Rashmi's Space

This is a sponsored post for Surf Excel's #ReadyForLife Campaign and was first published on MyCity4Kids.com  A firm believer of positive parenting, I know that excellence is a habit, not an act; and that it takes practice and perseverance. That is why I am constantly on the lookout for opportunities when I can teach my little one something new and valuable. Many times I have used his outrageous demands, or the petty squabbles he has had with his friends as examples to teach values to him that I feel are important to be #ReadyForLife. However, my little one being an only child, I have had no opportunity to teach him one of the most important values of all – sharing! So far, that is, until last week; when one such opportunity presented itself! Its summer and the schools are shut. With the temperatures soaring to way over normal, children are now forced to stay indoors on extremely hot afternoons – no doubt a boring prospect for energetic seven – eight year olds! So th...

I have always been a sucker for stories. Stories in all forms – books, movies, even songs – hold a fascination for me like none other. I don’t know whether this habit was the result of growing up in a family of readers and movie buffs, but it definitely helped being surrounded by people who knew to appreciate a good story. Needless to say, being married to a man who doesn’t read fiction and considers movies as something to help wind down at the end of a hectic day, took some getting used to, no, a lot of getting used to.  I remember spending countless hours watching movies when I was a child or sometimes just watching songs on Rangoli or Chayageet or Chitrahaar on Doordarshan. Each of these songs, especially the ones from the movies I hadn’t seen, led me to ask my parents about the movie and if we could watch it. My Dad was of the opinion that the Bollywood movies of his time (the ‘70s and before and some from the early part of the ‘80s) were and always will be the best!...

Lila was seething with anger when she put down the call. He is mine, dammit!  she thought. And even as she did, she knew getting angry won't get her anywhere. Nothing would change. It was just one more week, one more cancelled visit. And he would not even mind it. Plus, hadn’t she suffered through many of these already? And hadn’t she decided to come to terms with all this and get on with life? But she knew why she couldn’t move on. Life without him meant nothing to her.  Although, everyone in her life told her, this obsession of hers was unhealthy. she needed to move on. But she still held on tight; didn't know for how long. She didn’t even remember when she had stopped counting the years. He didn’t seem to mind the distance anyway. He didn’t feel the need to call her every day; although, she still remembered the time he was dependent on her. Oh, those were the days! But all that had changed. His attention had wandered and then Maya had come in his life! Even today...

Okay, I am old enough to know that all that happens in movies is not real; but what can I say, for someone who was introduced to the Star TV Network at an impressionable age (ah! the joys of growing up in the 90’s in India); I believe it is okay to pine for some of the things that I have seen time and again in Hollywood movies. Wondering what I am talking about? Here goes – 1)                   Backyards and treehouses We have all seen the sprawling homes in Hollywood movies, with backyards that have a pool and at least one tree with a tree house and sometimes even a hammock! (Yeah, what bliss!) Even the modest homes are shown to have backyards with at least a strip of green and the quintessential tree with a tyre hanging from it. Even if some homes don’t have pools, there is enough space in most homes to have an inflatable pool for kids to play or at least to have some garden furniture to ...

“Dear girls, get a degree, start earning, buy a house and a car, give back to your parents and then get married. Don’t put your 100% on a man.” Saw this on social media today. It had more than a few thousand likes and hundreds of comments. Then there was another post doing the rounds on social media – about how and why women are not thrilled about the idea of wearing bindis, sindhoor, bangles, toe-rings and other similar signs proclaiming their marital status to the world. And then there is also this fact that the culture of arranged marriage (with the age of the groom never being much of a concern; but the age of the bride preferred to be in the early twenties); is seeing a significant change. The average marriage age, for the bride and the groom today has gone up considerably; especially that of the bride; which brings me back to the whole Dear girls post mentioned above. These posts stem, no doubt, from the idea of women empowerment; because frankly, in our countr...