Mumbai Ahmedabad Jhalod Dahod district Ramon Magsaysay Award human rights Anjali Gopalan They (people) also bring friends and their friends who need a support group because they are often held back due to social pressures Umang Sheth, founder of Hugging Club Umang has proactively brought gays and lesbians with psychiatric issues to my clinic. I had suggested to him then that I wouldn’t mind addressing more groups Dr Bharat Vatwani Umang Sheth, founder of The Hugging Club of India, realises the importance of hugs. He knows they can heal. “For me, it has been very personal. My mother is schizophrenic, and my father is bipolar,” says the 45-year-old, owner of an advertising company in Mumbai. He founded the club 11months ago to help people cope with mental health problems and suicidal tendencies, open up among peers and meet medical professionals who could help them. It initially began as a support group for members of the gay and lesbian community inbut gradually expanded to include straight people who needed the support extended by the group.“I was very happy when even straight people started coming in seeking help. Now, the club is no longer restricted to gay people,” beams Sheth. The club will celebrate its first anniversary on October 2. Sheth says he plans to soon open a chapter inas well.“We are currently looking for partners who can help us set up a chapter in Ahmedabad because we get so many calls from various parts of Gujarat. People say they have no help and tell us how difficult it is to cope. After the Delhi chapter, this is the next step—to start holding meetings and put together a support group in Gujarat,” he adds.Although Sheth has been raised in Mumbai, his parents originally hail fromtaluka ofin Gujarat. He has been openly gay for many years now and is the co-founder of Gay Bombay that creates safe places for the LGBTQI community in the state.The club and its genesis Ayear ago, a close friend of Sheth committed suicide due to depression. That was when he made up his mind to help people who were silent, could not express what they were going through, could not share their mental condition with anyone and ended up with depression and anxiety.Currently, the club has nearly 100 members with about 40 people attending their twice-a-month meetings in Mumbai and Delhi. “We get a wide range of people who come through references of friends. They also bring friends and their friends who need a support group because they are often held back due to social pressures and taboos about mental health. From students to heads of companies, everyone comes. All are welcome to heal and help others heal, one hug at a time,” says Sheth.Since its inception, the club has prevented three people from committing suicide over the past year. One was a jilted lover, another was depressed over career issues and the third suffered from acute loneliness, reveals Sheth.Meetings of the club have been presided over by internationally recognised medical professionals like Dr Bharat Vatwani, who was conferred with thein July this year for his work in reuniting more than 2,000 mentally ill destitutes with their families.Speaking about The Hugging Club, Dr Vatwani says, “I once had the opportunity to address a Hugging Club get-together a few months ago to address psychiatric issues of people from the homosexual community. Umang has also proactively brought gays and lesbians having psychiatric issues to my clinic for counselling. I had suggested to him then that I wouldn’t mind addressing more groups voluntarily since I felt for this cause.”Prominentactivist, founder of NGO Naz Foundation that has led the fight against HIV/AIDS in India, has also helped provide space for the club to hold its meetings. “The club creates good space for people to come and open up about their problems. They also look at mental health issues which are not done currently and the need of the hour,” says Gopalan.

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