Daijiworld Magazine, Vol.12, Issue 4, September 2020

DAIJIWORLD Magazine | September 2020 49
THE UNSEEN BARRIERS
Growing up in a closed society
she was keen on experiencing the
outside world and on completing
her education, marital bliss
brought along the excitement of a
new life. “It was an arranged marriage
where I got to meet him once
and in 6 months we were married,
we used to sneak calls once
a week”, she smiles. Her marriage
meant the world to her, she felt on
top of the world and found herself
to be very lucky. “It was the
wow factor in my life, I felt I was
the luckiest woman in the entire
world”, she explains.
But the marital bliss was short
lived as she quickly realised that
she was emotionally drained and
slipping away, yet she tried to
hold on and took all the trauma
and frustration for 7 long years
with a hope of a better tomorrow.
“It was in 1999 where divorce
was looked down upon and I
having come from a small city
and an orthodox society I could
never imagine my life without
my husband although I was depressed
and kept breaking down”,
she sighs. Finally, help came in the
form of her parents who decided
to move ahead by giving her the
hope and courage to come out of
the toxic relationship into a whole
new world of her own.
“I kept asking myself if I was
doing the right thing because I
quit my job from a top IT firm, I
took a divorce and I moved cities.
But one thing I realized in those
tough times is that life never
stops”, she says bravely. “It’s ok
to cry and be depressed when
life puts you though a tormented
situation, but the question that
changed my life was: “How long
am I going to cry? Is the other person
also crying for me? Are people
around me crying? No! They
forget whether you are divorced,
sick or deceased no one remembers”.
So, we need to pull up our
socks and not bother about what
the society has to say, one builds
their own destiny.
SHIFTING GEARS
A new city, an empty pocket
and an undying spirit to succeed
brought Archana to Bangalore.
Having given up her earlier job
she had to settle for a position
as an executive in a staffing firm
which she took up delightfully.
But life had more trials in store
for her. “I was working with an
executive search firm and due to
organisation politics and in spite
of having good performance, was
laid off. But I walked out and started
my Executive Search firm, “Du
Kaizen”. Two of my clients also
supported my decision to become
an entrepreneur”, she explains.
Formed during difficult times
posed a different set of tasks at
hand. Yet this time she chose not
to yield to it and with her hard
work and constant self-boost she
single-handedly managed her
venture and established her company
as the finest hiring firm.
DESIGNING DESTINY
On being questioned how the
rise to fame happened, she says,
“I was doing very well professionally
but was held back due to the
busy corporate life. Also, there
was a restricted way of looking at
work and gradually the need to do
something creative or intellectually
stimulating kept nagging me.
Arandomn episode of “Ted
talks” on laughter yoga made
me wonder all about its hype,
that’s when my journey started.
I watched it for 15 minutes and it
left me smiling and laughing with
Dr Madan Kataria who was conducting
the show. That is how I
was introduced to laughter yoga
and the same night I contacted
him and in less than a month I attended
a training program and did
my certification in laughter yoga.
Thus, began the journey from
a simple girl to being a laughter
Guru India looks upon.
“Laughter Yoga India” came
as sunshine amongst dark clouds
of personal trauma and setbacks
in Archana’s life. An invite to do
a session for a corporate took a
life-changing path and she has