Sunitha Shirly, Sasisekar Menon Win Dr Parasuraman Writing Award in Chennai

The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health (BALM), The Banyan, and the Aaldamara Foundation presented the first edition of the Dr Parasuraman Lived Experience Writing Award to writers Sunitha Shirly and Sasisekar Menon in Chennai on Saturday.

Instituted in memory of the former Director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the award honours Dr Parasuraman's commitment to equity and aims to bring first-person accounts of mental health to the forefront, shifting away from narratives written solely by outside observers. Two writers will be recognised each year under the initiative.

Sasisekar Menon, who lives with schizophrenia and Parkinson's and is set to retire as chief librarian of the Kerala High Court after more than three decades of service, received the award ahead of his forthcoming autobiography scheduled for release in 2027. Menon noted that his book explores how his birth family struggled to understand him, while the family he married into provided vital support. He acknowledged his wife, Sree Geetha, as well as his parents-in-law, a close friend, and a former colleague for assisting him in his journey.

Writer and social entrepreneur Sunitha Shirly was recognised for her work, including her English-language book 'Thangassery Pen'. The book revisits an incident involving her as a child that made headlines in 1996 and documents life and heritage in Thangassery's Anglo-Indian community. Shirly explained that documenting lived struggles allows personal experiences to reach the public, raising awareness and helping others.

Lakshmi Narasimhan, co-CEO of BALM, stated that the award seeks to expand the kinds of stories entering mental health conversations, offering space for diverse experiences and languages that move beyond conventional narratives of suffering and recovery.

The event also featured a panel discussion exploring language, translation, and the vocabulary used to describe mental distress. The panel included former Madras High Court Justice Prabha Sridevan, corporate communications veteran Shoba Thomas, and independent journalists Aparna Karthikeyan and Lalita Iyer.