House of Hibiscus
PARTNERS
Adaiyalam was never meant to be walked alone.
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Every movement rooted in truth, identity, and care needs hands to hold it, voices to amplify it, and hearts to believe in it. Our partners are exactly that — changemakers, listeners, storytellers, advocates, and guides — who have come together to co-create a space that honours both mental health and cultural memory.
This page is a tribute to those who saw possibility in the pause. Who recognized that healing doesn’t happen in isolation — it happens in community.
Each organization, collective, and collaborator featured here brings their own unique rhythm to the Adaiyalam symphony — from mental health services and grassroots networks, to artists, educators, and researchers — they remind us that collective care is not just a dream, but a direction.
We thank them for walking this journey with us.
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Because to stand for mental health is to stand for dignity, identity, and the right to feel fully human.
HOSTS OF THE EVENT
In association with
Every movement begins with a spark — and this one began with a question: What would it look like if healing had a festival?
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That spark came from a conversation between two organizations deeply rooted in the belief that mental health must be seen, felt, and celebrated — not whispered about in silence.
So, here we are, hosting Adaiyalam, Chennai's Mental Health Fest 2025 in association with Youth for Mental Health Foundation (YMHF).
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As India’s leading youth-led mental health organization, YMHF brings to this festival its vision, its voice, and its lived commitment to advocacy, intervention, and research. Their early ideation and strategic guidance helped shape the soul of Adaiyalam — from concept to reality.
In collaboration with
RASOHAM
RASOHAM is a multi-venture arts organisation in Chennai, pioneering new frontiers in Arts Education and Wellness. Our Kutty Kutchery Festival is a first-of-its-kind initiative making arts accessible and equitable, breaking conventional formats to create intimate spaces for artistic expression. Through Natya Yoga Transformational Pathways, offering the world's first global certifications in creative wellness, we empower communities through outreach, coaching, and curated experiences.
Stall Partners
THE MIND AND COMPANY
Your Peace, Our Purpose
The Mind and Company is making mental health feel real, accessible, and deeply personal for individuals, corporates, and educational institutions.
With a growing team of 85+ members, MICO blends technology and the human touch to support people through whatever life throws their way.​
Schizophrenia Research Foundation
(SCARF India)
Schizophrenia Research Foundation is a voluntary, non-profit organisation established in 1984, committed to Mental Health
Schizophrenia Research Foundation-Youth Mental Health (SCARF-YMH)
SCARF YMH IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION FOCUSED SPECIALLY FOR THE YOUNG MINDS TO COPE WITH MENTAL HEALTH.
We conduct research that helps to find and create change in the society. Directly working with the youth and their families helps in developing different approaches to providing solutions to treatment and caregiving. Our programs and initiatives are set to fulfill the motive of creating awareness and empowering the youth and their caregivers to help with their mental health issues.
Resource Center for Youth Mental Health by SCARF (pronounced rYms) is a project aimed at providing a safe space for the youth (ages 15-25) to engage with each other, create an environment for caring for themselves and their peers, and learn about mental wellbeing.
Dementia Care in SCARF
Dementia Care in SCARF (DEMCARES) is a project of Schizophrenia Research Foundation India, a leading non-governmental organisation in mental health care and research in Chennai, India.
RETHINKING REFUGEES
At Rethinking Refugees, our mission is to raise awareness and foster critical conversations about migration, conflict, and displacement. At our stall, we’ll be showcasing educational materials—including posters, zines, and visual storytelling—designed to challenge common narratives and highlight the resilience of refugee communities.
We also offer to collaborate with schools, colleges, and community groups to design and deliver engaging workshops on migration, conflict, and refugee rights. If you're an educator, student, or changemaker, come talk to us—we're here to help bring these crucial conversations into your classrooms and communities.
MILIR
Milir is a community-driven initiative committed to addressing the mental health impacts of casteism, amplifying marginalized voices, and supporting people in unlearning caste-based biases. We work through community mental health support, dialogue, education, and advocacy, fostering spaces where healing and justice can grow together.
YUVATHI
Yuvathi is an NGO from Chennai that focuses on promoting and making psychological, psychosocial well-being available and accessible to people from all walks of life. We have been doing awareness programs since 2017 when the trust was founded. What was stated with a focus on women and children’s mental health has now grown to include everyone and to uplift the community as a whole. We offer corporate training, community programs, internship for psychology and social work students, career guidance and counselling for all age groups. Yuvathi was founded by Dr. Sumathi Chandrasekaran, psychologist and a Happy Woman Mind Coach. Out team consists of other psychologists and non psychologists with their own areas of expertise and passion for mental health awareness.
SUGI SKETCHES
Sugi’s sketches is an art platform curated by Sugithaa Paraman, a counselling psychologist by profession. She expresses mental health awareness and snippets of emotions through her art.
At Adaiyalam, she aims to show people her art, which could help them relate to aspects of mental health awareness.
STUDIO ŪDA
Studio Ūda is a homegrown design studio from Chennai that celebrates South Indian identity, nostalgia, and emotional expression.
Their work connects to youth mental health by creating tools and tactile experiences that encourage reflection, connection, and self-expression especially in Tamil and South Indian cultural contexts where emotions are often internalised or left unsaid. Through language, colour, and memory, Studio Ūda hopes to gently decolonize how we relate to ourselves and others
TANGENT MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE
They are a mental health organization committed to making emotional well-being accessible to all. At their space, you can expect engaging games, creative art, thoughtful goodies, and honest conversations around mental health. They're also here to explore and unpack therapy at the intersections of identity, language, justice, and more.
Since 2020, their work has focused on building and sustaining a culturally sensitive, strengths-based practice rooted in transformative justice and transdisciplinary care. Their warm and enthusiastic team offers mental health support that is both accessible and affordable—available digitally and in person to individuals and collectives alike.
Their approach to decolonizing mental health begins by critiquing traditional, historically established methods and deeply listening to lived experiences from the margins. At its core, their practice blends both—merging research with community wisdom to create an evidence-informed model that centers agency, dignity, and healing.
FIREFLY
Firefly Wellbeing creates safe, fun spaces where people can open up, let loose, and feel seen. At our stall, you’ll find interactive activities, self-reflection products, and small moments of connection.
They believe healing happens in community — through conversations, awareness, and knowing you’re not alone. Their work blends mental health awareness with culture, youth-friendly events, and simple tools anyone can use to care for themselves.
For them, decolonial healing means bringing mental health to everyday spaces, conversations, and traditions, instead of keeping it locked in therapy rooms.
ULAVISAI
They believe decolonial healing means moving beyond Westernized mental health models and embracing the wisdom, language, and practices of our own communities. Their work centres identities, metaphors, and art forms to foster conversations that feel safe and familiar. For Tamil youth, this means seeing mental health through a lens they can connect with — one that honours their lived realities, language, and intergenerational stories.
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THE BANYAN
The Banyan Collective is an employment initiative that creates meaningful work opportunities for people with psychosocial disabilities and those who have experienced homelessness. The organization offers job placements across diverse sectors including housekeeping, healthcare, data entry, and arts and crafts, with roles carefully matched to individual interests and abilities.
Through strategic partnerships with businesses, The Banyan Collective ensures sustainable employment pathways for marginalized individuals, focusing on consistent job placement and ongoing support. The initiative addresses employment barriers faced by people with disabilities, promoting both economic independence and social inclusion for this underserved community.
THE OPEN HOUSE
Open House Chennai is a community-rooted performance collective that uses theatre, puppetry, and storytelling as tools for dialogue, reflection, and social change. Known for their immersive, devised performances that centre lived experience, Open House works at the intersections of art, activism, and mental health.
With a strong focus on empathy, embodiment, and expression, their sessions engage participants in rethinking narratives around care, identity, and community.
SATVAT HOLISTICS
Sunithi S. Ramesh is the founder of Satvat Holistics and a passionate sound healing facilitator based in Chennai.
After a successful career in IT, she found her true calling in sound therapy in 2015. Over the past 7 years, she has helped hundreds of individuals and corporates find balance and calm through sound baths. A trained pranic healer and aroma therapist, her sessions focus on aligning body, mind, and spirit.