By Shabina Akhtar, TwoCircles.net
If you believe in first impressions, you are likely to be disappointed by Gazelle S Khan and Yasmin Mehtab. The two lifelong friends were full-time homemakers, busy taking care of their family, kids and other responsibilities to make their homes run smoothly. There was something they both aspired for but were unclear about the exact nature of what they wanted till they attended a workshop on self-management.
Speaking to TwoCircles.net, Yasmin said, “It started in December 2017 when Gazelle and I participated in a workshop and witnessed a transformation in ourselves.” Adding to the Gazelle says, “Often, we homemakers forget our happiness and keep making sacrifices for our families. But we need to strike a balance. The workshop that we attended touched our lives and we decided to take the skills we learned to others in need to be transformed. And that is how You Touch Lives (YTL) began.”
It was Yasmin who came up with the idea of having YTL (platform to help many who are even clueless about the crisis they are in), to which Gazelle readily agreed. While Yasmin uses her operational acumen to organise the workshop, network etc, Gazelle chose to become the face.
“I also realised that one workshop was not enough to conduct a life-changing workshop for women. I thus became a certified life coach and since then, as they say, there has been no looking back,” she added.
The duo began by organising small workshops with women in places that they often hired to conduct the workshop by charging a small amount from those attending the sessions. Following which they began having such sessions at schools. “We also gathered 60 young students from Topsia and started working with them to both motivate and help them realise their potential. These students come from an economically weak section of the society and face a lot of financial issues.”
After having conducted several free workshops spanning over a few hours paved the way for the duo to think bigger. “The success of our workshops, made us plan a two-day workshop, with women from our friend circle. But believe me, it wasn’t easy to make women enrol for the workshop. However, with time, the number of women coming to our workshops kept increasing. Many even expressed their desire to be active members of YTL.”
Their participants can’t help but praise their work. “I learned how to overcome our shortcomings by a little awareness of our thoughts and dealings. The whole workshop helped me to understand myself and to transform towards a better and peaceful living. Life no longer is bad for me,” said Shabana Anwar, a Kolkata-based educator. Gazelle and Yasmin plan to change many such lives in the coming days.