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Manotsava, India’s National Mental Health Festival, is reclaiming the lost art of being truly heard in an age of constant digital chatter. Ahead of its third edition on December 5-6, 2026 at Jaymahal Palace in Bengaluru, it is hosting facilitated sharing circles across Bengaluru and Delhi, creating safe spaces to discuss relationships, identity, ageing, caregiving and mental wellbeing.
In 2026, we are more connected than ever. We have never had more ways to talk to one another — we have never had more notifications, group chats, comment sections, and social media platforms built around sharing our thoughts. And yet, somewhere amid this constant exchange and instant communication, the experience of being heard has become increasingly rare. Manotsava, India’s National Mental Health Festival organised by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), and The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), is trying to solve this problem with a series of sharing circles ahead of the third edition of the festival taking place on December 5-6, 2026 in Bengaluru at Jaymahal Palace.
The growing public interest in such spaces also points to a broader change in how Indians think of mental wellbeing now. Within professional spaces, listening circles have been used to create psychological safety, blur hierarchies, and make room for voices that might otherwise be silenced by the most senior or outspoken person in the room. In communities negotiating polarisation and collective trauma, structured listening can also offer a way to encounter difficult experiences without turning every conversation into an argument.
After introducing Sharing Circles at its 2025 festival and seeing strong participation and response, Manotsava has brought them back as a pre-festival series in 2026. Running across Bengaluru and Delhi from August to November, the programme places facilitated conversations around relationships, family, identity, ageing, adoption, friendship, caregiving and mental wellbeing.
The third edition of Manotsava will be held on December 5-6, 2026, at Jayamahal Palace Hotel, Bengaluru. Learn more here.
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