We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Puja Suri a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Puja, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Inclusivity and celebrating diversity have always been important to me, because as an advocate for persons with disabilities, a therapist, a coach, and someone with an invisible disability (as I recover from a mild traumatic brain injury) I believe that our unique experiences make the world a beautiful place and that everyone has a right to a good quality of life.

This is meaningful to me, because I value equality and understand what it means to be marginalized and faced with discrimination. I feel it’s important that underrepresented people are heard and given the opportunity to be visible. I try to write books that represent all people and celebrate diversity.

As an children’s author my books are a companion to readers who are faced with challenging situations and can seek comfort in my words. My mission is reflected in my recent children’s book Mamta’s Lovely Mustache, which is based on my lived experience. Mamta is bullied for appearing noticeably different than her classmates and through her mother’s encouragement learns to celebrate and view her differences as strength. She makes a decision not to dim her light and continue to shine bright and influences her classmates to do the same. I feel this is a universal message that can be embraced by the  hearts of children and the child in every adult.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My love for writing and helping vulnerable people started as a new student in grade three. A painful experience of being bullied for looking different than my classmates would lead me to developing a passion for writing children’s books, including Mamta’s Lovely Mustache, which is based on this mortifying first day of grade three.

The bullying incident led me to seek refugee in the school library where I felt held by the books and found a sense of community in the words of other people. I wanted to have the same impact on other’s enduring similar circumstances.

 I have many passions stemming from my desire to help people feel empowered and belonged. I’m the founder of Hope and Harmony Counselling and Wellness Services and through my organization I have an outreach program called Seva Girl, where I provide mindfulness and wellness classes to raise funds for non-profit organizations that help women and children. It has always been important for me to create community and foster hope. I also share this message of community and inclusion in Mamta’s Lovely Mustache. This book highlights the importance of inclusion, acceptance, and the beauty of diversity.

The problem I wish to solve is discrimination and the alienation of people. I don’t believe anyone should ever have to struggle alone.

 I’m most proud of my perseverance through adversity and my faith, which has always been a guiding light in my life. What I would like my followers to know about me is that I love being playful and creative, which I incorporate in my personal healing journey, writing, and career. I attribute my playfulness to my mom, who has always encouraged me to create. She would emphasize that when life feels like is falling apart that’s my opportunity to pick up every piece and create art.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2016, I acquired a mild traumatic brain injury that altered my life, as I experienced multiple losses, including job loss. For many years, I struggled to read and write and had no idea how I would be able to contribute to life again. The only ability that was unscathed by my injury was my memory. Without being independent the days were very bleak, so I would rehearse and memorize poetry in my mind. These words were a companion to me. Because, I couldn’t write I recited these words as spoken word and my husband captured my words onto paper. Eventually, turning my thoughts into children’s books and this is how Mamta’s Lovely Mustache was conceived. This book has many layers and a message of resilience embedded into every word. It gave me purpose, hope, and something to look forward to.

I learned that if I couldn’t return to my role as a therapist, I would find another way to provide therapeutic support through books. This experience taught me that there is always another way to your dreams and I’ve taken the creative route every since. It has also taught me that purpose can be found in the things we loved to do as children and to never stop using your imagination to design the future that you want for yourself.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal/mission driving my creative journey is to share the power of storytelling and to bring people together through the collective sharing of their own personal journeys. I think being raw and authentic is beautiful, if we can start revealing who we are through sharing and move away from concealing, we build acceptance, community, and the realization that we are more similar than different. I hope through my work as a therapist, coach, and children’s author, I can guide people to celebrate who they are and invite more compassion, love, and understanding towards all people, because everyone belongs.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pujatheauthor.ca, www.hopeandharmonycounselling.com
• Instagram: @_spokentherapy_ @hopeandharmonycounselling