Homecoming by Neha Kirpal, Dr. Nandini Murali Chronicles Indian Women Leaders’ Mental Health Struggles

The month between World Suicide Prevention Day (10th September) and World Mental Health Day (10th October) calls for urgent attention to one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time.

Against this backdrop, Westland Books announces the launch of Homecoming: Mental Health Journeys of Resilience, Healing and Wholeness, authored by Neha Kirpal & Dr. Nandini Murali. This first-of-its-kind book and community initiative brings mental health lived experiences into the centre of public conversations, calling for change in how we understand and care for mental health concerns in our families and health systems across India.

Homecoming is the first compilation of its kind in India, highlighting true stories of women leaders living with severe mental health conditions, including first-hand accounts of depression, schizophrenia, chronic anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, suicide loss, and inter-generational trauma. The book explores approaches to treatment and care, highlights the fragmented nature of mental healthcare in India today, and urges cross-sectoral leaders to pay urgent attention to the nationwide mental health crisis.

The book is co-created by social entrepreneur Neha Kirpal (Amaha Health, Children First, India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA), and formerly India Art Fair) and Dr. Nandini Murali (Founder, SPEAK; Vice-President - Learning & Research at Avtar; gender and diversity professional; author). It features the journeys of 11 women leaders-entrepreneurs, psychiatrists, LGBTQI+ activists, philanthropists, and teachers-whose insights and expertise can shape how communities, organisations, and governments build responsive mental health care and support in India.

Speaking about the book, Neha Kirpal said,"As a lifelong caregiver to a parent with schizophrenia and a sibling suicide loss survivor, I have realised over the last three decades that sharing insights and learnings from our own lived experiences greatly helps people trying to access care, as well as those building mental healthcare practices and systems in our country."

Dr. Nandini Murali, co-author of Homecoming and author of Left Behind: Surviving Suicide Loss, added:
"Women often shoulder invisible burdens of caregiving, marginalisation, and abuse, yet their experiences remain overlooked in public discourse on mental health. Homecoming seeks to place these narratives at the centre, recognising them not as accounts of victimhood but as reflections of resilience, dignity, and healing."

India accounts for one-third of the global burden of depression, addiction, and suicide. Today, 300 million Indian adults and 50 million children face mental health challenges during their lifetime. Stigma and silence dominate public discourse and prevent timely help, fueling a treatment gap of up to 95%. Homecoming challenges this status quo with bold personal narratives that provide insights, validation, and hope-nudging for accessible quality care and building support systems at home, in colleges, and workplaces. These stories of survival and resilience highlight the importance of learning from lived experience expertise, essential for designing care practices, public policy, and community support systems across India.

Book contributors include: Dr. Poornima Viswanathan, Zainab Patel, Dr. Kavita Arora, Sidrah Naiyer, Dr. Rhaisa R.M, Kairavi Bharat Ram, Dr. Pheroza J. Godrej, Janani Iyer, Aparna Piramal Raje.

Upcoming Book Launches:

Delhi: 29th September 2025, India Habitat Center

Mumbai: 10th October 2025

Bengaluru: 7th November 2025, Bangalore International Center

For updates and ongoing conversations, follow and engage with Homecoming on Instagram and YouTube.

For further information, interviews, and queries, contact:

Moe's Art: [email protected]
| +91 85277 93252

Westland Books: [email protected]
| +91 88266 03355

About Neha Kirpal

A creative and social entrepreneur, Neha Kirpal founded the India Art Fair (2008-2018) and later focused fully on mental healthcare. Inspired by her lived experiences as a child carer to a parent with schizophrenia and as a sibling suicide loss survivor, she co-founded Amaha in 2019. Today, Amaha is India's largest private-sector mental health service, with 200+ therapists and psychiatrists providing care across 600 cities online and eight centres in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Amaha also recently opened its first specialty mental health hospital.

Amaha partnered with Children First to serve families across the lifespan, supporting schools, communities, and youth mental health initiatives. Neha is a founding cohort member of India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA), established in 2023, to strengthen mental health systems nationwide. She is also the co-author of Homecoming.

Neha has been recognised as an Aspen Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow, and is a recipient of NDTV's Indian of the Year Award, Business Today's Most Powerful Women in Business Award, and the Nari Shakti Award, presented by the President of India.

About Dr. Nandini Murali

Dr. Nandini Murali is a gender-responsive, trauma-informed mental health advocate committed to dismantling stigma and reimagining suicide prevention. Following her husband's suicide, she founded SPEAK, which promotes stigma-free conversations on suicide, and SPEAK2US, a culturally sensitive helpline. She also created Project SPEAK, a rural postvention initiative supporting over 600 women bereaved by suicide.

A certified life coach specialising in loss and transition, Dr. Murali holds a PhD in Gender Studies and a postgraduate diploma in Gender and Development. She is the author of several books, including Left Behind: Surviving Suicide Loss, and integrates storytelling, coaching, and advocacy to drive systemic mental health change in India.

About Westland Books

Westland Books is an award-winning Indian publisher with diverse imprints, including Context, Ekadā, Tranquebar, Westland Sport, Westland Business, Westland Non-Fiction, Red Panda, Indie Press, IF, and QD (Queer Directions), publishing fiction, non-fiction, children's literature, and LGBTQIA+ voices.

About India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA)

IMHA is a national alliance of 220+ cross-sectoral organisations working across education, healthcare, gender, livelihood, and philanthropy. Founded in 2023 by Vasvi and Ashish Bharat Ram with Amaha and Children First, IMHA builds a collaborative mental health ecosystem in India. It offers training programs centered on lived experience expertise for mental health professionals, organisations, and systems, reaching over 2,000 professionals in its first year.

The First Annual Convening of IMHA will take place in New Delhi in September 2025.