Blooming TanMan: A Mother’s Mission to Empower Marginalised Children through Mental Health

It is rightly said that when one door closes, another opens. Sagarika Banerjee’s story is a testament to resilience, emerging stronger through all the challenges life threw at her. It was not just one closed door, but several closed doors that appeared, only to propel her to new avenues and opportunities. Her unwavering resilience is truly inspiring.

The smile on Sagarika’s face conceals a professional and profound personal loss. Still, her soul and aura are so strong that nothing can and will dampen her spirits – the ones she nurtures to spread positivity and healing in the world. Sagarika transformed her obstacles into opportunities to make the world a better place – one child at a time. 

Meet Sagarika Banerjee, (59) a mother, a wife and a teacher. She dons many hats apart from being a teacher – she’s a Life Coach, Art Therapist, Mandala Art Therapist, meditation facilitator, and the Founder of Blooming TanMan, which she launched in April 2024 in memory of her son, Tanmay.

In our interview today, the spotlight is on Blooming TanMan, an initiative that is making a significant difference in the lives of children from marginalised communities. It empowers them with life skills, aiming to provide them with a safe, healthy, happy, and prosperous life ahead. This initiative is not just about sowing the seeds of a happier society and a healthier nation, but also about transforming lives. 

Where It All Began: A Legacy Rooted in Education

Teaching and mentoring come naturally to Sagarika. “I hail from a family where education and teaching run in our blood. My grandfather, Dr. S.C. Chakraborty, was a renowned botanist and a highly respected educator. My elder sister, Malavika Joshi, is also a renowned storyteller, educator, and poetess. Hence, coming from this type of family, becoming a teacher was my dream,” smiles Sagarika.

Sagarika is a teacher who has worked in various schools across different cities in India until 2007, when she launched her venture, “Golden Wings Child Enrichment Centre,” in June 2007, in Pune. Unfortunately, she had to close this centre during the pandemic in 2020 and relocated to Chennai with her husband.

Finding Purpose Through Life Coaching & Art Therapy

Sagarika fondly recalls, “At that time, I was going through a rough patch and completely had no clue about my life… and my son Tanmay suggested that I should start learning something that I had always wanted to. It was he who insisted that I enrol for a life coach certificate course, a mandala therapist certificate course, and an art therapist certificate course.

My family supported me, but my son, Tanmay, was my big support while I was doing my courses. I also started enjoying it and started helping and supporting people around me.”

As an educator, Sagarika always believed in making children and parents comfortable talking to her in case of any issues.

Eventually, what Sagarika observed was that it was not just children and parents, but also grandparents who started approaching her to share their problems, which she did her best to help. In hindsight, Sagarika realises the importance of these certificate courses as they equipped her with a powerful tool to support and help people around her.

Healing Through Yoga, Art and Meditation

Sagarika is a big fan and supporter of yoga and meditation. In her own life struggles, these practices have helped her immensely, which is how she decided to pursue a certificate course in meditation.

Sagarika adds, “I’m happy to share that since 2002, several women have connected with me for my online meditation class. Since the 2022-23academic year, I have worked with over 400 young children, young adults, and senior citizens. I regularly conduct online / offline sessions according to the clients’ requirements. Some just want to talk, speak their heart out, and I keep them first in my list.”

The Birth of Blooming TanMan: A Tribute to Tanmay

“It’s tough to share. The person behind my new journey, my beloved son Tanmay, left us suddenly in September 2023, and we were completely shattered. He was very passionate about helping young children and supporting them with their mental health issues. Tanmay was running a program called the Centre of Mental Health Services in marginalised schools to support mental health issues. After his passing, I gathered myself and decided to keep his work alive and carry it forward. Maybe he knew this all along and that’s why he supported me to be equipped with all the courses which he pushed me to do,” shares Sagarika.

It was on 22nd April 2024, on her son Tanmay’s birthday, that Sagarika and a group of friends, family, colleagues, and even Tanmay’s friends gathered. I would like to specially mention the Tohri Foundation for its support in running our programs with us.

We decided to launch the Blooming Tan-Man initiative to raise awareness about mental health issues among students in marginalised schools. Sagarika feels blessed to have received unconditional support from her family, friends, and even Tanmay’s friends, who have been instrumental in supporting and shaping the initiative. Their support is a testament to the power of community in driving positive change.

She started with just one school in July 2024, the National Children’s Academy Wadgaon Sheri, in Pune, and now, within a year, Sagarika and her team have expanded to three more schools:

• Anjali English Medium School
• Vision English Medium School, both in Wadgaon Sheri, Pune
• Two labour camp schools in Vadgaon Sheri and Viman Nagar
• Karma Foundation Government School, Delhi NCR

Lessons from the Journey: Challenges, Growth & Grace

Since Sagarika comes from an educational background, working in mental health services was a completely new chapter for her. She shares, “I was completely new to this field, but as I said, Tanmay had planned everything for me. Many of his friends, people he knew, came along to support and help us. Gradually, I started understanding my son’s only passion, which is to bring about a change. Every bit you give to society will become a big support to those who really need it. It’s like….log judate gaye karwane chalta gaya.” (As people came together, the journey kept going.)

Sagarika further adds, “By God’s grace, I didn’t face many challenges, just a little bit here and there. As if Tanmay had set up everything for me, I am not saying this because he is not there. Still, I experienced it in every move…but yes, challenges were there and we all as a team worked on it and are still working.”

A big lesson that Sagarika feels she learnt was how one’s network and connections can work for you even in someone’s absence. She believes that one should always stay connected and continue helping/ supporting people.

The Power of Community: Volunteers Who Lead with Love

Presently, Sagarika has a team of 30 volunteers/ members. She fondly remembers, “The day we started, we had only one volunteer to work with schools. Slowly, people started joining us, and within a month, we had four volunteers to support us. You will be surprised to hear that they are working for Blooming Tan-Man without any incentive. Even when I asked them to pay for their travel, they refused. And I take this opportunity to thank all my volunteers for supporting us without any expectations.”

Sagarika’s Pune team includes:

• Natasha Pilakudy, her program lead, Shweta Kote Patil, June Nair, Priya Langhe, Shampa Sen, Arnobi Kundu, Smita Londhe, Aparna chakraborty and Tabassum Shaikh.
• A special mention to our young volunteers, Rishabh Sen and Aparna Chakraborty, and from our Delhi team, Dhwani Jain, Team Lead, Malavika Joshi, Manddy, Reet Chopra, and Anandojeet Goswami.
• Sagarika’s team includes a psychologist, a counsellor, a therapist and trainees. From this year, they’ve also started training newcomers to help them understand the ways of working and follow their curriculum.

“If you ask about our strength, it’s only passion, dedication and pure love,” smiles Sagarika proudly.

Expanding Reach: Where Blooming TanMan Is Making an Impact

In the field of mental health, Blooming TanMan is currently working with 50 to 60 students in each class per session. Blooming TanMan conducts a 45-minute session every week in each school with at least 40 students, and still does their best to touch as many lives as possible.

Blooming TanMan is now operating in three schools and two labour camps in Pune. In the coming days, Sagarika plans to launch this initiative in other cities as well.

“We are working on starting this initiative in Delhi and later in Bhopal. I am not in a hurry. I want to earn the trust of people as we gradually progress and they understand our efforts. Once they realise this, I’m hopeful more people will join us. It’s always better to work together than alone, isn’t it?” smiles Sagarika.

While Blooming TanMan primarily conducts sessions offline, they regularly host online talks, seminars and different art therapy sessions from time to time.

Creating Safe Spaces: Blooming TanMan’s Workshops & Counselling Sessions

Counselling sessions in schools are a regular feature of Blooming TanMan. Complementing it, the team regularly conducts art and mandala therapy sessions for children and adults. In fact, they have an additional special section called Ekatra, Founded by Natasha Pilakudy, where the team focuses on inclusion. While such workshops are a continuous feature, their focus is always on spreading awareness about mental health issues among children.

As Sagarika puts it, “The numbers may not seem big, as we believe in going slow and steady to have a lasting positive impact. If we could bring about a change even in one child’s life or save one life, it’s worth every effort.”

What makes Blooming TanMan unique?

What makes Blooming TanMan unique is that they constantly work with children to spread awareness about mental health and teach them coping methods when they reach rock bottom.

“We don’t ask them to go to the counsellor or psychiatrist at first. Instead, we teach them life skills to understand their own emotions and work on them smartly,” explains Sagarika.

Such efforts by Blooming TanMan help children understand themselves in their regular, day-to-day life. They’re being trained to think before they act, thereby helping others, which is the perfect recipe for creating a better society where we care for each other.

Looking Ahead: Growth and Vision for Blooming TanMan

Sagarika is now focusing on creating a strong bond with her students and working on a better support system for them. “We wish to launch our initiative in more schools in different cities, but we are not in a hurry, one step at a time. My vision is to create a strong structure to support deteriorating mental health issues, especially in marginalised schools. I hope to see every child blooming with their own rainbow.”

How You Can Help: Supporting Blooming TanMan’s Mission

“Presently, we are looking for funds to support our initiative, even the smallest support can bring a big change. We are open for individual or group funding,” shares Sagarika.

To volunteer/ assist/ contribute to Sagarika’s initiative at Blooming TanMan, you can get in touch with her here:

Facebook Blooming TanMan  and Insta handle blooming _tanman

Before signing off, Sagarika adds, “Just a pat on the back, a comforting smile and a warm hug can change someone’s life; it will cost nothing to you but can bring someone back to life.”