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The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you; It is when you don't understand yourself.

  • Are you stressed about your child?

  • Is your marriage in trouble?

  • Are you stressed about your education?

  • Do you feel overwhelmed by anxiety and fear?

  • Are you confused about your choices?

Just mail mycounsellor@banjaraacademy.org to get free online counselling. Now sharing your problems, your worries, your anxieties, your fears. Your counsellor will reply to you, and be there for you until you need her to help you cope and get going. We guarantee the confidentiality of your personal data as well as any other information that you disclose.

Absolutely FREE – no hidden costs

No registration or formalities of any kind.

Straightforward and simple, heart-to-heart emotional support – the kind a good, understanding friend would give you!

Coordinating the online email counselling team of volunteer counsellors, I realize it is not an easy task reaching out to a person one has never met, never seen, without the added advantage of gestures, eye contact, a gentle reassuring touch, tone of voice and yet providing empathy, positive strokes, making the person feel heard and understood.

With the aid of only written words, it is quite a task building trust, making people open up and share and helping them cope and feel better. So when in many instances they write back saying thank you and that they feel so much better, the feeling one gets is priceless and incomparable – knowing one has done something right, something good!

Hats off to all the volunteeer-counsellors of Banjara Academy who have been carrying on this work silently, anonymously for the last few years. Truly commendable! – Ali Khwaja

FREE Online COUNSELLING Services of Banjara Academy: History

Under the banner, Helping Hand, Banjara Academy has always been offering free counselling in person for anybody in emotional distress, firmly believing that such support should never be at a fee.

For the last couple of decades, anybody in Bangalore, India, in dire need to talk to somebody has had to just call Banjara Academy and fix up an appointment with one of our volunteer counsellors or just walk into our offices  and meet one of our volunteer counsellors.

With the advent of the internet and emails, many have also been writing to us about their problems and we have been replying to them, doing our best to be there for them as counsellors.

With the free online counselling service by email, we are seeking to reach out, beyond Bangalore, to more people (now, you may be anywhere in the world) and provide you with some degree of emotional support, whatever we can, as we have always been doing so for the past couple of decades – emotional support that you may be struggling to find in your life.

Your attitude towards life

Some time or the other we come across a horrible person. Whenever you encounter a person who is rude, selfish, hypocritical or out to cheat you, become aware, protect yourself, and deal with it the best you can.

…….but after that, look out for someone who is nice, serene, polite or compassionate. When you spend time with the nice person and have pleasant interactions, it reduces your hurt or bitterness which you may carry from your earlier experience.  It also reaffirms to you that not all people are bad, and that there are actually good humans around you who you can build positive relationships with.

Your attitude towards life and your motivation to form healthy long-term bonds increases.

Understanding your abilities and strengths

Left-Brained or Right-Brained        

Left Brain Skills:  If you have strong left brain characteristics, it means that you think logically, in sequential order and can handle mathematical calculations.  These attributes are very useful if you choose careers related to individual and technical work e.g. engineering, technology, surgery, research, law, chartered accountancy, decision making, planning, etc, where more of logical, sequential or analytical thinking is required, and where you keep learning through experience. You have the ability to look at issues critically without allowing emotions to come in the way, and can take quick and calculated decisions, and you will do well in MCQ, logical and analytical questions in competitive exams.

Right Brain SkillsIf your right brain characteristics are very strong, you are capable of using your emotions to your advantage, you will balance your needs with those of others, will do well in group and team work, where emotional maturity is required, and in creativity-oriented activities e.g. design, people-management, project development, administration, education, life sciences, marketing, mass communication, media, physicians, humanities, HRM, etc.  Students who are right-brained generally do not score high marks in academics since the education system caters more to left-brain skills.

Balanced Left and Right Brain Skills:  If you are one of the rare lucky ones who have equally sharp left and right brain characteristics, then you will be able to adapt very well in future to changing technology and lifestyle, and will never get outdated. But at present it is quite likely that you are a very confused person. Due to equally strong characteristics in both the above sides, you may get pulled in different directions.  You may feel like changing your mind now and then, and get attracted to completely different careers.  You will require extra attention, patient dealing, and opportunity to explore diverse fields before selecting.  If you just cannot decide at the 10+2 level, you may opt for a sound base in science or technology, and then move into management, creative, or people-oriented careers, thus getting the best of both worlds. Today there are plenty of opportunities to combine two extreme interests and create a career.

Though people who have equally developed left and right brain characteristics may appear to be confused and fickle minded due to their wide range of abilities and interests, eventually they do better than others because they can adapt themselves to changing technology or lifestyles, which will be very important in the 21st century.

  • Parents are advised to understand such children and support and guide them, starting with an early exposure, wide discussions, opportunity to meet varied professionals.
  • Children with predominant right or left brain characteristics blossom out best if they pursue careers that suit their style and capabilities. If forced into the opposite direction, they not only lose out on grades, but also on self-confidence and motivation.

Most common skills in each side of the brain include:

  Left Brain                                                                      Right Brain

Analytical          Mathe-logical                          Emotional Rhythmic, kinesthetic (bodily)

Experiential         Intra-personal                            Instinctive, intuitive Literary

Critical                Sequential                                  Creative, imaginative Interpersonal

Sequential           Verbal                                        Spatial, colour, 3 dimension

 

Ali’s Notes:

Most people who are sensitive and caring, inevitably go through many setbacks and challenges in life.  Those who are totally self-centered and do not care for others manage to find the path of least resistance, and keep going up the ladder of success. 

The world admires and praises the second category of people because of their “achievements” – but I have a deep interest in the first.  Whenever I come across someone who gives value to emotions and who thinks beyond the mundane, I love to make them talk, and can listen to them for a long time – for every one of them teaches me something about life and its meaning.

Look around, identify such people, and listen to their experiences of life. You will be enriched.