Most children worry about homework and games. Neha Kirpal worried about whether her home was safe. At about five, her mother warned her not to brush her teeth because she feared poisoned toothpaste. Decades later, she helps thousands of families find the care she never had.
Fear at Home Became Everyday Life for Neha Kirpal
Neha Kirpal grew up in the 1980s, when few families spoke about mental illness. Her mother lived with schizophrenia, but nobody around them had the right words. As a teenager, Neha finally learned the name of her mother’s illness.
Until then, home was a place where reality kept shifting. She was too young to know any words for mental health. She later told The Better India that this simply felt like daily life. Her mother’s words felt frightening, yet they came from an illness the family did not yet understand.
Her mother feared someone might harm them, so furniture went against the door every night. Neighbours overheard the fights, and police sometimes arrived at the door. Her younger brother hid under the dining table. Meanwhile, Neha often threw herself into the middle of the fights.
Still, she walked into school each morning and acted as if everything was fine. She excelled in class and played badminton and hockey. She also ran for hours every day, and she says running saved her life. Quietly, she carried adult worries as well. She wondered how to protect her brother and how to keep her family together.
Her Family Broke Apart When She Was Only Thirteen
By April 1994, her mother’s fears had grown stronger. One day, her mother took Neha and her younger brother away. She said they would never go back home. Neha ran back to the life she knew. She did not know she was about to lose them for ten years. That day divided her life into a before and an after. For the next decade, her mother and brother stayed on the run.
For years, she had no idea where they lived or how they survived. Neha spent those years searching for them. Meanwhile, she kept studying and building her future. The weight of not knowing never left her. When people ask who supported her, she says, “I was parenting myself.” An aunt offered small comfort, but few adults asked how the children were coping.
Finding Her Mother Again After Ten Years of Searching
After nearly a decade, Neha Kirpal finally traced her mother and brother. The reunion was not the one she had imagined. Her mother was in hospital, and her illness had deepened. Neha felt relief, shock and deep resentment all at once. The years that followed brought hospital stays, medicine trials and relapses. Each new medicine combination meant three to five months in the hospital.
They also brought brief periods of calm. Meanwhile, her father encouraged her to study in the UK, and she went. In 2008, her mother came straight from the hospital to Neha’s wedding. Eventually, one combination of treatment began to work. Today, her mother lives with Neha and shares a close bond with her granddaughter. Neha stays honest, though, about the mixed feelings that remain.
From Painful Silence to Care Reaching Millions of People
For years, Neha Kirpal kept her own story apart from her career. She founded the India Art Fair and ran it from 2008 to 2018. Her art fair work earned her the Nari Shakti award from the President of India. Then she moved her focus to mental health. In 2019, she joined Dr Amit Malik as co-founder of Amaha. Today, Amaha has over 200 therapists and psychiatrists and reaches 600 cities online. It also runs centres in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Its care reaches families through both online platforms and in-person visits.
In 2021, it joined hands with Children First, which supports young people. She also helped found the India Mental Health Alliance in 2023. The alliance now links more than 300 organisations. Neha believes mental health care cannot stand apart from families, schools and workplaces. Then came Homecoming, a book she co-edited with Nandini Murali. It shares the stories of eleven women living with mental health conditions. For her, writing the book became another step in healing.
After the book, Neha and her mother spoke openly about the illness for the first time. Her father also attended the launch. At events, people began sharing their own hidden stories. She also speaks openly about another loss. Her younger brother died by suicide, and she now calls herself a sibling suicide loss survivor. She has described the struggles he carried after years of childhood trauma. In her book, Neha asks how often psychiatrists wonder about the children in the house. Her answer is short: “Nobody asks these questions.”
The Wise Take
The story of Neha Kirpal shows how heavy silence can feel for a child. Children in homes like hers often learn to cope alone. Her journey also shows that pain does not have to be the end of the story. She did not erase her past. Instead, she used it to build care for others. Schizophrenia is an illness, not a failure of character. With the right treatment and support, people living with it can find stability.
Her story also offers three simple lessons. First, children in difficult homes need adults who notice them. Second, speaking up makes it easier for others to speak too. Third, healing takes time, and it rarely follows a straight line. That is why her mission matters so much. So, look around you today. A child, a friend or a colleague may be carrying something heavy. Ask a real question, and then listen without judgement. Sometimes, one honest conversation is where healing begins.
Also read our other article on Sarvesh Sharma, the Son of a Daily-Wage Labourer, Turned an ₹87,000 Drone Prototype Into a ₹3.5 Crore Defence Project
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