#Podcast | Exclusive: Neerja Birla On Mental Health, Leadership & Breaking The Silence In India

In this powerful conversation on Business Today TV, Aabha Bakaya speaks with Neerja Birla, Founder & Chairperson of Aditya Birla Education Trust and Mpower, about the urgent need to normalise mental health conversations in India. From battling stigma and silence to building structured mental health ecosystems across schools, colleges, corporates, and government institutions, Neerja Birla shares insights from a decades-long journey of systemic change. She discusses how anxiety and depression are often misunderstood, why mental health is not a weakness but a chemical imbalance influenced by sociological triggers, and how leadership and vulnerability can coexist. The conversation also explores mental health in law enforcement, education, and among youth, along with challenges around accessibility, affordability, and privacy… especially for women. Neerja Birla highlights preventive mental health programs like Minds Matter and COPE, and the importance of embedding emotional resilience early in education systems. She also reflects on leadership lessons, resilience, boundaries, trade-offs, and the evolving mental health landscape in India and South Asia. The exclusive conversation is a must-watch for leaders, parents, educators, and anyone invested in building emotionally resilient communities.