Shaheen Bhatt has become the cause ambassador for MTV Question Marks, an initiative dedicated to students' mental health concerns. The cause also attempts to start conversations between parents and children about academic stress and the pressures of competition.
The Quint caught up with Shaheen to speak about the pressures youngsters face when they are in school and college, when and why she decided to open up about her mental health struggles and how it's very important not to seek validation from social media.
"It's very important to have a conversation where students are made to understand that marks aren't everything in life. Our country values education very highly, and the pursuit of academic excellence can really put a lot of pressure on students. Even I faced these challenges when I was a student," said Shaheen.
She added, "What you don't realise in school and college is that marks and academic excellence are a part of your life, and not the entirety of it. When you are a young person, you don't know what your future is going to look like and you make marks and grades your entire being. That puts a lot of pressure on you. Looking back, I do realise how much pressure I put on myself and how it has continued to affect me till date."
Speaking about many people being swayed by social media Shaheen said, "It's very important to realise that everything that happens on social media isn't real. A lot of what you are seeing is carefully curated and airbrushed. If you are trying to live up to that, you are going to fall short. So just focus on whatever is happening on your day-to-day life and be grounded. My father always told me, 'find one person you can be completely honest with' and that helped me a lot."
Watch the video for more.
Editor: Arnab Chakravorty
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)