of 2017. She completed primary and advanced course on “Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing” in years 2012-2013. She a certified Clinical hypnotherapist by the California Institute of Hypnosis.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 11 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH Our next celebrity guest was a very famous Indian television and film actor who is best known for his role of Abhishek Sharma in the movie Student of The Year 2 and is a lead actor in the upcoming movie Kya Masti Kya Dhoom. He has also worked in television series namely Hitler Didi, Parvarish, Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi, Aahat season 6, Santoshi Maa, Dil Deke Dekho and many more. He is a well-known name in the entertainment industry and so the perfect speaker to give us an insight into the mental health scenario in the current media industry. This famous personality was none other than the exceptionally talented Mr. Abhishek Bajaj. His dedication towards work and your unflagging energy sets an example today’s youth. And it was an immense pleasure to have him amongst us. In the wake of the cut-throat competition that characterizes our current culture, parental expectations and social comparisons with peers play a remarkable role in escalating the rate at which adolescents reach maturity. Not only are children entering puberty earlier, but when viewed from the lens of Psychology, this early onset of puberty is accompanied by growing pressures to be intellectually as well as emotionally mature.

2019 -2020 PAGE 12 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH Dr. Syeda Ruksheda is an eminent Psychiatrist As we came to an end of our event, we and Psychotherapist. A celebrated speaker on gave our heartfelt thanks to all our Mental Health, she has two TedX talks to her dignitaries for taking out the time to credit. Dr. Rukhseda specializes in adolescents, attend the event. Their insight and young adults, women and families. She is trained expertise contributed immensely to our in esteemed medical institutes of Mumbai event and truly enlightened us. Their including Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical inputs were invaluable as we all gained College and KEM Hospital. A passionate a new perspective to address the advocate of community mental health, Dr contemporary complications relevant to Ruksheda also consults at Millat Hospital, our generation. It was truly a successful Jogeshwari, Rotary Medical Center, Juhu and event, and we feel grateful to have had Prafulta Andheri, in order to bridge the gap and the opportunity to have hosted it. provide quality affordable mental health care to all. She volunteers for talks and workshops for NGOs, schools and colleges, working towards awareness and prevention of psychological illnesses through her public servicee initiative – MARG

2019 -2020 PAGE 13 PANEER COMPETITION AUGUST 2019 The Department of Biology at R. D. National college conducted a unique competition ‘Dairy to dish’ a paneer recipe competition on 29th August, 2019. Three students from Department Of Psychology willingly participated, where they prepared three culturally different types of paneer recipe. 1.) Maharashtrian style – Paneer karanji 2.) Mughlayi style- Mughlayi paneer sabji 3.) Nepali Style - Paneer Bhutwa Participants were asked to prepare the dishes from home and display it as beautiful as they could. They were judged on the basis of the nutritional values, uniqueness of the dish, display of the dish and Paneer knowledge by the nutraceutical professionals.

2019 -2020 PAGE 14 PANEER COMPETITION In the beginning of the competition, participants were physically shown how cottage paneer is prepared. They were given a brief on uses of cottage paneer. They also emphasised on the benefits of healthy and nutritious paneer. Judges were glad by the efforts of the participants for preparing such delicious bites. All in all, it was a very good experience for the participants of department of psychology. Lastly, we would like to thank Dr. Meghna Basu Thakur for giving us the opportunity to participate for this competition.

2019 -2020 PAGE 15 PANEER COMPETITION.

2019 -2020 PAGE 16 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID: SEPTEMBER 2019 The Youth Mental Health First Aid course was conducted by Mpower in association with MHFA Australia. The facilitator was Miss. Rynelle Oliver. It was a 30 hour course spread across one week from 9th September, 2019 to 16th September, 2019. 25 students including 19 TYBA Psychology (batch 2019- 2020) and students across other departments successfully completed the course and were presented with a course completion certificate on the last day. Miss. Oliver’s immense knowledge base and love for teaching made every session interactive. The week-long sessions were filled with activities like enacting emotions, preparing an intervention plan, working on case studies and many more. All these activities and information facilities students to prepare the right skill set required to assist young adults who suffer from a mental health crisis or mental health problems All in all, the course proved to be really helpful to all the students. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Meghna Basu Thakur (HOD, Psychology) for providing us with an opportunity and motivation to be a part of this course.

2019 -2020 PAGE 17 YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID

2019 -2020 PAGE 18 POSTER PAINTING COMPITITION. NOVEMBER 2019. Date: 27th November, 2019 Place: K. C College, Churchgate Poster Painting Competition. The Hyderabad (Sindh) National Collegiate (HNSC) Board celebrated the “Constitution week”from 26th to 30th November at Kishinchand Chellaram Law College, Churchgate. Students from many colleges across mumbai were requested to attend the inaugural and valedictory functions and also participate in the competitions organized during the week. Two Students from the Department of Psychology at R. D National college, spontaneously participated for the “Poster Painting” competition which was held on 27th November, 2019 at K. C College, Churchgate

2019 -2020 PAGE 19 POSTER COMPITITION. The theme for the poster painting competition was “Gender equality”.There were 14 participating colleges with 28 students who were provided with a blank sheet and were timed and well supervised throughout the event. There were two judges in the panel who were responsible for the results “the best poster painting”. Students from R. D National College, elicited LGBTQ community’s perception on Gender Equality. The representatives from R. D National College were Lata Bhatt and Rida Maniar from TYBA Psychology who painted the poster in order to Portray their vision and perception on Gender equality All in all, it was quite a bit of experience as the participants enjoyed painting the posters. Lastly we would like to thank Dr. Meghna Basu Thakur for giving us this opportunity and always motivating us in participating for various competitions and events.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 20 POSTER COMPITITION.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 21 14TH INTER COLLEGIATE AVISHKAR RESEARCH CONVENTION DECEMBER 2019 The 14 th Inter-Collegiate Avishkar Research Convention 2019-2020 was held on the 24 th of December at Vivekanand Education Society’s College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Chembur, Mumbai. The students of TYBA, Department of Psychology, RD & SH National College and SWA Science College had participated in this Research Convention. The Coordinator and Co-coordinator of the research convention were Dr. K. George Abraham from SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, and Dr. Baliram Gaikwad from N.G. Acharya and D.K Marathe College of Arts, Science, Commerce and Professional Courses, respectively. The word Avishkar means invention. The aim of this research convention was to encourage students and teachers to engage in research work and innovation, and to present their best work. In the first round, which was held at VES College of Arts, Science and Commerce the participants were required to present their research work in the form of a concise poster presentation. There were students participating from colleges all over Mumbai from a variety of different departments and backgrounds. Three groups had participated from The Department of Psychology and each group had 5 students each.

2019 -2020 PAGE 22 14TH INTER COLLEGIATE AVISHKAR RESEARCH CONVENTION DECEMBER 2019 The topics of the research papers written and presented by these students were: Relationship between Violent Video Games, Aggression and Empathy; Instagram Usage in relation with Objectified Body Consciousness १८ ३५ ाand Self-esteem of Young Adults and - वयोगतातील लोकांम ये असले या नोमोफो बया, एकाक पणा आ ण माटफोनचे सन ांतील सहसबं धं ांचा अ यास (Investigating the relationship between Nomophobia, Smartphone Addiction and Loneliness).

2019 -2020 PAGE 23 14TH INTER COLLEGIATE AVISHKAR RESEARCH CONVENTION DECEMBER 2019 The latter of the three aforementioned papers was written and presented in Marathi. The judges of the competition were Dr. Surendra Thakurdesai, Dr. Pratima Das and Principal Dr.Somanth Vibhute.

2019 -2020 PAGE 24 14TH INTER COLLEGIATE AVISHKAR RESEARCH CONVENTION DECEMBER 2019 This convention was a truly enriching and engaging experience for all the students who had participated. It gave the students an experience of being in a competitive and demanding environment. It has encouraged them to participate in more competitions like this and to engage in more qualitative research work that can help bring a change in the world.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 25 GROUP THERAPY JANUARY 2020 A group therapy workshop was conducted by Prof. Neha Dalal ( Dept of Psychology- Raheja College) on 25th of January, 2020. Groups in Counseling and Current trends in Counseling which was is part of TYBA Psychology syllabus for paper- IX was covered. The motive of the workshop was to experientially understand how Group therapy is conducted, what are the advantages and disadvantages, different approaches. The workshop was a curriculum based 4 hour workshop. It consisted of a few activities which helped us understand the importance of a skilled group therapist. For the first activity we had to describe our own identities and then get everyone’s identity together and place it on a chart. This helped us to understand how we adapt to group settings. Also on the side of the therapist, it gave us an insight to the behaviours that should be observed and what each behaviour means.

2019 -2020 PAGE 26 GROUP THERAPY JANUARY 2020 Topics like- History of Group Counseling, Types of groups, Advantages and limitations, Theories, Future of group work were all covered Neha ma'am created a intense group therapy environment where all 19 of us sat in a round table format spoke about our issues as a group and the therapist Neha ma'am played the role of a well trained therapist by pointing out our non-verbal cues and how we need to communicate and other such minute details. We are thankful to our Professor Dr Meghna Basu thakur for inviting Professor Neha Dalal and giving us this opportunity to see how real life group counseling feels like it was a wonderful experience.

2019 -2020 PAGE 27 GROUP THERAPY JANUARY 2020

2019 - 2020 PAGE 28 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020 The first day of Psychomagicum was punctuated by the Ramp Walk for Charity. The differently-abled participants that will walk the ramp were from various institutions, including 8 from Dilkhush Special School (Juhu), Advitya12 from -a creative centre for specially gifted (Santacruz), as well as 4 from Skill Shakti Centre -Inclusive Careers & Community Fulfilling Lives, which is a new venture to provide a platform for learning efficient life skills and valuable talents to people with special needs. R. D. National CollegeThe differently abled walked alongside 5 students from, 15 students from Podar International School, as well as renowned entities from the entertainment industry like Movie Actors, TV Personalities, Singers, and Models, including Akasa Singh, Nishat Mallick, Shruti Panwar, Sana Khan, Vishal Singh, Aradhya Taing Mehra, Prit Kamani, and Shivani Patil, and Pride of Nation, Mrs. Sonali Bhakri, who endorse the cause of inclusion.The show-stoppers were Bhagyashree Patwardhan (from Maine Pyaar Kiya) and Dr. Vandana Lulla Sana Sultan Khanthe Director and Principal of Podar International School). is a striking beauty bloggerfashion and with oomph blazing across her Instagram channel, that’s Sana for you. She’s also a professional model and actress, who featured in the music video called Ringtone with Baba Honey. We love this bold and unapologetic dame, and these might be just Nishat Mallicka few of the many reasons for her huge fan following. is a Mumbai based Indian actor, most popularly known for his part in Sandeep Chatterjee’s movie Adrishya (2017) and his webseries “Memories” on VIU app, where he played was negative lead against actor Rohit Roy. Nishat in actor with fairly good enough skills and hr has passion for singing and dancing too.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 29 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020 . UTV Bindass Channel’s reality show Beg Borrow Vishal Singh has done a movie called games of Steal season 6 was Nishat’s first notable Ayodhya. It released 2 years back in December. appearance on the screen, after which he was He has done yehhaimohabatein on starplus in involved in a lot of TV commercials, Dettol , Ford, 2019 along with DivyankaTripathi and Karan Max Fashion, Surf excel, Colgate , KEI wires, Patel. That's where he gained popularity and fame. His fan following increased because of the ShrutiVijay Sales, are few of his latest ads. character he played in Yhm. He did one reality Panwaris an Indian film and television actress. show also which was Vdistraction, along with RitwikDhanjani.Originally from Maharashtra, She has appeared in Bollywood films like Raaz, Saloni Bhakri was crowned Mrs. India –Pride Aetbaar and Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan[1] and in of Nation in 2019. She is also the Subtitle TV serials like Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai, Winner of Beautiful Skin and recently a special Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Chattan, Mumkin, guest at Rabiaz’s walk for a social walk at J. W. AaoBahenChugli Karen, Achanak, Marriott. ChaltiKaNaamAntakshari, Max Top Ten, ShrimanShrimati and SasuralGendaPhool. Mrs. Bhagyashree Patwardhan is an acclaimed Indian actress, who has featured in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, and Bhojpuri films. She made her film debut in the 1989 blockbuster film Maine PyaarKiya with Salman Khan, for which she won the Filmfare Award for BestFemale Debut. Bhagyashree Ma'am has appeared in over 20 films. She made her Telugudebut in the film YuvaratnaRana (1998). She also made appearances in many television series. She returned to Hindi films in the mid 2000s appearing in MaaSantoshiMaa (2003),HumkoDeewanaKar Gaye (2006), and Red Alert: The War Within (2010). After a gap of several years, she made her comeback to television with the TV serial LautAao Trisha aired on Life OK from 2014 to 2015. In March 2015, she became the brand ambassador of Bhagyashree Scheme, launched by the Government of India, which caters to the girl child from below- Prit Kamani Indian actorpoverty-line families. is an who has appeared in the movie Hum char and in many advertisements for famous brands like Center Fresh,Vodafone, Closeup, Tata Sky. He alongside, Taaruk Raina, runs a Youtube channel named Jumbo Jutts. Shivani Patil is a fashion and beauty influencer, Tedx speaker and an ex student of National college.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 30 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020 AkasaSing is a singer and Performer, has Dr. VandanaLulla is the Director of Podar International School, which is a part of been giving us some of the biggest hits in 2019 which include Aitheya AA song from the movie Anandilal and Ganesh Podar Society, a 79-year- Bharat starring Salman Khan.She is most known old Co-ed institution at Santacruz (west), for her song “Kheech Meri Photo” from the 2016 Mumbai. The motto of the school is “Education Bollywood movie Sanam Teri Kasam (2016 film). for Enrichment, Enhancement, and Excellence.” Her debut pop single “Thug Ranjha” crossed She holds a BA in English Literature and History 27mn + views in one month and became the most from our very own R. D. National College, an MA watched Indian video worldwide on YouTube. in History, a B.Ed, M.Ed, and a Doctorate Degree Recently her famous song naagin was also the in \"Managing Learning Disabilities using talk of the town which crossed over 100 M views Technology.\" A strong advocate of and tended on YouTube music charts for 7 revolutionalizing education through technology, weeks. She also has a song with LAUV in Good she is an extremely prolific and well-established Newwz. She has also been the face of MTV name in the field of education. She was awarded beats, with 2 original shows which included MTV The INTEL Award for \"The Best Integration of IT in Beats Secret Side with Akasa& MTV Beats Top Education.\" She had received the prestigious 20 countdown. Talking about reality show star & Mother Teresa Memorial Award 2008-09 for web-based shows, she has been a part of The outstanding resource mobilization for leprosy/ TB Remix, Star Plus-India's Raw star. work in western zone by IDF. Dr. Maya ShahaniThe Chief Guest was on stage to formally inaugurate thisprestigious evemt. She is the Chairperson of the Shahani Group and the Trustee of theThadomal Shahani Trust. Ms. Shahani is also on the Governing Board of the HSNC Board,which runs 27 prime educational institutes in Mumbai. She founded The Sage Foundation in2012 as a step towards fulfilling her vision of building schools for underprivileged childrenthroughout India and providing them skills that make them employable. She is associatedwith a number of foundations like the Global Dialogue Foundation and the Cancer PatientsAid Association. Ms. Shahani has received several awards in recognition of her work,including the Extraordinary Lives Award presented by XL Results Foundation and was also featured in Dreamcatchers; an international feature film showcasing people who have ledtransformational lives. Her vision is to build strong, ethical, and heart centric businessleaders.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 31 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020 After felicitating the Chief Guest, we felicitated the institutions involved. Mrs. Sangitaa Advaniis the esteemed founder and director of Skill Shakti Centre - Inclusive Careers, Community Fulfilling Lives. It is an Innovative Centre that skills adults with diverse abilities for life skills,inclusive careers, and a fun, social community of peers. It is a new venture to provide aplatform for learning efficient life skills and valuable talents to people with special needs.Mrs. Advani isa journalist, education innovator, and inclusion consultant. She is active inworldwidebusiness networks such as Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). A proponentfor special needs and inclusion in education and business, she has worked in grassroot andcorporate organizations in India. We are thankful for the participation of 4 adults withspecial needs from her esteemed institution. We request Mrs. Advani to come upon stage,and share her experience as a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. We also have 12 adults with special needs walking the Advityaramp from –A CreativeCentre for Specially Gifted (Santacruz). Established in the August of 2000, Advitya is acreative centre for those gifted with conditions like Down’s syndrome, Autism and CerebralPalsy among others. All the students are above the age of 18 years of age andare involvedin occupational therapy whereby they are engaged in adding value to a multitude ofhandicrafts. Their aim is to enhance the lives of people with different abilities by leveragingtheir individual skills, build confidence in them through vocation, provide the students’families with a robust support system. We requested Ms. Anjali Shah come on stage andbriefly share with us a little about her NGO.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 32 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020 We also thanked Dilkhush Special School for encouraging 8 differently-abledchildren to walk theramp today. Dilkhush was started in 1971 by the sisters of Handmaidsof the Sacred Heart of Jesus as part of their work in the field of formal and non-formaleducation and other developmental work being carried out in 24 countries around theworld. It hasgrown to include a sheltered workshop and teachers’ training centre. It has awealth of experience in working with individuals with different abilities and from diversebackgrounds to continuously explore their capabilities: be it as teachers, students,volunteers or employees. We requested Sister Sheeba Antony and her team of dedicatedteachers, Karenina Ma’am and Erita Ma’am, to come up on stage, and briefly talk about their school. Finally, we had 15 students from Podar International School, a private, International Baccalaureate (IB) and IGCSEaffiliated, K-12 school. At Podar, they provide a stimulating, safe and supportiveenvironment, in which all their students can aim for success. It is their mission to impartinformation, skills and processeswhich prepare students to function effectively in a rapidlychanging world. The school launched interactive E-books on iPad in 2012. We have 7students from Grade V and 8 students doing IBDP and A-levels walking the ramp today. Theschool’s director, Dr. Vandana Lulla, an alumni of our very own R. D. National College, walked with them. Podar is a renowned institution that is ranked as one of the Top10 International Day Schools in India. We requested Dr. Vandana Lulla, and her esteemed teamof teachers, Mehek Ma’am, Rohit Sir, Ankita Ma’am, and Binita Ma’am, to grace the stagewith their presence, and share some words of wisdom with us.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 33 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020 Our design and styling partners were also felicitated. The outfits for the participants were designed and made by students of Institute of Designing and Fashion Technology. Institute of Designing &; Fashion Technology, was established in 2013, with thevision of Empowering youths in the world of fashion. IDFT understands the obstaclesthat students face in the pursuit of their dream career, so it has welcomed everystudent to fulfil their dreams at a very affordable price. Furthermore, they havemaintained a track record of 100% placement assistance till date, with their Director Mrsstudentsworkingwith leading designers, production houses, TV serials, and so on. Their, Monika Sinha, has provided a stepping stone to our students for theirfuture endeavors in the fashion industry, which is as rewarding as it is demanding.Under her guidance, IDFT seeks to provide opportunities to young designers forcontributing to the national and International design scenario. We invited Ma’am on stage to share a little about her institution and her experience inthe fashion industry. Other designers included free-lancing designing student Shipra Poddar from the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI), Mishkaa Khanna from-Mishkaaism: The Dotting Co, designing free-lancers Riddhi Vasani from S.N.D.T University (Vile Parle) and Dhwni Singhvi, MeDesi Designs and MU creations. Bay Leaf (Bandra) and Hair Fox are our make-up and hair partners for this event. Our esteemed choreographer was Avijit Barik. It was hosted by Abhishekh Khan, an alumni from MMK.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 34 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020 The theme for this Ramp Walk is Celebrating Diversity and Promoting Inclusivity. As students of Psychology, we believe that creating a more accepting and enriching environment is imperative to UN 2030 Agendasocietal progress. The pledges to “foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.” Keeping this in mind, we firmly believe that we can only move forward if nobody gets left behind. The Ramp Walk was absolutely glamorous. There were three sequences. The first one featured white t-shirts, designed by Mishkaa. The second sequence was themed Indian, while the third one was Indo-western. The differently- abled people, the students, as well as the celebrities looked delightful. The audience was incredibly supportive. The Ramp Walk was an absolute success.

2019 - 2020 PAGE 35 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020

2019 - 2020 PAGE 36 RAMP WALK FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED FEBRUARY 2020

2019 - 2020 PAGE 37 PSYCHOMAGICUM FEBRUARY 2020

2019 -2020 PAGE 38 PSYCHOMAGICUM The Department of Psychology of R. D. Each year, over 400 students from National College organized the 11th more than 30 colleges all across edition of Psychomagicum, our two-day Mumbai attend it. This fest intends to Academic, Inter-collegiate Psychology provide a platform to facilitate mental festival, on the 7th and 8th of health awareness and advocacy February, 2020. Under the guidance of against stigma. In the past, its themes Dr. Meghna Basu Thakur, we also have reflected culturally relevant issues organized a Ramp Walk for Charity on such as emotional wellness, resilience, the 7th of February, 2020, at 4:00PM, materialism, and contemporary featuring differently–abled people of complications concerning the youth. varying ages. Ma’am has led the way to This year, the theme of Psychomagicum this initiative by making her students was Navigating the Maze of Mental more aware about and sensitized Health. It was a lively amalgamation of towards persons who are differently themed sessions and activities about abled as well as various matters issues concerning Youth Mental Health, concerning them. Psychomagicum has which were concluded by mental been redefining festivity since its health-related screening of movie clips inception. to encourage open discussion.

2019 -2020 PAGE 39 PSYCHOMAGICUM The event began at 8:30 AM, with This event would not have been registration as well as the serving of possible without our Sponsors, breakfast to the audience. A total of Fashion Design partners, Styling partners, Gift partners and Food 310 students participated in the partners. Our fest is Powered by LTA fest, from 28 colleges across School of Beauty and Co-Powered by Mumbai, including KC College, Kirti B. Kandhari Group, Bank of Baroda and Global Opportunities – A Study College, Thakur college Dahisar, Abroad Consultancy. Our fashion Tolani College, LS Raheja, Joshi design sponsors are Om Fashion, Bedekar, NL Dalmia, CHM, Bhavans Grinee Designs, IDFT, Mishkaaism – Chowpatty, NMIMS, Wilson, KJ and The Dotting Co., MeDesi Designs, MU SK Somaiya, Royal College, UPG Creations, Sai Shradha, Shipra Podar College, Ritumbara, Ismail Yusuf, from ISDI School of Design and Andrews College, SNDT University, Innovation, and, Dhwani Singhvi, and SIES College, KES Shroff College, Tom Iris; our Food partners are MD Shah College, and our very own Desserts By Ish, World of Cakes and students from R.D National college-- Snacks, Suresh Momos, Cake by Ifra, Junior and Degree College. Box of chocolate, Altaf’s Saffron; our styling partners are BayLeaf salon, HairFox, Johnson Bath, Nail Trunk; our Media partners are Times of India, Bandra Buzz, Jai Maharashtra, Mumbai Choufer, Lokmath, Sankalp, and of course, the educational and counselling centre, PsychoKnowmics.

2019 -2020 PAGE 40 PSYCHOMAGICUM At 9:30AM, we held the Inaugration Our Chief Guest, was Dr. Anjali Ceremony. No program is complete Chhabria, founder of Mindtemple, without our esteemed principal-in- finished her MMBS from J.J. Group of charge, Dr. Neha Jagtiani, our I/C Hospitals in the year 1985 and has vice principals; and vice principals been a practicing consultant and psychiatrist for the past 20 years. Dr. Lakshmi Iyer, Dr. Kiran Jathar; and Mr. Dinesh Himatsinghani. We She further pursued a Diploma in Psychotherapies and completed her expressed our appreciation towards M.D. in 1990 from Nair Charitable them for providing us with this Hospital, (Mumbai). platform and generously supporting the Department of Psychology in our endeavours. Dr. Anjali has been a speaker on Indian Express, Physician’s Digest, various topics of mental health in Femina, Women’s era, Savy and several seminars and conferences, Harmony. Thus, through various talk national and international. She has shows on T.V. as well as through given her views in articles on various radio, films and articles in the media, emotional health and interpersonal she has made people aware of the relationships issues in The Times of importance of healthy emotional India, Mid-day, DNA, India Today, behavior.

2019 -2020 PAGE 41 PSYCHOMAGICUM Our Guest of Honour was Ms. Ms. Joshi teaches courses on Aparna Joshi, who was kind enough Counselling adults, couples and Families, Theoretical and and be present here to make this therapeutic approaches to auspicious day even more special. counselling, Personal and Dr. Aparna Joshi is currently working Interpersonal Development of the Counsellor, Ethics in Counselling and as an Assistant Professor and a Community Mental Health. Ms. Joshi Centre Chairperson at the School has been practising as a of Human Ecology, Tata Institute psychotherapist for past 19 years of social sciences (TISS). She has and over these years, has worked with Non-governmentorganisations been involved in designing and and have been involved in teaching courses for post graduate envisioning and implementing students of Applied psychology (clinical and counselling specialisation) at the School of Human Ecology since 2010.

2019 -2020 PAGE 42 PSYCHOMAGICUM mental health service programmes in from U.K. She has trained in Family clinical, community and institutional Therapy from Washington University at settings. Ma’am is also the project St. Louis, and is an EFT Practitioner, director of I Call and Sukoonat TISS And of course, we expressed our Hypnotherapist and Past Life Regression Therapist. As an Headsincere gratitude towards the of Department of Psychology, Dr. integrated wellness coach Ma’am Meghna Basu Thakur, for her works with individuals, families, groups for empowered living and achieving untiring effort in steering this breakthrough results. She has been monumental event, and for giving us conducting certification programs in the opportunity to give a voice to NLP and has founded the Center for issues that are relevant to our Positive Power whose mission is to current youth. The esteemed enable people to use the more dignitaries were invited on the stage effective power of the ‘energy of love’ to formally inaugurate this event by to get what they want and fulfil their lighting the lamp, and each of them potentials harmoniously and delivered a short, inspirational sustainably. She facilitated our speech on youth mental health. understanding of why romanticizing mental illness is wrong and how to deal SESSION 1 - THE ROMANTICIZATION with it in a healthier manner. She OF MENTAL ILLNESS prepared a PPT with relevant and relatable examples of Twitter and Mrs. Ameeta Shah, our first Tumblr posts that romanticized mental speaker of the day, is a Certified illness. She concluded her session by NLP Master Trainer and Master providing solutions to this problem, and Practitioner trained by Dr. William promote one’s positive mental health. Horton and has done additional courses in NLP

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2019 -2020 PAGE 44 PSYCHOMAGICUM SESSION 2 - THE IDEALIZATION AND publications in national and INTERNALISATION OF NETFLIX international journals. He is one of CHARACTERS the few psychiatrists who in addition to a psychiatry degree has an MBA This topic of ours revolves around in Human Resource Development, a Masters in Psychotherapy and how we idealise and internalise Counseling and an MPhil in Netflix characters like Bojack Psychology. He is also the editor of a journal called Indian Journal of Horseman, Eleven, Ross Geller, Mental Health. With the help of a Hannah Baker, Sheldon Cooper, Joe Goldberg, Ganesh Gaitonde, and of thePPT, he addressed us about course Dhruv and Kavu. Our second consuming nature of online indulgence, the reasons behind speaker, Dr.Avinash De Sousa is a consultant psychiatrist and adopting this fictional perspective psychotherapist with a private as our own, and the implications of this. practice in Mumbai. He has over 300

2019 -2020 PAGE 45 PSYCHOMAGICUM SESSION 3 - THE PARADOX OF and occupational therapy students. CHOICE She has conducted workshops in Prof. Neha Dalal, our third speaker, has done her master’s in clinical various colleges, and we were psychology, she has completed a honoured to have her in our college Trainer’s program in life skills training to hear her take on the cognitive for teenagers and Master Practioner training in NLP from paradox created by too many NFNLP institute. She works as a choices. She spoke about analysis visiting faculty at master’s level and paralysis, and the indecision provides training in basic counselling anxiety vs. the autonomy that skills. She teaches psychology to accompanies an abundance of physiotherapy choices, with the aid of a PPT. The third session was followed by an hour-long lunch break.

2019 -2020 PAGE 46 PSYCHOMAGICUM SESSION 4 - NOMOPHOBIA He’s the host for a popular breakfast show #Madmornings. He also hosts the After the break, we resumed the sessions. Claustrophobia, super famous chat show “see rare arachnophobia, acrophobia . . . there mastimein” on mastii the music are phobias of all kinds, but perhaps the most modern-day phobia is channel. He’s Bollywood’s *one stop nomophobia, or “no–mobile-phone shop* for trailer launches, movie phobia.” While the irrational fear of launches and of course red carpets. losing or not having access to one’s mobile phone has not been officially Having hosted over 1000 corporate recognized as a psychiatric condition, shows and events he’s Mumbai’s there have been recommendations to favourite host. He addressed the topic by integrating comic elements into include it in the Diagnostic and otherwise serious issues, and truly Statistical Manual of Mental moved the audience. Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-V). So, what exactly underlies mobile phone dependency and is it something we need to be concerned about? The speaker for this topic was also our celebrity guest for RJ Glennthe day, none other than Saldanha from Mumbai’s no.1 radio station fever 104fm.

2019 -2020 PAGE 47 PSYCHOMAGICUM RAMP WALK FOR CHARITY The show-stoppers were Bhagyashree Patwardhan (from Maine Pyaar Kiya) The first day of Psychomagicum was and Dr. Vandana Lulla the Director and Principal of Podar International punctuated by the Ramp Walk for School). Charity. The differently-abled participants that will walk the ramp were from various institutions, including 8 from Dilkhush Special School (Juhu), 12 from Advitya - a creative centre for specially gifted (Santacruz), as well as 4 from Skill Shakti Centre - Inclusive Careers & Community Fulfilling Lives, which is a new venture to provide a platform for learning efficient life skills and valuable talents to people with special needs. The differently abled walked alongside 5 students from R. D. National College, 15 students from Podar International School, as well as renowned entities from the entertainment industry like Movie Actors, TV Personalities, Singers, and Models, including Akasa Singh, Nishat Mallick, Shruti Panwar, Sana Khan, Vishal Singh, Aradhya Taing Mehra, Prit Kamani, and Shivani Patil, and Pride of Nation, Mrs. Sonali Bhakri, who endorse the cause of inclusion.