Mpower Youthopia Sets World Record with Largest Student-Led Mood Parade

Mpower Youthopia, a youth mental health festival organised by Mpower, an initiative of the Aditya Birla Education Trust, has received an Official World Record from the Official World Record Association (OWRA) for hosting the largest student-led Mood Parade at BK Birla College, Kalyan.

Held as part of Birlotsav, the college’s intercollegiate youth festival, the Mood Parade witnessed the participation of over 900 students aged between 8 and 20 years, who came together to express 12 identified emotions. The parade aimed to normalise emotional expression and spark meaningful conversations around mental health among young people.

The two-day Mpower Youthopia festival saw an overwhelming response, with over 7,000 students from more than 50 colleges across Mumbai and neighbouring regions taking part in a wide range of awareness-driven activities.

In addition to the record-breaking event, Mpower conducted an on-ground survey among students attending the festival to understand their emotional support-seeking behaviour and the challenges influencing it. The findings revealed that 55 percent of students turn to friends when seeking emotional support, while 25 percent rely on family members. Notably, 15 percent reported not seeking support from anyone, and only 5 percent approached psychologists or teachers, highlighting the continued low engagement with formal mental health services.

The survey further identified academic pressure (30 percent) as the leading concern among students, followed by personal relationship issues (25 percent). Career-related anxiety (20 percent) and anxiety or overthinking (20 percent) were also prominent, while body image issues and social bullying (5 percent) emerged as additional stressors.

Commenting on the initiative, Mrs. Neerja Birla, Founder of Mpower and the Aditya Birla Education Trust, said, “Mental health support must reach young people where they are—on college campuses and within their everyday lives. Initiatives like Mpower Youthopia bring together awareness, access and peer engagement, empowering students to seek support without fear and actively contribute to a culture of well-being. This is an investment in the emotional resilience of India’s future.”

With recent data indicating that over 7 percent of Indian adolescents experience mental health challenges and a significant care gap persists, Mpower is strengthening and expanding its campus-focused initiatives to improve awareness and access to timely mental health support for young people across the country.