Sangha of Auspicious Companions

Sleeping with Furniture Against the Door

At five, Neha Kirpal was told not to brush her teeth because her mother believed the toothpaste was poisoned. Her mother had schizophrenia, and for years their home was a place where reality shifted without warning—furniture barricaded against doors at night, fights that sent her brother hiding under tables and police knocking on their door. Then, at thirteen, her mother and brother disappeared. For the next decade, Neha searched for them while “parenting herself,” excelling at school and running ten hours a day to survive. When she finally found them, her mother was chained to a hospital bed. Today, Neha is co-founder of Amaha, an organization bringing mental healthcare to millions across India; and, more importantly, helping families feel less alone as they silently try to keep it all together. As she writes in her book, Homecoming, “How many psychiatrists today ask what is happening to the children in the house? Nobody asks these questions.” Neha, once a child who tried to disappear, is transforming her life’s formative challenge into the compassionate strength of helping thousands of families find the care and language she never had.

Be The Change

Think of a child or person in your community who might be quietly carrying something heavy. Ask them a real question today — not “how are you?” but something specific that gives them permission to be honest.