Mumbai-based slam poet Aranya Johar shot to fame after her poem, 'A Brown Girl's Guide to Gender' went viral and received over one million views. Through her work, Aranya continues to address issues related to beauty standards, gender equality and mental health on her social media platforms.
In order to confront beauty standards, the 21-year-old poet and feminist uses slam poetry. Slam poetry is a type of competition where people read their poems without props, costumes, or music.
Born on September 7, 1998, Aranya Johar did her schooling from Lilavati Podar High School. She then went on to do her B.A (Bachelor of Arts) student from Sophia college in Mumbai. Aranya uses slam poetry to express her ideas and connect with her audiences.
Aranya Johar started writing poetry at the age of 12. Her first performance was at a venue in Bandra where she had to lie about her age to get entry into the local resto-bar where open- mic sessions were held.
Did you know when Aranya Johar in Clas VII, she was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)? Aranya uses slam poetry as a platform to create awareness about mental health issues. She researches on mental health conditions, writes about it, and speaks about it through her poetry.
Aranya Johar delivered her first TedX Talk at ICT, Mumbai. She has also performed at Tuning Fork, Cuckoo Club, Barking Deer, Jamnabai Narsee's Cascade, Poddar's Zenith, and many more places as a poet.
Besides being a poet, Aranya Johar is also the curator of Blind Poetry Sessions, a series of poetry nights. The Blind Poetry night takes place in a dark room, and the poets are anonymous. It works well as nobody judges their work on the basis of looks or age. The audience is given glow-in-the-dark sticks to wave and show their appreciation.
Aranya Johar is also the co-curator of another poetry event in Mumbai. The event titled Throwback Thursday is about poets reading out their first work as well as their most recent writing. She curates and evaluates the poets' evolution of their ideas and writing skills.
Aranya Johar also had her share of luck n Bollywood when she integrated spoken word in the film industry for the first time through her collaboration with Akshay Kumar for the movie 'Padman'.
Poet, feminist, youth leader, mental health activist are few of the facets of her illustrious yet colourful career so far. A feminist, Aranya started reading and writing about feminism since her younger days. The concept of feminism was introduced to her by her brother, Ankur Johar (aka Enkore), a rapper, who encouraged her to read more on feminism to understand and grasp the concept.
The 21-year-old youngster from Mumbai has been called a pseudo-feminist to a hatemonger. She has even received death threats and rape threats for her work. However, she takes that in her stride and continues with her good work.
Such has been her growth that Aranya Johar has been recommended among the list of 10 women one must follow on social media along with Michelle Obama and Ashley Graham.
When it comes to going global, Aranya Johar has been featured on Rolling Stone, Harper Bazaar in 2017, Teen Vogue. She has performed at the SRCC Youth Conference in September 2017. Aranya Johar has performed at the event of 'We The Women' in association with UN Women in December 2017.
Aranya Johar became a part of Goalkeepers New York City 2018. She spoke at Goalkeepers in New York with eminent personalities like Ed Sheeran, Melinda Gates, Bill Gates, Stephen Fry, and others. Aranya Johar has also been a part of SHEROES Summit 2018, which is a women's community platform that brings women to share their stories and inspire other women.
On Instagram, Aranya Johar announced another big achievement of having shared the stage with Emma Watson. "So honoured to share that your brown girl is the youngest member of the Gender Equality Advisory Council for the G7 this year taking place in Biarritz. The council is creating a legislative bouquet for G7 and non-G7 countries. Two of the many focuses of our council is cyber-harassment and rape reparation; will share more details soon. Thank you for helping get me here, and I'm excited to take you on this journey with me," she wrote.
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