At BrilliantRead Media, it is our constant endeavour to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this, we invited Kanika Kush for an exclusive interview with us. She is an Artist, Life Coach, Counsellor, Freelance Writer and Founder of Voice of Silence. Let’s learn more about her incredible journey, background, and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Kanika;
Could you please talk us through your background and your journey?
I was born in a family of doctors, and my father – a doctor too, served in the Indian Army, I had a childhood that exposed me to art, culture, books, dramatics, etc. I was always a good student, although I never quite enjoyed academics. My favourite way to spend my time was to paint, read and dance. I do exactly that today :).
To get here though saw me go through a five year B.Arch program from the School of Planning & Architecture. For some reason, I wasn’t still finding my grounding, so I did an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (Pune) in HR.
After that, I got a well-paying job in Deloitte, Hyderabad, yet no grounding. Left it to go on a whim to begin my architectural and interior design practice which lasted for about 12-13 years. Still no grounding, although I did take up Zumba as an instructor and that made me very happy.
It was in 2015 that I got back to painting along with my practice in Interior Design. I also got a certification and diploma in NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) about 2 years ago. This allows me to practice counselling and coaching. I always had a unique gift of listening and helping in people’s healing process. I thought it must gain some education and knowledge in that field before making it a profession.
Today, I’m a full-fledged Artist & a Life Coach and these are my main sources of fulfillment, happiness, meditation and livelihood. I’m also, the founder and host of a talk show called Voice of Silence.
How did you discover your passion?
Through a lot of failures, hits and trials. Somehow I never gave up the pursuit of finding my peaceful grounding. Only to realise that it is what I did in my childhood (painting & listening to people) which will become my mainstay.
Voice of Silence (a talk show that pays respect to pain) is my purpose. It’s a self-funded endeavour that I began in May 2022.
It was after my first Vipassana Meditation course that it hit me hard; that I ‘need’ to not just listen, but be the voice/medium of people’s pain. It was a very profound experience at Vipassana and I’m glad I took action when my Inner Voice spoke to me.
I’ve completed 42 episodes with 42 powerful stories of people who dealt beautifully with pain and were willing to share them candidly with us.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
It’s my curiosity that drives me. I have a very very strong curiosity to know and discover what’s on the other side of things. These things are pain, struggles, failures, breakdowns, heartbreaks, loneliness, etc.
This curiosity arouses a powerhouse of energy in me that makes motivation, discipline, hard work, consistency, willpower, etc not very difficult to imbibe honestly. I also have a steady awareness of the energy I carry. I’m currently on the path of regulating it.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
In my early years, my mother shaped me wonderfully in a way that her genes allowed me to stay motivated, speak the truth and be fearless. My father’s genes help me with basics like honesty, integrity, compassion and hard work. I don’t need them to push me daily anymore. 🙂
Apart from that, the fact that I chose to walk away from a marriage when my son was only a year old is the biggest factor of motivation for me. Motherhood trumped Victimhood. It always has, it does daily, and always will.
People I’m extremely inspired and influenced by: SRK, Oprah, Yuval Harari & J.Krishnamurty
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
> Own yourself.
> Be kind.
> Learn, learn, learn
> Change, change, change.
> Keep moving.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
I don’t know what success means honestly. If it’s having loads of money then I’m unsuccessful even today. If it’s setting a goal and achieving it, then I’m very successful:)
If it’s the latter then all I do is:
– Set a goal.
– Don’t give idiotic excuses for not keeping up. Own up, dust off and start again.
– Stay accountable.
– Surrender to teachers that come along the way.
– Respect yourself.
– Achieve the goal.
– Move on to the next.
– Rest when needed, please!
– Do not lie to yourself.
– Stay kind. Help others.
– Change gears constantly if need be. No one cares about you except you. Do whatever the hell it takes to get to your goal.
What advice would you give to our readers?
Look, we have one life. We can die anytime. As much as one would want to think we’re the centre of the world’s universe, trust me we’re not.
Massively world famous people have passed away in our lifetimes and we won’t remember. Only people that will truly be affected after you go, are going to be a handful. Therefore, please keep them at the highest priority of importance, love, understanding, devotion, and dedication of time, money and energy.
Spend a vulgar and ridiculous proportion of your money on your mental & physical health, please. It’s a high that no Hermes scarf can replace, trust me.
Then, go do your stuff the way you want to. No one, I repeat no one gives two hoots about you or what you’re doing.
Do it your way.
Take charge.
Along the way, please stay kind. Please help when needed.
Try to always help other people with whatever you can ❤️
Last but not least, what about your journey makes it satisfying/exciting?
The fun! The ridiculousness of it all. Like what the hell is going on? How all of us have chosen these costumes and we play different parts and roles and then we die.
Some of us know that we’re changing costumes and playing roles and some of us are handed costumes and roles. Either way, we’re all the same. We laugh, we cry, and then we die. In that, we make the most of our time 🙂 I paint. I listen.
Others sing, dance, strategise, create wealth, write books, make movies, lead businesses, nations, countries, etc.
Awesome! Better than sitting idle. Let’s make it fun while it lasts!
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
