Beyond the Page: Rakhi Kapoor’s Mission to Heal, Educate, and Inspire
“Life is too precious to be allowed to simply pass by. It has to be lived completely and intensely in the moment” a quote by Rakhi Kapoor, an author and a prenatal counselor with 25 years of experience who has authored 26 books, Rakhi has been nicknamed “a serial author” by her publishing team. She is a Bengali by birth and currently living in Chennai. She was born in Kolkata and lived for a short while in various parts of India. Rakhi is an inspiration to many women, through her books she helps many people during their difficult times, especially women who suffer from fear of childbirth and pregnancy, Infertility, etc. This article tells about her own life challenges, and how she overcame them and won many titles for her contribution to society.
Introduction:
Rakhi Kapoor is an author who has authored twenty-six books that comprise both the fiction and non-fiction category. She writes on the most neglected and complicated issues in life like mental health, self-help, entrepreneurship, dealing with failures, inspiring biography, overcoming fear of childbirth and pregnancy, Infertility, etc. Her five books have been Amazon India Best Sellers. She is the recipient of The International Golden Book Awards for her 25th Book titled “Now You Breathe” and 26th book called “Breaking Free Embracing Me” in the years 2023 and 2024 respectively.
She is also a renowned physiotherapist who pioneered the concept of prenatal counseling in India. She has written several books educating expecting mothers and their families about tackling the often-neglected aspects of pregnancy like mood swings, anxiety and fear of childbirth, personal stress levels, work-life balance, postnatal blues, etc.
Since her childhood, Rakhi has been fascinated with reading books. She was a voracious reader. She always wanted to be an author since childhood. Being an author was the most cherished dream but that came true only in the later stage of her life.
The concept of attending a course on healthy living and wellness during pregnancy was a Westernized one. She formulated an Indian version of it and has been guiding thousands of couples over two decades through her center Dwi Maternity Studio in Chennai.. Her professional background as a physiotherapist led her to become one of the pioneers of Prenatal Counselling in India.
She has authored innovative books for expecting women like “Deliver with Delight”, a book on pregnancy for Indian Fathers called “Expecting Daddy Delivers” which has been translated into Hindi “Behtar Pati Behtareen Pita” and a book on mental health for young expecting women and moms called “Mums Mental health and Milestones”.
During the counseling sessions with her expecting clients, she figured out that most conflicts in a relationship could be resolved. In some instances, Rakhi was rendered helpless she figured no amount of help could salvage the relationship because of an individual’s altered irrational personality and rigid mindset which only drove them to seek negative outcomes. This insight opened her eyes to her issues like toxic relationships, childhood trauma, and abuse. Rakhi’s books “Now You Breathe” and “Breaking Free Embracing Me” reflect upon her experience of overcoming trauma and abuse. She is sharing her learnings and journey through her books focusing particularly on issues like childhood trauma, abuse, and toxic relationships which are crucial factors responsible for an individual’s mental health as a bestselling and renowned author.
She also co-owns a popular fashion brand along with her husband called Derby Jeans Community based out of South India.
Challenges and Achievements:
Rakhi had a challenging childbirth, despite being a qualified professional in the same aspect. She almost lost her life to childbirth. It was a second chance at life after surviving the grim circumstances that panned out while delivering her baby. Hence the course of her career took her through events that caused her to become a pioneering Physiotherapist and a prenatal counselor. She strapped her five-month-old baby and went door to door meeting obstetricians, hospitals, and maternity clinics to generate awareness about this concept.
Rakhi would take her pen and paper doodle scribble and try to write but she never managed to write a book. She did feel disheartened about it and almost gave up on her dream of becoming an author. Then in the year 2014, she went for her first trek to Nepal to the Gokyo lakes. At 12,000 feet in the mountains, she fell sick and was deemed unfit to complete her trek. Six nights and five days of wandering heartbroken and disappointed alone in the wilderness of the mountains in the Himalayan Ranges, she trekked back all alone, and this journey became the story based on which she published her first book “The Girl Who Was Left Behind” in 2018. Since then, there has been no looking back. Twenty-six books in various genres including Pregnancy, childbirth, and Mental Health of Young Women and Moms, Rakhi transformed her failures into success and self-love and became the “Girl Who Never Looked Back”.
After Rakhi failed to complete her first trek she went ahead and completed a series of treks like Mount Fuji, Kilimanjaro, Everest base camp trek, Annapurna Circuit, and the Harmukh Glacier to name a few. Rakhi learned from her experience the power of self-realization and mental grit and that she could face most challenges like extreme weather, and harsh uneven terrain on these arduous mountains only with the help of her willpower.
Rakhi was among the few to have pioneered the concept of curating educational and informative sessions to guide expecting couples to holistically take care of themselves during the pregnancy and post-partum phase in India. Rakhi tells about her most significant achievements “Putting up a smile on thousands of pregnant women’s lips, strengthening their marriages, easing their pain through long gruesome hours of labour and helping them get through the initial tiring sleepless long nights taking care of the newborn has been my greatest achievement. In the happiness of all these women and their families lie my happiness.”
The next overwhelming experience in her life was to win her first Golden Book Award 2023 for her book “Now You Breathe: Overcoming Toxic Relationships and Abuse” in Dubai. She added “Being a pioneer in a field that is unknown as a prenatal counselor, finding success to striving and gaining recognition as an author while balancing the personal front of life discharging her duties as a mother spouse daughter, etc. has been quite a roller coaster ride. All the hard work heartaches disappointments were justified. Not only that to be recognized by a forum like SheInspires that believes in empowering other women like me who would get to feel similar levels of recognition made me very extremely elated.”
After having authored twenty-six books and had five Amazon India Bestsellers her twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth books “Now You Breathe” and “Breaking Free Embracing Me” won the International Golden Book Awards 2023 and 2024. She has been honored with The Author of the Year Award in the non-fiction category at the National Achievers Award 2022 conferred in the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi.
Rakhi received the Ukiyoto Literary Awards in the years 2023 and 2024 and; the Writefluencers Awards. Season three and Season five. It was an honor for Rakhi to be awarded the Women Rising Star title in the 6th Asian Litfest 2024 in New Delhi conducted by the Asian Literary Society; the Life Time Achievement Award 2024 (TIA) by the Indian Awaz Foundation in Guwahati Assam: the International Inspiration women’s award (IIWA) subsequently for two years 2024 and 2023 by the GiSR Foundation in New Delhi for raising awareness about Narcissistic Abuse and Child Abuse through her books “Now You Breathe” and “Breaking Free Embracing Me”. The Rashtriya Pratibha Samman Award 2024 for her work in the field of Mental health. The Women's Face of the Year 2023 and 100 Influential Personalities of 2023 by Fox Story India. The Exceptional Women of Excellence Award 2022 by Yuukke, is a global ecosystem for women entrepreneurs.
Personal Insights:
Rakhi likes each day to be different and diverse in experience. She is an early riser that’s one typical thing about her day. She sets goals for herself to complete by the end of the day. She added “The goal may vary from day to day basis, some days the goals I want to achieve are very simple, enquire about my friend, have a meal with my mom. On some days they are huge. Submission deadlines for a book or completing a certain amount of writing. I won’t rest till I haven’t completed it. Some days my goal is to do nothing and while away my time and rest. I achieve that. I have days where I am busy consulting with my expecting clients. I have a day dedicated to watching a movie and spending time with my family and never miss an opportunity to do so.”
Impact and Vision:
Right communication is crucial for success in the education field. Communication is derived from the root of the word “communicare” in the Latin which means to impart, to share, to make common or participate or to transmit. The very essence of the word communication infers adding meaning to everyday interactions be it in professional or personal spaces.
Any form of communication has a consequence, result, or required action. All communications need to have clarity about what is required to be conveyed on one end (expression) and the desired action or (expected outcome) at the other end. Effective communication leads to positive outcomes. Effective communication leads to harmony, growth, strengthening of relationships, and progress for the whole of humanity beyond the barriers of physical borders, religion, and race. Every educator should make sure that they are making a difference to the world, community, and society around them.
Talking about Rakhi’s vision, she wants to focus on the importance of a healthy environment for the upbringing of children. She said “Emotional verbal and mental abuse during childhood days can impact children’s mental health and damage it permanently. Children are innocent and helpless. They can't fight back because of their financial and emotional dependence”. Rakhi with her work wants to help people through her books and counseling sessions, added, “As an author and an educator I have made it the mission of my life to work for such sensitive issues especially which are neglected and require more awareness in the Indian Society”.
Conclusion:
As a working woman, many women are under intense pressure to balance their careers and family life. Rakhi advises them “Don’t ever give up on yourself. Nothing will come easy. But that’s the fun part. You have to smile through your tears and find inspiration from your setbacks. Break your plans into milestones. Success and accomplishing your goals will be a long and arduous journey. Have a plan. Keep working and believing in your dreams. Your inspiration and passion come from your heart but then take your head along with you on deciding the viability of your ideas and their execution, with mindfulness. You have your tribe out there who want to hear you, know you and connect with you”.
At last, she advises women to celebrate even the small victories. She added “Doesn’t matter if the world and people around don’t seem to recognize your success. If you don’t believe in yourself or celebrate your victories no one will care. Learn to love yourself, take care of your needs, draw healthy boundaries and set realistic expectations in both your personal and professional life. As you grow make sure you are making a difference to the world, community, and society around you. Have a purpose in life not just goals, a purpose adds passion to your life, and with that burning passion within you, you will become unstoppable”.
