Aranya Johar

Aranya was born on 8 September, 1998 and is raised in Mumbai. She did her schooling from Lilavati Podar High School.[8] She uses slam poetry to express her ideas. Slam poets use spoken words to perform, express identity and connect with their audience.[9]

Aranya started writing down poems on misogyny issues from her teenage.[10] Aranya performed for the first time in front of an audience when she was 12 years old. “A group used to conduct open- mic sessions at a local resto-bar, and the performer would get a cocktail shot after their performance.” She admitted that she lied about her age to get in and her mother would accompany her. She was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) when she was in Class VII.[11] So she uses the medium to create awareness about mental health. She researches on mental condition and writes about it.[12] During one of her performances, when she was a teen, she remembers moving a 47-year-old man to tears. The lines that made the man cry were, “As you stare at that vein kissing that knife/ think of all the things you’ll miss if you end this life/ If I were you I’d wait for the scars to fade/ if I were you I’d put down that blade.”[13]

Aranya along with her 17-year-old comrade Prachee Mashru are the force behind More Than Mics, an organisation set to curate creative platforms for performance arts ( poetry, music, comedy etc).[14] Mashru attends a school in Vile Parle (W) but they got to know each other online and bonded over their love for Canadian rapper Drake.[15]

Aranya is also the curator of Blind Poetry Sessions, a series of poetry nights. Unlike other gigs, the Blind Poetry night takes place in a dark room, and the poets are anonymous.[16] She is also the co-curator of another poetry event in the city, titled Throwback Thursday, wherein she asks poets to read out their first work as well as their most recent writing.[17] She also supported and presented a poem for Gender equality, Know your rights by Vivel in association with Aaj tak and India Today.[18] Aranya's video, 'To Bleed Without Violence' was a collaborative piece with WASH United which hit 7 million views over the weekend of the upload.[19] She has also recited her poem for young enthusiasts of Harvard Model United Nations in 2017 at Hyderabad International Convocation Centre.[20]

Aranya Johar has been featured on Rolling Stone and Harper Bazaar in 2017.[21] She also performed at the SRCC Youth Conference on 22 September 2017. She has also been featured in the May edition of Teen Vogue.[22] She has performed at the event of We The Women in association with UN Women on 9th and 10 December 2017.[23]

She became a part of Goalkeepers New York city 2018. She spoke at Goalkeepers in New York alongside names like Ed Sheeran, Melinda Gates, Bill Gates, Stephen Fry and many more.[24] It has been organised by the Gates Foundation and #ProjectEveryone who have been leading the way in raising awareness on the Global Goals and activating young people worldwide.[25] She has also been a part of SHEROES Summit 2018 which is a women's community platform which brings women to share their stories and inspire other women.[26]