Educational background: B.Sc in Home-Science. MBA in Marketing.
Q1) In your view, what is most important in life? Accordingly, name three aspects, important in life.A) 1) What is most important to me in life is to let go…let go. Because each one of us is carrying so much baggage of the past, present that if we do not let go – we will be sapped of our energy. We must save our energy, so that we can retain the “freshness of mind”.
2) For me, the second important thing in life is to make my mind “non-stick” – as if it is Teflon-coated. What I mean is, that we should also avoid getting affected by our own anger, or other types of negativity.
3) The third important thing to me in life is “to learn to unlearn”. We often become a bundle of ‘conditioning’; we rigidly get fixed with types of conditioning. I will give you an example of those old telegrams which were delivered to us at our place. We were ‘conditioned’ to think that the telegram meant a tragedy was anticipated – by the way of an accident or death. But, you see, telegrams also brought good news! That’s what I mean by how we must learn to unlearn, and not become a bundle of rigid ‘conditioning’.
Q2) If you were not doing what you are doing now, what would you be doing?
A) I am doing what I wanted to do – and therefore, I am happy.
Q3) What motivates you to achieve your goal?
A) I believe that whatever I do is a programme to help people help themselves – to achieve some kind of empowerment. I believe: basically, nobody has the power to influence anyone, totally. From my side, I can only be a motivator. To motivate others is the main driving force for me.
Q4) How do you handle stress and pressure?
A) Stress is a given reality of life. We cannot delete stress completely, but we can manage it. For me, managing stress is by different methods:
- Visualization
- Imagery
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Introspection
Q5) Which of your qualities would you want to pass down to your child/children?
A) Compassion and loving kindness.
Q6) Who is your favorite author? Which book of your favorite author have you enjoyed the best?
A) Dalai Lama is my favorite author. I have enjoyed his book: The Art of Happiness.
Q7) What are you pursuing currently, by the way of a light hobby, or by the way of a serious goal?
A) By the way of light hobbies, I like gardening. I also like being with nature and making friends. By the way of serious goals, I want to help people – so they can help themselves.
Q8) In the last 1 year, is your particular goal advancing? Which is that goal/dream?
A) In the last 1 year, my goal to help others – so that they can help themselves has been advancing. This is my dream. This is my goal. This is my purpose.
Recap of the conversation with Ms. Jyoti Uplenchwar.
Presently, Vice-Chairperson of Snehi – a Delhi-based non-profit registered organization.
Educational background: B.Sc in Home-Science. MBA in Marketing.
It was by a sheer chance that I met Jyoti Uplenchwar. She was visiting Dubai and we were celebrating my birthday at her son, Amit’s place. The energy of the long-lasting evening was an ethos of warmth and glee. In the flow of things, Jyoti enquired from me about my interests in life and she told me what she was doing. Commonly, we hit upon the subjects of children, education, the under-privileged. Logically to follow was: Snehi. Derived from the Hindi word ‘Sneh’, meaning: Love. Snehi is all about love and loving.
From a tender age, Jyoti’s character was such where she never missed to share her portions of delights (dry-fruits, chocolates) with the cook’s and the gardener’s families. Later in life, the same small child was to respond to her growing inner-call by reconstructing the lives of run-away-from-home-children. The solutions suggested in presenting herself regularly at the railway stations, where these kids ended up in modes of despair, confusion, and further suffering. Jyoti is perfectly capable of showing the fervour for her social-service-activities. And why not? She firmly believes that the best way of repaying back to society is by treating human being as human beings. She also feels that finally all this add up in giving the ‘giver’ greater dimensions for his own well-being. That is why, I guess, she strives for self-realization. Considering that all this took Jyoti hours away from her home and family – for the Uplenchwars, it has been an expanded survey of good spirit and unity. One could observe a definite emphasis of the same in the mother and son. To say the least, the pictorial flow of the entire evening gave that fragrance.
Q1. What has been the turning point of your life?
A. The realization of trusted friends turning their face away at the time of a critical juncture; coming out of this experience; growing and getting over petty things. I could consider this as a turning point in my life.
Q2. If you could go back in time, what would you want to do?
A. I love adventure. I would climb Mount Everest and do all sorts of crazy thing.
Q3. What are your future dreams?
A. A tough question. I strive for self-realization. I strive to accomplish my role as a helper to mankind, where I can assist people to live a more fulfilled and a satisfied life.
About Snehi: The organization gives Psycho-Social support to children, especially-run-away-from-home children. It was established on the 12th of October, 1994 by a group of individuals who were sensitive towards the rise of mental health problems in the community and were keen to provide services to meet this rising demand. Snehi was registered as a voluntary organization in April 1996. Snehi primarily focuses on addressing the emotional and mental health needs of the community and provides psychological counseling and support to people in crisis; particularly victims of abuse, violence and trauma. Since its inception, with the support of hundreds of professional and student volunteers, donors and sympathizers from different walks of life, Snehi has managed to reach out to more than 92,507 individuals in distress and has helped them through its counseling and referral services. Snehi works to promote the psychosocial well-being and positive mental health of children, adolescents and families irrespective of their socio-economic status, caste and creed. It focuses mainly on empowering them to be more productive in order to have a better life and nurtures their overall development and health i.e. physical, psychological and social. The organization endeavors to educate people to develop the capacity to take care of their own psychological well-being and mental health, and in turn reach out and touch the lives of others around them. Snehi works to ensure that people with psychosocial and mental disabilities are able to live in the community with dignity and participate in society with respect.
For further information, check website: www.snehi.org
Geeta Chhabra