Did you know that artist Amrita Sher-Gil’s 1937 painting The Story Teller broke the record for the most expensive Indian artwork sold globally 85 years later in 2023? Or how renowned artist Raja Ravi Verma’s younger sister Mangala Bayi Thampuratti quietly painted her observations of life in Travancore in the 19th Century? We do, because we tuned in to art curator Yamini Telkar’s talk titled Women in Fine Arts; a part of a seven-lecture series organised by the India Study Center (INSTUCEN) to celebrate Women’s Day.

While Telkar’s deep-dive into the arts concluded on Sunday and is now available to view on YouTube, two sessions lined up for today and tomorrow spark our intrigue. Dr Deepalee Purandare, a Pune-based psychologist, will steer the conversation to an important intersection, shedding light on the mental health challenges faced by young women. “My generation grew up under societal pressure, and today’s women are reeling under social media pressure,” she quips. But her concern is no joke. “According to a 2019 report by the National Institute of Mental Health, women are inherently more susceptible to mental health disorders,” she reminds us.