Category Archives: Tribute

LonePack: The Journey So Far

What is the most resilient thing in the world?

An idea whose time has come

They say that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. LonePack’s started with something much more abstract – a deep, almost desperate need to bring about change. 

Oh no, we’re not talking about enacting change on a global scale, like achieving climate stability or anything, but the one we wanted to do was equally difficult to achieve with just as far-reaching an impact. 

To talk about the change that we envisioned, we would need to retrace our steps a little; go back in time by a few years. 

Six years ago, three youngsters; Samiya, Siddhaarth, and Naveen, engineering students who preferred to be identified first as ‘friends’ before ‘classmates’, had an idea.

“The idea for LonePack was conceived in 2015, but we were a little apprehensive about taking the plunge. We were not trained in this field, nor did we have any idea about how non-profits functioned. However, by the time we were graduating from college (2016), we realized that we could not ignore this issue any longer. We took the leap and decided that whatever we didn’t know, we would learn; if we needed help, we would ask for it; but doing nothing was no longer an option,” recalls Samiya.

So what is the idea that we’re giving all this hype about?

“What we wanted to do was to tell people they were not alone, that their mental health mattered, as lonely as it seemed to them when they were not ok. We wanted to shatter the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage open conversation about it. To provide a safe space for people to be candid about what they were going through. This was what LonePack was about,” says Naveen.

But why mental health, when there are a million other causes to support, one might wonder. Well, Siddhaarth has the answer to that!

“My own experiences and those of my close friends have shown me how important mental health is to overall well-being and quality of life. Sadly, there is still a lot of stigma and misconceptions about mental health that prevent people from seeking help to improve their well-being. In many other social causes, mainstream society at least acknowledges that we need to improve (in principle at least). However, when it comes to mental health – there still exists a lot of prejudice that prevents people from giving it due importance. There’s a long road ahead of us to make mental health accessible to everyone and we’ll need plenty of allies and activists to reach that goal!”

And so, faced with what seemed like an unscalable mountain and armed with only their beliefs and visions for a better future, the trio started out.

Of course, part of the fun is the people you meet on your journey, and in that aspect, LonePack has seen a lot of fun, joy, and excitement over the years.

“Most of us have heard this, ‘It’s the journey that matters, not the destination’. But it’s the destination that drives you through the journey, brings you closer to people taking that journey and makes it all more worth it. At LonePack, I found a community traveling towards the same destination – to make mental health accessible to all. And taking this journey with people who are as equally, if not more, passionate as you to reach this destination, just makes it worthier to travel on.” Divya, who heads the Research team, reinstates with a smile.

“LonePack has been a space where you feel like you belong. You eventually learn and accept that it’s okay to not be okay and start to believe in the importance of being there for people. It’s amazing to be working together as a team, with folks who believe that mental health matters, and it’s been such an enjoyable ride!” says Aishwarya.


“It’s all about the collective effort; the effort that goes into pushing for better awareness, with the thirst to want to improve the perception of mental health in our circles. And since it’s a collective, there is a vibrant collaboration, and as a result you end up meeting super cool and smart people along the way. I see it as a win-win!” Suhas adds.

Aishwarya and Suhas head the Marketing and Social Media Management teams at LonePack.

“LonePack is the fruition of a deep want for change. To be the lighthouse that we didn’t really have to help guide us through the rough waves at sea. Life is kind of like the ocean and sometimes, lighthouses are what you need to know that this rough journey will end and that the shore is nearer than you think it is. LonePack is our hope – reaching out to help anyone who might need it. And to me, personally, LonePack is about building a strong community to be there for everyone as their support system. That’s why I do what I do here.” quips Srivasupradha. She heads LonePack’s Content team.

As they say, it is not the destination that matters, and LonePack has seen a lot of interesting pit-stops and milestones, too! 

“We designed LonePack Buddy – a safe space for everyone to talk about anything, without fear of judgement. After all, we think everybody could use a buddy, especially in these trying times.” says Siddhaarth, talking about LonePack Buddy, which is a free, online peer-support system. Try it out here!

“Our flagship on-ground awareness campaign, LonePack Letters, reached over 60,000 people in over 20 Indian cities in 18 months across three editions,” Samiya recounts with pride. Various organizations and institutions like Uber, IIT Madras, VIT Chennai, etc have collaborated with LonePack to make the Letters campaign a success. Read more about it here!

And that is not all! From its highly informative blog page to the extremely colourful and engaging social media accounts, LonePack has a lot of gears churning (quite smoothly) on all ends!

When asked what are LonePack’s hopes and dreams for the future, Naveen says with a fond smile, “We hope to reach a lot more people to create awareness and support. We hope to grow Buddy to serve each and every person who needs help, make Buddy available in a variety of languages, and on even basic-feature phones. We hope to hasten the creation of a world where battles against mental health are no longer fought in the dark!”

A TRIBUTE TO HOLLYWOOD’S BELOVED MAGICIAN

 “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it”.

                                                                             -Robin Williams

On August 11th, 3 years ago, the world lost its undisputed king of comedy and one of the greatest actors we had ever known, Robin Williams. Williams took his own life after a decade-long battle with depression and the onset of Lewy body dementia along with Parkinson’s disease. However, he left us with a legacy of inspiring, one of kind movies such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, and Good Morning, Vietnam, to name a few.

Every single movie of his has inspired us to try harder, given us hope when we felt like we were stuck in a bottomless pit, cheered us up when our self-confidence had hit an all new low and made us laugh till our stomachs hurt. Williams pours out his heart and soul into each and every character he has ever portrayed, leaving us with a medley of emotions.

“Dead Poets Society”, was one such movie that hits you deep within your soul, leaving an everlasting impact in your life. Robin Williams delivered one of his most memorable performances in the film, playing the role of John Keating, an English teacher in the elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy.  He inspires his students to embrace their passion, and allow themselves to be consumed by poetry, love, music and art. Whenever you feel chocked by the mundane everyday grind of life, make it a point to watch this movie. Being one of my personal favorites, this movie continues to be a huge source of inspiration to all, edging us on to dream big and follow our heart.

“Patch Adams”, is another noteworthy role that was received with mixed emotions. Patch Adams tells the inspirational true story of this once clinically depressed, newly invigorated caregiver on his journey through medical school and beyond. Breaking all the molds, Patch’s excessive cheer and optimism challenge conventional medical practices. Practicality or compassion? Indifference or concern? He chooses to love and respect those in pain, improving life instead of just delaying death. And the payoffs are tremendous. He believes that hospitals should personally interact with their patients and that laughter and kindness were easily the most effective medicines. Patch Adams has the potential to inspire medical professionals help prevent the alienation of patients from their caregivers. Though critics dismissed this film as a mawkish tear-jerker, it captures the human spirit at its finest.

“Good Will Hunting” gave Williams the coveted Oscar for his role as Matt Damon’s therapist. This is a powerful film about Will, a working class janitor, who leaves MIT professors dumfounded with his IQ. However, his aggression and complacency leaves no room for personal growth. This is where, Williams enters, guiding Will into the path of self-discovery. This film boasts of two of Robin William’s best speeches, so juicy they look set to become actors’ audition pieces: one about the virtue of imperfection, the other a hostile lecture to Will on the difference between knowledge and experience.

 Be it a hilarious RJ who tries to bring some much needed humor into the lives of Vietnam war soldiers, the rib tickling yet honest portrayal of a father, trying to spend more time with his children under the guise of their new nanny in “Mrs. Doubtfire” or the cheerful “Teddy Roosevelt” in the “Night at the museum” series, Robin Williams was a gem of an individual, who was taken away from us too soon.

I was completely taken aback on hearing of his suicide, and that was when the magnitude of depression really hit me. Depression distorts your thoughts. It makes the world black and white. It sucks all the optimism and will out of you. Maybe there’s something that triggered it, something that was ongoing, but worsened to a point where you could not take it anymore. Sometimes there’s no reason, and that’s even worse somehow. In an interview, Robin William’s wife had said “Depression was one of let’s call it 50 symptoms, and it was a small one.”  He had been suffering with debilitating brain disease called “ Lewy body dementia” accompanied as it usually is, with paranoia and depression. Frequently misdiagnosed, it is the second most common neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer’s and causes fluctuations in mental status, hallucinations and impairment of motor function.

We cannot completely criticize his choice to give up his life instead of fighting his problems without personally understanding what he might have gone through. However, remember, there is always another path that leads to a happier ending. The dark tunnel will ultimately lead to light. The process of finding that might seem emotionally draining, but with the help of loved ones, you will surely get there.

Robin Williams himself had once said, “If you are that depressed, reach out to someone. And remember, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”.   If you feel like you are slowly falling into the waiting hands of depression, stop, think of all the happy moments in your life, the people who love you, mainly your parents, to whom you are the single most important source of happiness.

I would like to end this tribute with a quote from the “Dead Poets Society”.

“No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world”.

Thank you, Robin Williams, for changing ours.

-Ramya MA