A crown does not make a king and a Genius blooms in silence

At a thought-provoking literary panel hosted by Kolkata’s renowned Adamas University, celebrated author and educator Anish Kanjilal delivered a powerful address that challenged one of the most enduring assumptions in the creative world: Do awards truly define an author’s worth?

Kanjilal—best known for his acclaimed books Fateless 13 and 11 Oracles, and recipient of honors including the Rajasthan Patrika Literary Award (2009), the National Education Forum’s Best Educator Award (2024), and the Best Poet Award at the Kolkata Literary Carnival (2025)—stood before an eager audience not to celebrate his accolades, but to dethrone them.

Despite a career adorned with recognition, the Founder and Director of Educare – The Institute used his platform to redirect attention to what he believes is the true legacy of any writer: their ideas, their words, and the worlds they create.

When Great Minds Reject Great Awards

One of the most compelling moments of Kanjilal’s address came when he revisited the legacies of literary giants who stood defiantly apart from the award culture.

He spoke of George Bernard Shaw, the first individual to have won both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize. Shaw, who famously insisted that “Art should not please; art should preach,” refused the Nobel Prize in 1926—calling it an insult—and later declined to collect his Academy Award as well. The Oscar, he quipped, could hardly justify the long journey to retrieve it. It was later sent to him and, as lore has it, ended up as a doorstop.

Kanjilal then invoked Jean-Paul Sartre, who turned down the Nobel Prize in Literature on the grounds that he did not want to be “institutionalized” or shaped by official recognition. These examples, he noted, remind us that the worth of a writer is measured not by medals, but by the courage and originality of their thought.

Tagore, Shakespeare, and the Immortal Power of Ideas

Moving closer to home, Kanjilal reflected on Rabindranath Tagore, whose Gitanjali found global acclaim thanks to the advocacy of artist William Rothenstein and the endorsement of W.B. Yeats. Tagore’s Nobel Prize was historic—but Kanjilal reminded the audience that even without it, Tagore’s literary influence would remain colossal.

He then turned to William Shakespeare, revered across centuries despite the complete absence of formal literary awards in his era. Shakespeare unknowingly pioneered psychological concepts—paranoia, psychosis, guilt—through characters like Hamlet and Macbeth long before psychology became a formal discipline in 1879. And yet, his works endure, studied and performed more than 400 years later.

Shakespeare didn’t need trophies,” Kanjilal noted. “His readers became his legacy.

The Bias Behind Many Modern Awards

Kanjilal also offered an incisive critique of how geography, politics, and institutional bias influence modern awards.

The Pulitzer Prize is limited strictly to American citizens.

The Costa Book Awards cater only to writers based in specific regions.

Such restrictions, he argued, often shrink the global literary conversation and exclude deserving voices. Some institutions, he added with a smile, even organize competitions only to reward themselves—an irony not lost on the audience.

Genius Recognized Only After Death

Highlighting the tragic disconnect between awards and true talent, Kanjilal invoked the case of H.P. Lovecraft, the father of cosmic horror who died in poverty and obscurity. Only after his death did the world recognize his pioneering genius—another reminder that awards often fail to detect brilliance in real time.

A Call to Bring Modern Voices Into the Classroom

Kanjilal concluded with a compelling appeal: modern educational curricula must make room for contemporary writers. While classical authors remain vital, he argued that today’s students need literature that reflects the complexities, fears, aspirations, and realities of the modern world.

A Writer Lives Through Ideas, Not Medals.

In his closing words, Kanjilal returned to the theme that framed his entire address:

Awards can encourage, but they cannot define. A writer lives through their ideas, their characters, their stories—not through the medals they collect.”

At a time when society often measures success through trophies and titles, Anish Kanjilal’s message at Adamas University offered a refreshing reminder: literature finds its true power not in recognition, but in connection—the quiet, intimate exchange between writer and reader.

And it is that bond, he insisted, that endures long after awards gather dust.

In an age where success is often measured by achievements, appearances, and social validation, The Self-Love: Accept, Heal, and Befriend Yourself by Dr. Jayant Kashikar arrives as a timely reminder that the most important relationship we will ever have is the one with ourselves. The book encourages readers to move beyond the noise of comparison and rediscover their inherent worth through self-acceptance, compassion, and emotional resilience.

Rather than presenting self-love as a fashionable trend, Dr. Kashikar explores it as a lifelong practice rooted in awareness and healing. Through sixteen thoughtfully structured chapters, the author examines themes such as self-awareness, forgiveness, healthy relationships, setting boundaries, positive self-talk, authenticity, and self-compassion, offering readers a practical roadmap towards emotional well-being.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its accessibility. The language is simple, conversational, and encouraging, making complex psychological and emotional concepts easy to understand for readers of all ages. Throughout the narrative, Dr. Kashikar blends personal reflections, motivational insights, affirmations, and practical exercises that invite readers not merely to read but to actively participate in their own journey of healing.

The author also challenges several common misconceptions surrounding self-love. He argues convincingly that self-love is neither selfish nor a luxury reserved for the privileged. Instead, it is portrayed as the foundation of healthy relationships, emotional balance, and personal growth. By dismantling myths around perfectionism, validation, and societal expectations, the book inspires readers to redefine their relationship with themselves on healthier terms.

Equally compelling is the discussion on how society shapes our self-perception. Dr. Kashikar examines the influence of family, culture, media, and social networks on self-esteem while encouraging readers to replace external validation with inner acceptance. His message is clear: true confidence emerges when we stop living according to others’ expectations and begin embracing our authentic selves.

What distinguishes The Self-Love is its warm, compassionate tone. The book never lectures; instead, it speaks like a trusted friend who gently reminds readers that healing is not about becoming someone new but returning to who they have always been. Its recurring message—“You are enough”—resonates throughout the pages, making it both comforting and empowering.

At a time when mental health conversations are becoming increasingly important, The Self-Love serves as a valuable companion for anyone seeking greater emotional resilience, inner peace, and authentic living. Whether navigating personal struggles, recovering from setbacks, or simply wishing to cultivate a healthier mindset, readers will find meaningful guidance within these pages.

There is a particular kind of clarity that comes from spending a decade studying the brain in laboratories across the world, only to come home and see people around you struggle to find even basic mental health support. For Tanushree Dwivedi, that clarity became the seed of Inner Sanctuary, a wellness initiative built on the idea that the mind, body, and brain cannot be treated in isolation.

A Foundation Built on Neuroscience

Tanushree’s journey into the science of the brain began at Swansea University, where she completed her BSc (Hons) in Psychology. She went on to King’s College London for an MSc in Neuroscience, focusing on neural stem cells and nervous system repair. Her research there examined how a specific receptor behaves in human cortical neurons under different biological conditions, using techniques like 3D cortical cultures, confocal microscopy, and advanced image analysis — hands-on, bench-level science that demands patience, precision, and a deep respect for how complex the brain truly is.

That foundation carried her to the University of Zurich, where in 2019 she began PhD-level research investigating the biological pathways linking stress to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was here, six months into the program, that the world changed. As COVID-19 spread across Europe in early 2020, Tanushree made the decision to leave her PhD and return to India. What was meant to be a temporary pause turned into a turning point.

Coming Home to a Crisis

Landing back in India in the middle of the pandemic, Tanushree saw up close what years of neuroscience textbooks had only described in the abstract: a country where the demand for mental health support was exploding, and the system meant to meet it was nowhere near ready.

The numbers bear this out. India has only about 0.07 psychologists and 0.07 social workers for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, an estimated 70 to 92 percent of people living with a mental illness in India never receive formal treatment, and studies published as recently as 2025 continue to describe the gap between need and access as one of the country’s most pressing public health issues.

The shortage is not spread evenly. More than 70 percent of India’s mental health professionals are concentrated in major cities, leaving tier-two towns and rural areas with next to no specialist infrastructure — patients there often travel hours, or simply go without care, or turn to informal and traditional healers by default. The professionals who do practice in these smaller cities are frequently stretched across an unsustainable number of patients, leaving little room for the kind of sustained, individualized attention that recovery actually requires.

Combined with personal hardships she faced during that period; this was the moment things crystallised for Tanushree. She had spent years being trained, funded, and shaped by institutions abroad — and she began to feel that returning that investment meant putting it to use where it was needed most, not where it was most comfortable. Staying back in India, in a smaller city with real gaps in care, started to feel less like a choice and more like a responsibility. As she has put it in conversation, if people with her training did not step up to do this work, there was no guarantee anyone else would.

The Idea Behind Inner Sanctuary

Inner Sanctuary- An initiative under Sanatan Healthcare and Research Centre- was born from that sense of responsibility. Rather than treating mental health as a purely psychological issue to be addressed through talk therapy alone, the initiative is built around a three-part, synergistic approach:

Graceful Guidance— personalized emotional and psychological support tailored to the individual.

Mindful Meals— nutrition designed around a person’s specific mental and physical needs, recognising that what we eat shapes how we feel.

Soul Sculpt— practices aimed at calming the mind and sharpening mental clarity.

The intent is simple but often overlooked: the brain does not operate independently of the body, and healing rarely happens through a single intervention.

Why She’s Doing This

For someone with Tanushree’s academic pedigree, a purely clinical or research-only career would have been the conventional path. Instead, Inner Sanctuary reflects a conviction that scientific understanding of the brain should translate into accessible, everyday support — not remain locked away in journals and conference posters, and not remain confined to just metro.

Inner Sanctuary now operates as a team effort, bringing together professionals with international training in psychology, counselling, and neuroscience. Together, the team positions itself not as a replacement for clinical psychiatry, but as a complementary space where guidance, nutrition, and mind-body practices work in concert, in a city where such integrated options are rare.

A Sanctuary, By Design

The name itself is deliberate. In a culture where seeking mental health support can still carry stigma, and in a city where such support is hard to find at all, “Inner Sanctuary” frames the process not as treatment, but as a return — to balance, to clarity, and to oneself. Based in Prayagraj, the initiative offers consultations with special pricing for students, aiming to make its approach accessible to a wider range of people rather than a select few.

From decoding the molecular pathways of ADHD in a Zurich lab to designing a three-step wellness framework for a tier-two Indian city, Tanushree Dwivedi’s path has been consistent in one respect: an insistence that understanding the brain should ultimately serve the people. Inner Sanctuary is her attempt to close that distance — turning a pandemic-interrupted PhD and years of neuroscience training into something a person can actually walk into, sit down with, and be helped by. It is, in its own way, a homecoming: something given back to the country, and the city, that gave her everything first.