Meet Tara Dorabji

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tara Dorabji. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tara, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Art and stories bring us together in powerful ways, providing healing, connection and witness. That’s one of the reasons that storytelling and creating spaces where stories can be told is so essential to my life’s purpose. Humans are wired for story. It’s how we understand ourselves and define our communities and culture. Stories weave the moral fabric of society and transmit our values.

When I started researching my novel, “Call Her Freedom,” I wanted to understand how people live in freedom when their rights are eroded. How do folks living under occupation define freedom? For research on my novel, I went to Kashmir, which is one of the world’s most densely military zones. I had the honor of meeting with human rights defenders and Kashmiris working for self-determination.

Landing in Kashmir, I was met by the head of surveillance for the city of Srinagar. I was being watched. This was a moment when I understood the power and threat of storytelling. Kashmiri children grow up witnessing graveyards populating their villages. As people are buried, the community holds their story, the memory. Oral history is one of their biggest weapons against India’s brutal occupation. Even under occupation, the stories of the dead cannot be silenced.

Sharing stories is an active power – it allows us to understand our own circumstances and create truth and meaning. Our stories offer the possibility of transformation. Creating stories and the conditions for others to share and tell their own stories advances cultural sovereignty and supports worldviews rooted in collaboration and interdependence. This is what I am inspired to do.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

After 14 years of writing and researching, my debut novel, “Call Her Freedom” launched. It’s a sweeping family saga following one woman’s struggle to protect her culture and her family amidst the backdrop of a military occupation. Ultimately, it’s a love story that untangles family secrets and heals generational wounds.

Some of the most powerful examples of living in freedom are demonstrated in places where people’s rights are taken. “Call Her Freedom” invites audiences to look at what in our communities allows cycles of violences to exist. So much of my art making looks at the impacts of violence and war on the body, in our communities, in our families, and in our psyche. I remain committed to working with communities that are directly impacted by systems of oppression and supporting them in amplifying their stories and solutions.

In this next phase of my artistic inquiry, I’m looking towards systems of nature as part of our healing. How do both complexity and balance contribute to restoring humans’ relationship with earth?

You can follow me and Call Her Freedom at: https://www.dorabji.com/events
@tdorabji on Instagram
Tara Dorabji on Facebook

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three core principles that shape my journey:

● Connect: Make time to connect, build community and develop relationships with people who inspire and support you and that you can grow with. Build communities of practice for accountability, rigor, artistic growth and friendship. Open doors for others, center work and practices by ways that you pay forward opportunities and share power. Experience and center human kindness.

● Dream: Give your dreams and self care time on the calendar. Identify your most productive
blocks and schedule a weekly slot for your dreams, life’s purpose, art and deeper power.
Guard this time as you would your highest priority work meetings. Identify things that
nourish yourself – schedule time for morning beach walks, monthly massages,
acupuncture, hot spring get-aways. Carve out and create beautiful experiences that
nourish your spirit.

● Healthy rituals: My daily practices include: starting my day with prayer, stretches
and a walk, sitting in the garden for lunch, often joined by my rabbit, hummingbirds
and lizards. In the afternoons, a quick brisk walk in nature allows me to reflect and see
what to focus on, come back to challenges with fresh perspective, or realize which issues from the day
to let sit or address. In the evenings, I do a 15 min meditation to center, calm
and quiet. I protect my time with family and turn off work. Creating blocks of unscheduled time on
weekends and after work, allows me to be present, connect with those I love and attend to what
surfaces.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Staying grounded in the face of chaos and feeling overwhelmed is a daily practice. When I feel overwhelmed, I get an urge to go faster and knock stuff out. The best thing for me to do if I start feeling overwhelmed is to pause and shift gears, do something physical or get into the sun. When I come back, I can refocus and prioritize with new energy. Generally, if I act or react with overwhelm, anger or fear, it just creates more chaos. Pausing and changing how I feel before I act is key.
Healthy rituals (mentioned above) do a lot to support me in not reaching a state of overwhelm. Most every morning, I walk in nature, any frustration left from the day before can usually be dispelled. It gets me excited and grounded to start the day. Scheduling a lot less really helps me respond to change, adapt and focus on what is inspiring me on a given day. But I also accept that I will get overwhelmed and that it’s ok– I can reground again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dorabji.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tdorabji/?hl=en @tdorabji
• Facebook: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559573850386&paipv=0&eav=Afa622S9XZf-PKwrNWwoTSfaAE30XXIIoAjm60ZLrkXzYpt38a72ylc1Z_y6ejSZCn8 Tara Dorabji
• Linkedin: @taradorabji7159 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT1ZvY6mbn66lrhxQbfsO1g
• Youtube: @taradorabji7159 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT1ZvY6mbn66lrhxQbfsO1g

Image Credits

Sheila Menezes (headshot), Simon & Schuster (book cover), Tara Dorabji (other photos)