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May 2020

Steps to colour a Mandala

By General No Comments

MS Person Anjali Vyaas from Pune shares her mandala art experience.

Steps to colour a Mandala (BY SMUDGING) on your smartphone:

  1. Get the raw file of Madala in an editable format, jpg. While you have saved it in your phone’s gallery, you can use options to directly edit the picture on your phone.
  2. Choose your Mandala in the
  3. Find the ‘Edit picture’
  4. Select a suitable option to edit a You can find many options like effects, text, frame etc. Don’t use them. Find a suitable option to EDIT the picture. In many phones like mine have an option of Graffiti.
  5. Let’s say you choose After pressing this option, you will see further options of it: Brush, eraser, a colour palette etc.
  6. Click the ‘brush’ icon and choose the suitable size to (The brush lets you smudge).
  7. Pick any colour to smudge a portion of your
  8. You can undo the edit if it goes
  9. Just be careful while saving the If you feel tired with all the smudging and have half completed the Mandala, save that half part and then later edit the saved part that you coloured. And tadaaaa… You are done!
  10. Also, there are of applications to paint a jpg file. You can find them on playstore. That might ease your effort of colouring.

Mandala art therapy is truly healing.

It is tiring to colour on the phone if the screen is not big enough! It needs patience and while I was doing it, it was really helping me being patient. The fact that a Mandala is made and coloured inside to outside, the process of doing so in itself a meditation!

The effort is worth it.

You all will love it. Try it, please! Share your work

My MS Story – Hema Gulati-Chandra

By Hyderabad No Comments

I thank MSSI for giving me a platform to share my story: 

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2011 after a long battle with difficult symptoms of optic neuritis, pain, falls and fatigue. I was in India at the time with my husband and there was little to no active knowledge of MS. The doctors also seemed somewhat afraid to tell my family and me what the news was. The diagnosis was finally made after returning to the UK, and it was perhaps one of the most devastating events of my life.

From being the active and independent professional, mother and wife that I was, I spiralled into a deep depression where I thought this was the end for me. I thought I was being punished for something I might have done in my past life. I felt unwell, weak and a burden on my family despite their efforts to support me as much as possible.

A year after my diagnosis, the one thing that had not changed was my love for music. My family reminded me of how I inspire them. They also reminded me of the lessons I have taught them to overcome hardship with determination. So I worked hard to seek the right kind of help both medically and mentally to bring me back to life.

Today, I continue to travel across the world and run one of the most successful music academies for western music in India. I continue to perform on stage too– singing and playing my guitar and the piano.

While in Hyderabad in 2015, I met Meena Gupta (Charter Chairperson, MSSI) and joined MSSI. This has benefitted me greatly because of the up-to-date information and support I receive and also I have been able to connect with other people living with MS.

In 2018, Meena and Mamta Gupta (Chairperson, MSSI) requested that I perform for World MS day in the city of Hyderabad, India on behalf of MSSI. The event gathered and inspired a large public audience. It also raised awareness of MS to the Indian public. I am an active advocate for MS in India, determined to spread awareness of the disease and the help available.

In 2019, I and my newly formed all-female trio, The 969, performed on World Music Day where we spread the word about MS again particularly in women, and inspiring them to keep on living!

I am grateful to be able to spread the joy of music to everyone; the young and old, sick or healthy. Recently, during the Covid19 lockdown, my daughter and I composed and recorded a song based on my experiences; “TOGETHER”. This song is dedicated to people living with chronic illnesses, particularly MS.

Although no two days are the same with my MS, with some days being harder than others, I will not stop being the active and independent professional, mother and wife that I was, am, and always will be.

YouTube link to the song “Together”; recorded at home during Covid19, stay at home policy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlTgRmq9QD0