Rashmi's Space

Baffled by the title? Let me explain. I was recently watching the 1980’s classic Bollywood movie  Khoobsurat  and there was this scene where the female protagonist breaks into an impromptu song and urges us to think  what if?  – What if birds swam in the ocean and the fish flew; what if coffee was available every time we opened a tap and candy and toffees grew on trees; what if the Sun was blue and the Moon was red; what if we slept on a table and ate on a bed…what if, what if, what if…. And that got me thinking! (Now you see the problem with having a vivid imagination?) Well, it got me thinking,  what if things weren’t the way they always are in the real world? But, I wasn’t indulging in as ingenuous thoughts of the lyricist as mentioned in the song ( watch here ); but something else entirely – You see, I had just read the morning papers and checked my FB feed; and was raring to have a go at the things that were really annoying; b...

Yet another shocking incident of an assault on a three-year-old in a school has come to light this week. And parents are once again faced with the responsibility of talking their children through things that may not be pleasant, in the very least.  When I was young, my parents got me into the habit of reading newspapers. I used to read headlines and then some paragraphs that my mom would’ve marked. This daily exercise was fun for me, because unlike all the story books that I read, I was told that this newspaper part was real, it was what actually was happening in the world around me; and I was always anxious to get the paper every day to see what new event I would get to know about. I would like my child to have the same habit too – but day by day it is getting increasingly difficult. One after the other, there are serious crimes reported; and when an incident such as the most recent one comes to light; I am scared – but more than scared, I am concerned - for the safety of my...