SUPPORT FOR THE MIND - Iswar Sankalpa

20/03/2026

Who is allowed personhood, and under what conditions do we recognise someone as fully human?

Neurodiversity is often spoken about as difference, but it is equally about how systems respond to that difference, whether through inclusion and support or through exclusion, control, and neglect. For many individuals with psychosocial disabilities, this response is not neutral; it shapes access to dignity, participation, and the fundamental right to live with recognition and respect.

Experiences such as homelessness, institutionalisation, and abandonment are not isolated or accidental, but are produced through systems that fail to hold people in ways that are sustaining and just. When support is absent or conditional, what is at stake is not only well-being, but personhood itself.

At Iswar Sankalpa, we work toward building community-based support systems that centre dignity, belonging, and the right to participate in everyday life, recognising that recovery is not about compliance, but about creating the conditions in which individuals can exist, connect, and rebuild at their own pace.

This Neurodiversity Awareness Week calls for a shift beyond recognition toward accountability, and toward reimagining systems in ways that do not make personhood conditional, but instead affirm the right to life, dignity, and belonging for all.

16/03/2026

Game day at Marudyan ⚽

Afternoons here often turn into football matches - a space where movement, laughter, and friendly competition bring everyone together. Moments like these build routine, connection, and community.

At Iswar Sankalpa, care is not only about support systems and services. Sometimes, it also looks like a football game on an ordinary afternoon.

13/03/2026

Restoration is not just about finding someone’s address. It is about helping them find their way back to belonging.

At Iswar Sankalpa, restoration supports individuals experiencing homelessness and psychosocial disabilities to reconnect with their families, communities, and support systems. The journey home is often built from fragments of memory : a market from childhood, a nearby temple, a railway station, small clues that help trace the path back.

Through careful preparation, family counselling, community engagement, and continued follow-up care, the team works to ensure that returning home is not just possible, but sustainable.

So far, more than 550 homeless persons with psychosocial disabilities have been reunited with their families across India and neighbouring countries.

Because restoration is more than a reunion. It is the rebuilding of dignity, relationships, and hope.

08/03/2026

Care work is often understood through large gestures, but in reality it unfolds through quiet, consistent acts that sustain the everyday life of a community. At Iswar Sankalpa, women caregivers play an essential role in supporting residents as they navigate recovery, safety, and the process of rebuilding their lives. Through their presence, patience, and attentiveness, they help create an environment where individuals can begin to feel secure and valued again.

On International Women's Day, we recognise the women who continue to stand at the forefront of care within our shelter homes. Their work is not only about assistance or supervision, but about sustaining relationships of trust, dignity, and belonging that allow recovery to take root.

07/03/2026

02/03/2026

This Holi, we celebrate the colours of healing, hope, and belonging. In spaces of safety and care, recovery finds its strength and joy returns gently, one shade at a time. May this festival remind us that everyone deserves dignity, shelter, and compassionate mental health support. 🌸✨





❤️

28/02/2026

Postcards from Purulia 🌾

Over a few gentle days in Purulia, members of Iswar Sankalpa’s Shelter community travelled, rested, and shared time together beyond the rhythms of the city. On hills in the sun, by the riverbank, with flowers in our hair and laughter carried by the wind, we were reminded that care can also look like joy.

This journey was not only about reaching a destination, but about strengthening the community - through shared meals, quiet pauses, and moments of collective presence. Experiences like these affirm our belief that dignity, belonging, and well-being are built not only in programmes, but in the spaces where we gather, breathe, and simply be.

With gratitude to Side by Side Viz India for supporting this initiative and making this experience possible.


❤️

24/02/2026

In this interview with Azim Premji University, Sarbani invites us to rethink the architecture of care.

What if accessibility wasn’t an afterthought? What if the burden of travel, proof, and exhaustion didn’t fall on the patient? In this segment, we imagine an alternative model of healthcare — one where doctors visit clients, where care moves toward the body instead of demanding the body move toward care.

This is a conversation about accessibility, but also about love. About reshaping health systems around dignity, interdependence, and real lives. Because care should meet us where we are.

18/02/2026

Sometimes, happiness doesn’t come from big events.
Sometimes, it comes from a small wish fulfilled… and a smile that says everything

Uma di usually sits quietly, watching the world pass by with soft, curious eyes. That day, she looked at me with a sudden sparkle and said with a bright smile,
“Amak chosma ta porte debe?”
There was a childlike eagerness in her voice, as if this was a small wish she had kept inside for a long time.
I gently placed the sunglasses on her face. She straightened her back, touched the frame carefully, and then said excitedly,
“Photo tolo, dekhi kemon lagche!”
After the photo was taken, I showed it to her. Uma di looked at herself and broke into the widest smile. Her eyes lit up, her cheeks lifted, and for a moment, she looked not just happy—but proud.
It wasn’t just about wearing the sunglasses. It was about seeing herself in a new way. Feeling stylish. Feeling seen. Feeling special.
That simple moment of wearing a pair of glasses turned into a moment of pure joy. Uma di kept looking at the photo again and again, smiling as if she had discovered a new version of herself.

16/02/2026

This Valentine’s Day, we asked residents at Pratyay one simple question —
“ভালোবাসা মানে কী?” (What does love mean?)

The answers did not come in definitions.
They came as drawings, such as :

A house.
Flowers.
Fish.
Two people holding hands.
A table with fruit.

For some, love means home.
For some, it means care
For some, it means companionship.
And sometimes, love is hidden in everyday things.

There is no single way to understand bhalobasha. Sometimes it doesn't include big speeches or articulate poetry. Sometimes it looks like a small, steady understanding of love through imagery and metaphors. For persons with psychosocial disabilities, maybe love doesn't have to be dramatic. Maybe it is just this — showing up, staying, and making space for each other.

This is what love looks like here in this multi-dimensional, warm, caring halfway home.

14/02/2026

This Valentine’s Day, we asked one simple question--

"ভালোবাসা মানে কী?”
What does love mean ?

At Iswar Sankalpa love means a place where you belong.

Love is a verb.

Not something we announce.
Something we practice.
Choosing dignity.
Practising belonging.
Recognising personhood — without condition.

Even in moments of illness.
Even in moments of uncertainty.

And we have the answer!