Mariwala Health Initiative

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Mariwala Health Initiative

A Mental health funding&advocacy agency with a focus on marginalised communities Our goal is to improve the overall well-being in India.

The Mariwala Health Initiative (MHI) is a funding organisationin the field of mental health in India. We conceptualize well-being as a combination of mental health and social factors and aspire to create a holistic mental health ecosystem in India that is accessible to everyone across social landscapes. We are a catalyzing and enabling force for organizations that strive towards this goal. We align with a rights-based, psychosocial approach that consider mental health concerns as a disability. We expand on the narrow medical understandings of mental health and illness and looks at it through a systemic lens. We understand caste, gender, religion, region, ability and sexuality based oppression as a major contributor to mental health distress. We encourage community-based interventions and actively promote deinstitutionalization of mental health services. We are a feminist, LGBTQ affirmative and user-survivor centered organization.

28/01/2026

Monalisa’s sudden visibility at the Kumbh Mela last year exposed how gender and caste identity intersect under digital and social surveillance. Her story also reveals the persistent policing of women’s right to enjoy themselves in public spaces.

For women from marginalised NT‑DNT communities, being seen can mean being policed, trolled, and threatened, with little protection from institutions or platforms.
Privacy is not just a legal or digital concern, it is a matter of safety, agency, and mental health.

Monalisa’s experience reminds us that structural inequalities shape who can claim these rights, and that protecting the wellbeing of marginalized communities must be central to conversations on consent, visibility, and justice.

26/01/2026

As India marks its 76th Republic Day, we reflect on the values the Constitution promises: justice, liberty, equality, and dignity. This moment invites us to pause and ask: how are these ideals actually being lived, felt, and accessed today? Mental health is shaped by how safe, heard, and supported people feel within the social, political, and economic realities of the nation.

This check-in asks us to look at the country honestly, not to give up on it, but to sit with what needs to change. A mentally healthy republic is built when rights are upheld, exclusions are addressed, and people can live with security and dignity.

Love for the country is not silence.
It is the work of noticing, naming, and changing what harms us.

🇮🇳

23/01/2026

In 2023, the video of Kuki women being paraded naked shook the nation. Since then, silence has largely returned, broken only by new deaths or atrocities. Fear and trauma do not fade with the news cycle. In Manipur, survivors of sexual violence, their families, and communities continue to live with the ongoing effects of conflict.

This post documents one recent case, as reported by Scroll and Newslaundry, highlighting a wider reality. As the conflict remains unresolved, access to sustained and accessible mental health support for survivors and affected families is limited, even as the psychological impacts of such violence persist.

20/01/2026

This article in by Dr. Shruti Chakravarty responds to a Times of India opinion piece by Dr. Janhavi Nilekani that argues for restricting gender-affirming care for children and adolescents. The column revisits a set of familiar claims that have long been used to delegitimise trans lives and deny access to medically recognised care. These claims have circulated globally for decades and have been repeatedly challenged by trans communities, medical research, and practitioners across health and psychosocial disciplines.

Yet they continue to be amplified in mainstream media, often without serious scrutiny of their assumptions, evidence, or harms.

Dr. Chakravarty offers a point-by-point response to these arguments, grounded in clinical experience, research, and queer-trans affirmative practice. Link in bio.

19/01/2026

Revised caption:

🏳️‍🌈 A basic level workshop was recently held jointly by MHI, the Indian Academy of Professional Supervisors (IAPS), and M.O.P. Vaishnav College, Chennai, where supervisors participated to learn QACP for guiding supervisees more effectively on working with concerns of LGBTQI+ clients. Swipe to know more > >

17/01/2026

10 years since the death of Rohith Vemula.

Rohith’s life and writing continues to shape how we understand caste, exclusion, and institutional responsibility within Indian higher education. His death must be situated within a broader context of sustained discrimination, social isolation, and structural neglect faced by Dalit students in universities. Remembering him compels us to reflect on how caste operates within academic spaces — through policy, pedagogy, access, and everyday practices of belonging and exclusion.

It also urges us to recognise that mental health cannot be understood in isolation from social and political conditions.

Jai Bhim, Inquilab Zindabad.

14/01/2026

Pochiram’s widow, Dhondyabai, recalls begging him to leave that morning, “because I feared he would be killed” - a memory she carried for decades.

Her words remind us that behind every act of courage are lives and minds shaped by loss, fear, and enduring struggle.

The trauma of caste violence continues across generations, making it all the more important to remember these histories and reflect on how social and structural injustice shapes mental health and wellbeing, not just in the past, but even today.

Resource: Report by Jaaglyabharat.com

09/01/2026

Erasing leaders like Fatima Sheikh is a historical injustice — and it affects how Muslim women, as a minority, see themselves today. Silencing and invisibilising their contributions can cause anxiety, self-doubt, and a constant questioning: Do we belong?

Remembering Fatima Sheikh affirms their agency, resilience, and strength.

History matters. Recognition matters. Mental health matters. Long live Fatima Sheikh.

06/01/2026

Sudan’s conflict has produced one of the world’s largest child protection crises, with a vast proportion of displaced children now living without stable care, safety, or support.

The erosion of humanitarian funding has further undermined access to food, healthcare, education, and psychosocial services, deepening structural neglect rather than isolated vulnerability.

Collective attention, advocacy, and material support for child-focused, community-led responses are essential. Read >>

04/01/2026

On , let us remember: accessibility is democracy.

Advocacy for making information available in Braille does not only question the long-existing systemic apathy towards accessibility needs, but promotes full and equal participation in a democratic society.

03/01/2026

On Savitrimai’s 195th birth anniversary, we return to her words through excerpts from ‘Rise, to Learn & Act’ — a call to oppressed peoples to pursue education as a radical practice of collective liberation from caste and marginalisation.
Jai Savitribai. Jai Jotiba. Jai Bhim. Educate, Agitate, Organise.

Address

Grande Palladium, Old CST Road, Kalina
Mumbai

Telephone

+912266480500

Website

http://www.mhi.org.in/

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