Mansi Sudarshan: From Near Death to Nutrition Specialist
“Being a curvy child, I became a target of bullies at school; be it my thick eyebrows, big forehead, or acne they left no chance of body shaming me. Tired of feeling that ‘I’m not good enough I decided to put an end to all of it. But, I chose the wrong way – trying to end my life by drinking a harpic. However, it wasn’t the only time when I tried to kill myself.
College was more awful. It wasn’t limited to bullying and ragging but I was physically abused; not once not twice but repeatedly. Dolorous and miserable, I tried to kill myself once again. Somehow, I got saved once again. Beyond grateful for coming out of a near-death experience twice, I decided to seek help and work towards my mental health.
I even started assisting mom at work. Things started to get better over the next couple of years. But, we lost mom in 2015. And while we were still grieving over her loss, everything changed.
I had to take over the kitchen and start cooking for my family. I have always been a foodie but never did I vatic to love cooking so much! Vernal about discovering this new passion of mine, I enrolled in an international chef course.
But guess what, the bullying tagged along. Yet again there were comments on me being fat; hearing ‘Sirf khana khati ho ya bana bhi leti ho?’ became a part of my daily routine. My mental health got so bad that I was consuming up to 100 pills every month. And eventually, I gave in to my third suicide attempt. This time, even my doctors gave up; ‘You can’t recover’ they said. I was even forbidden from holding a knife at my workplace. What could be more heartbreaking for a chef than giving up on their knife?
I went home that day and thought ‘Do I have a choice now?’. I had to fight back, if not for myself for my passion at least. So, I started indulging in holistic wellness and fitness. I started experimenting with my diet and was shocked to see the transformation not only physically but mentally as well. The sufferings I had for 10 years were long gone within the next 7 months!
Thereon, I made it my mission to help others like me and became a full-time Wellness coach and weight loss specialist. From being helpless to helping others, now I know why I got lucky those 3 times. It was only because I had a purpose to serve and a mission to fulfill!”