By Manisha Jain
Saheli partnered with ISW on Sunday, June 14, 2015 to host an Emotional Well Being Sabha titled, Resilient Teenagers: Navigating two cultures. Held at the India Center in Shrewsbury, MA, the Sabha was very well attended by moms,
dads, and teenagers alike. In a unique, one of a kind format of round table discussions, Saheli Board member and facilitator Dr. Kumkum Pareek Malik was able to literally break barriers and open doors that started key conversations between different generations, relating to the challenges of parenting as well as growing up in two different cultures. It was eye-opening to hear the perspectives of our youth who unanimously voiced that they would like to be heard and respected by their parents. At the same time it was heartwarming for the parents to hear that despite the incessant whining about Hindi school and dance classes, our kids immensely valued these classes as a bonding experience. Eye opening, and generally, taboo topics around sexuality, parental pressure, and lack of inter-generational communication were brought up, and helped to build bridges in understanding value based relations across a cultural and age spectrum. Saheli thanks ISW for their active role in launching the Sabha series in Shrewsbury and looks forward to a continued discussion within the community.
