Our vision

Ahana is the product of one woman’s search for herself. A self of which she has been able to catch only tiny glimpses during a life where she has played out the roles of dutiful daughter, not-so-dutiful wife, and loving mother.

In common with millions of women, she realized that during the playing out of these roles, an essential part of herself was in danger of getting lost. The part that wants to sing and shout and dance in the rain, the part that wants to hitch rides on clouds and swing from stars, the part that wants to lie upside down in a chair, feet up, and listen to haunting music.

What happened between the time you were twenty and the time you turned forty? Where did you go? Between breakfast and bed, did you ever spend moments just being, instead of doing? And when you did things, as indeed we all must to stay alive, how many times did you do things just for yourself?

What happened to the guilt-free existence that we have every right to? With every breath that you took, were you watching for approval? Approval that you needed to validate you, perhaps from parents or spouse or in-laws or even children?

How many times have you had trouble parking a car and been told by a taciturn spouse that you could not drive at all? Did you rage and scream, or did you accept his idea of yourself with a self-deprecating laugh, and thought he was right, thought he knew better? And did you finally give up driving?

How many times have you slouched down and hunched your shoulders, feeling guilty because some jerk looked at your perfectly well covered breasts? How many times did you feel ashamed of your body?

How many times did you run like a puppy towards the people in your life, licking their fingers, wanting their love, wanting them to accept you, slobbering with gratitude for every little crumb they threw you, and being utterly cast down when they did not accept you as you were?

How many times have you been told to “adjust”, the cruellest possible word, a word that is the bane of the Indian woman? How many times did you internally self-destruct when you tried to?

When did you learn to stand back and take a good look at yourself? When did you learn to think for yourself? When did you dare to examine why approval was withheld? When did you finally stop seeking it? When did you realize that your validation could come only from you?

And if you haven’t asked yourself these questions, isn’t it time you did?

And if you have, and have found the answer, shouldn’t you share your solution?

Nobody else can gift you yourself, and nobody else can take it away either.

Our vision is that of a confident woman, confident of herself and complete in herself, achieving, loving, nurturing, having fun, being herself; a woman who has recognised and faced her inner demons, conquered them and come out smiling; a woman who has looked deep into herself and allowed the joy in her heart to bloom and touch those around her.

Ahana Let your soul sing