“Grief, I’ve learned, is just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”
Anonymous.
The Universal Question: Friend or Foe?
At specific points in life, we question everything. Is death the enemy of living, or is it an inevitable companion to existence itself? While grief psychology has emerged as an immersive field of study, the truth remains: grief is deeply personal. The memory of a loved one becomes a thread woven into the fabric of our lives—present in their physical presence and equally profound in their absence.
Could professionals who deal in grief counselling deny experiencing grief and loss themselves? The answer is unequivocal: nobody escapes it. Grief experienced through death is life-altering, transformative, and profoundly human. It doesn’t discriminate between those who study it academically and those who encounter it unexpectedly. As Queen Elizabeth II once observed, “Grief is the price we pay for love.”
Aarti Ahuja: Where Personal Journey Meets Professional Practice
For Aarti Ahuja, founder of Tatava Studio Simplifying Wellness, grief has been both a personal journey and a professional calling. Based in New Delhi, Aarti has dedicated over eight years to creating a holistic wellness space that addresses stress, anxiety management, relationship counselling, and most profoundly, grief and loss counselling.
At the intersection of personal experience and professional skill, Aarti’s work with grieving clients humbles her understanding daily. She integrates positive psychology, psycho-spiritual psychology, and art therapy in her practice, recognising that healing happens not through a single modality but through a compassionate blend of approaches that honour each person’s unique journey.
As Marcel Proust wisely noted, “Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind.” Aarti’s approach embodies this wisdom, helping clients discover the transformative potential hidden within their pain.
The Sacred Work of Grief Counselling
Grief counselling at Tatava Studio recognises what Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the pioneer of grief psychology, articulated: “Grief is not a disorder, a disease, or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, spiritual and physical necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.”
Aarti’s sessions acknowledge that grief isn’t something to be “fixed” or “gotten over.” Rather, as author Anne Lamott beautifully expressed, “You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up.”
The counselling space at Tatava Studio becomes a sanctuary where clients can:
- Express the inexpressible: As Washington Irving wrote, “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues.”
- Find community in isolation: Grief can feel like the loneliest experience, yet as Leo Tolstoy observed, “Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”
- Honour complexity: The journey doesn’t follow a linear path. As Pema Chodron teaches, “The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
Beyond Internal Struggle: The Power of Memorialization
One of the most profound aspects of grief work at Tatava Studio is the emphasis on memorialization—creating tangible ways to honour and remember loved ones. This approach aligns with contemporary understanding that memory-making isn’t about moving on, but rather about carrying forward.
Aarti actively encourages clients to explore meaningful ways to memorialise their loved ones, recognising that, as Ray Bradbury wrote in Fahrenheit 451, “Everyone must leave something behind when he dies… Something your hand touches some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.”
Creating Digital Legacies with LyfeIndex
In partnership with innovative memorial platforms like LyfeIndex (www.lyfeindex.com), Tatava Studio helps clients create lasting digital tributes that transcend geographical boundaries. The process is straightforward yet profoundly meaningful:
3 Simple Steps to Create a Memorial:
- Visit www.lyfeindex.com and click “Add Memorial”
- Enter your details (first name, last name, email) and referral code: Reff80f5
- Complete payment and submit details of your loved one
Within 24-72 hours, you’ll receive a verified memorial link that can be shared with anyone, anywhere—creating a space where memories live on and communities gather to honour a life well-lived.
Founded by Manoj Swarup following his mother’s passing, LyfeIndex embodies the belief that “every life tells a unique story that deserves to be remembered.” The name itself carries profound meaning: Love You For Ever—a promise that transcends physical absence. With over 10,000 entries from families worldwide and support for 108 languages across 195 countries, the platform has become a global movement in digital remembrance.
Building Community Beyond the Internal Struggle
What sets Tatava Studio apart is its recognition that grief, while intensely personal, doesn’t have to be suffered in isolation. As C.S. Lewis observed, “I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.”
Aarti creates spaces where grievers can:
Connect with Others Walking Similar Paths: Finding others who understand—not to diminish your unique experience, but to remind you that you’re not alone in the darkness.
Share Stories and Keep Memory Alive: As philosopher Voltaire noted, “Tears are the silent language of grief,” but sometimes words, shared memories, and collective remembrance can speak volumes.
Transform Pain into Meaning: The studio helps clients explore how, as Kenji Miyazawa suggested, “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
The Philosophical and Literary Threads
Grief exists at the intersection of psychology, literature, and philosophy. These disciplines offer different lenses through which to understand our experience of loss:
From Psychology: Research shows that meaning-making is central to healthy grief processing. Creating memorials, sharing stories, and finding purpose in loss aren’t about denial—they’re about integration.
From Literature: Writers like Rumi remind us, “Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes around in another form.” This doesn’t minimize loss but opens us to transformation.
From Philosophy: As Erich Fromm articulated, “To spare oneself from grief at all cost can be achieved only at the price of total detachment, which excludes the ability to experience happiness.” Our capacity to grieve is inseparable from our capacity to love.
The Journey Continues
Aarti Ahuja’s work at Tatava Studio embodies a profound truth: grief counseling isn’t about erasing pain or rushing through predetermined stages. It’s about creating space for the full human experience of loss, offering tools for meaning-making, and building communities that support healing.
As Albert Schweitzer beautifully expressed, “Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.” This is the essence of grief work—not to carry the burden alone, but to find those who can sit with us in the darkness until we’re ready to seek light again.
Whether through individual counseling sessions, interactive workshops, or collaborative platforms like LyfeIndex, the message remains clear: your grief matters, your loved one’s story deserves to be told, and you don’t have to walk this path alone.
The invitation stands: to honor what was, to hold what is, and to hope for what might yet be—all while remembering that grief, in its essence, is simply love with nowhere else to go. And perhaps, through memorialization and community, we can give that love a place to rest.
Contact Tatava Studio:
- Website: www.tatavastudio.com
- Phone: +91 76783 41364
- Email: tatvalifestylestudio@gmail.com
- Timings: Monday to Saturday
- In Person: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
- Tele Counselling: 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Create a Memorial:
- Visit: www.lyfeindex.com
- Referral Code: Reff80f5
“The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief—But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.”
Hilary Stanton Zunin
