Parity Lab

An important component of any organization is their communication strategy. What happens in communication is deeply influenced by our understanding of power, our emotions, beliefs and experiences. These deep emotions emerge due to ineffective patterns, beliefs and experiences and become like inner figures - grouping together by the inner voices. In this workshop where we supported the cohort to explore their communication strategy, we explored the inner voices in the mental wellness sessions. We all have many thoughts in our head. Many of these thoughts are like voices. As if there is a person sitting within us speaking to us. While attending Mahabharata Immersion- a program by @Raghu Ananthanarayanan I came across this framework of inner voices. If the thoughts in our head follow a pattern, they are akin to a person sitting and talking. His framework provides seven voices, four of them are ineffective and can be transformed into effective voices with the help of the other three. When

Sometimes, I wish life was simple: everyone understood everyone else, treated each other equally, and lived a life of ease and tranquillity. Well, this is just a utopian dream. In reality, we are not meant to live a trouble-free, conflict-free life. We are meant to understand the big drama of life and work towards transforming each moment. We are meant to be tested, and life does a good job of it. When we cannot escape, we manage. The fact that humans have made progress means that we are capable of making the best of challenging situations.  What comes in the way is a repeated pattern of viewing the drama instead of tapping into our agency. When I facilitated my first mental wellness workshop for the cohort, I wondered how I could best support them. One of the primary principles we follow at Parity Lab is that each person is the expert of their reality. My job is to bring them face to face with their individual, organizational, and community realities. We began by introducing them to t

In the village of Badapur, in the searing monsoon heat and humidity of Uttar Pradesh, women and children belonging to the Dalit Musahr communities had gathered for their gatisheel paathshaala session under the open sky, a paathshaala where they learnt functional literacy and shared a space for dialogue. This paathshaala is conducted by Muheem , a grassroots organization that has been working with these communities for their education and empowerment, including preventing Gender Based Violence (GBV), for years now. I had the privilege to observe and participate in this particular gatisheel pathsaala session because I was a representative of Parity Lab, an accelerator that Muheem has partnered with for its leadership and capacity development. The session was to be initiated by a round of introductions for the Parity Lab team’s benefit. I did expect that some people might be shy in introducing themselves, just as some people everywhere are with introductions, but more so since our team

We live in the age of paradoxes. Mobile phones have made us accessible at the press of a button but our ability to communicate is being compromised. Families go to a restaurant and everyone is in their own world. This happens with friends and work colleagues as well. Social media has shrunk the world and isolated individuals. We now have so much awareness of concepts such as the patriarchy and feminism. We are even more aware of violence and yet it continues. Mental health is quickly becoming a major issue and yet, care is not accessible to large populations, especially in rural areas. As a wellness associate with Parity Lab, my job is to make mental wellness accessible to communities via the NGOs that serve them. Parity Lab accelerates the journey of the founder and first-line leader of NGOs that work at the grassroots level to combat gender-based violence. The people working in these NGO’s as well as their communities grapple with mental wellness. They often come from low caste, low

We are born into stories. Our caste, class, religion, and nationality are decided at birth. Other considerations such as gender, physical appearance, and skin color are characteristics that are immediately associated with us.  We often make assumptions about people based on beliefs that are related to these characteristics.  For example:  If you are born blind, you will always be dependent. If you are born a boy, you will be an engineer or an important officer.  If you are born a girl, you will be a doctor. If you belong to a "lower" caste, you will never make it big. There is a relationship between our inner voices and outer voices. Many beliefs that inform behavior are formed from social conditioning rather than individual experiences. As we grow up, more of these beliefs become associated with us. We buy into them and make choices that do not necessarily benefit us. So we must ask ourselves:  Where do beliefs come from? Who benefits from them? What is the impact? After dis

Parity Lab’s Acceleration program is designed to accelerate rural survivor-led organizations addressing gender-based violence. Each organization selected to be a part of the cohort is represented by its founder and an additional team member. Together, they undergo a year-long program consisting of monthly workshops, technical support, and support for their mental well-being. The program is designed through a trauma-informed lens and is rooted in promoting mental well-being. As a wellness associate with applied behavioral science experience and an understanding of somatic and narrative practices, I believe that striving for wellness involves understanding and healing trauma and developing resilience, power, and self-belief. How does one hold power? Can power be shared? How is it perceived and handled? The participants of the program have dealt with power-under and seen power-over . I wondered about their experience of their own power and sharing the power-with . An illustration of th