Rashmi's Space

Clay figurines. Colourful. Vibrant. Bucolic. That is their trade. Dealing in snazzy, bright clay figurines, bowls, masks, wall-hangings. They sit by the side of the road. Their wares displayed along the pavement. So people can see when passing – on foot, in their cars. Every once in a while, someone passes in their car and then parks the car further along the road and comes walking back to inspect something that has caught their eye. They ask the price. Which is usually not too much. They still bargain. And eventually, at a much lesser price than the artifact is worth, they buy the piece. It will look amazing on their feature wall, they think. It will dazzle their boring passageway. It will welcome their guests warmly... But more often than not, no one buys much. Especially on working days. Busy days. When the adults are rushing to and back from work and the children are tired, being taken to school and back. But they still sit there. Their wares spread. Eve...

It is later than usual today. The day has already been overcast and now the twilight hour seems darker than usual. Maybe, she thinks as she presses the 'down' button for the lift, maybe she should turn back, not go down for her walk... But she can't. He has already left, she knows. He would be waiting for her. And when she doesn't turn up at the usual place at the decided time, he would worry. And then who knows what he would do. They haven't even discussed what to do in such a scenario. She makes a mental note to tackle this problem at the first possible opportunity. But for now, she better get down there. As she gets off the lift on the ground level, a gust of wind hits her, making her eyes water. She is immediately worried about her thin hair flying haywire. She has always been self conscious, as if everyone is watching her, judging her. This is exactly why she doesn't go for walks like regular people. And that 'run' that she has read so man...

आजकाल व्हॉटसॅप च फार वेड लागलाय लोकांना. सकाळ संध्याकाळ नुसता व्हॉटसॅप आणि त्यावर येणारे जोक्स! लहान मुलांपासून ते रिटायर्ड आजी आजोबांपर्यंत घरातले सगळेच ह्या व्हॉटसॅप चे दिवाणे. बरं नुसतेच जोक्स फॉरवर्ड करतात ह्यावर असं काही नाही; ह्याचा उपयोग बऱ्याच वेगवेगळ्या कामांसाठी करता येतो. म्हणजे अर्जंट निरोप द्यायचा असो, किंवा कुणाला महत्वाची माहिती पाठवायची असो; इतकंच काय तर सणा सुदिच्या शुभेच्छा पण ह्या व्हॉटसॅप वरून अगदी सोप्या आणि फटाफट पणे पोहोचवता येतात! हो, हो, हे सगळं तुम्हाला माहीत आहे; पण तुम्हाला हे माहित आहे का, कि कुणाला शालजोडीतून मारायचं असेल तरीही हा व्हॉटसॅप आपल्या अगदी मस्त उपयोगी पडतो? हो ना, जे म्हणायचंय ते म्हणून घ्या, ते हि एखाद्या मिश्किल विनोदाच्या आडून. किंवा कुणाला लेक्चर द्यायचं असेल तर पाठवा एक मार्मिक कविता; कि वाचणाऱ्याची पार विकेटच गेली पाहिजे! आता हेच उदाहरण घ्या. बरेच दिवस व्हॉटसॅप वर एक कविता शेयर होत होती. आता नाव नाही आठवत नीटसं पण मर्म हे कि आजकालच्या नवयुवती जीन्स घालतात, अगदी आई झाल्या नंतर सुद्धा - आणि मग जेव्हा आजकाल ची मुलं...

The alarm rings. I look at the time, snooze for ten minutes and turn on my back to see my little one lying next to me. Okay, so he has wandered in during the night and is now sleeping spread-eagled, occupying most of the bed, having kicked my husband as close to the edge of the bed as one can go without actually falling off. I find myself smiling as I pull the covers on them. My little one has his exam today and unless I get started in the kitchen now, he’s sure to miss his paper. I am trudging to the bathroom, dragging my feet and cursing the early hour, when suddenly it occurs to me that it is not only my little one’s exam today, it is his last exam paper! It is the last day of school! I do a little dancing jig and almost trip on the bathroom mat. And then I rush to the bedroom to wake the guys up, with a spring in my step! Oh yes, it is the last paper today. Yay! Another academic year finished! No more worrying about the school schedule, no more ironing the uniform i...

Mansi was sitting with little Arjun at the study table for the past one hour. Arjun was doing his homework while she repeatedly erased his untidy work, making him rewrite neatly what he wrote carelessly. As she sat there patiently, the child kept fidgeting and playing with anything he could get his tiny hands on – pencils, eraser, even the sharpener that he didn’t need! Mansi was already tired after a whole day’s work and trying to beat deadlines. She worked from home; and only she knew the discipline and the tiptoeing-around-every-one-else’s-schedule it took her to complete her tasks at home as well as her office work on time. However, oblivious to her suffering, Arjun continued with his antics and Mansi was almost ready to tear her hair out any moment now. Just then Arjun did a Math sum – correctly, but in an untidy hand – and she began to erase it. It irked him as he was already hungry and waiting for dinner. “The sum is correct Ma! Why are you erasing it?”...

It is 6:00 am. She wakes up to the alarm and before anyone else gets disturbed by it, puts it off and lies on her back for five minutes. It's a brand new day! And she has been especially looking forward to starting her day as she has a creative writing assignment to complete today. She needs to write, in detail, about something that makes her truly, honestly happy . And she is looking forward to writing about her passion, her  writing! It is 6:15 am.  She is thinking about her assignment as she enters the kitchen and, being one of those people who are incapable of kick-starting their days without a steaming cup of java, brews a pot of fresh coffee. As it brews, she starts organising her thoughts in her mind; and the ingredients she will need for cooking the breakfast and lunch for the men in her life, on the kitchen counter.   It is 6:30 am.  She has been in the kitchen for a quarter of an hour now, and her prep for the cooking ...

Disclaimer: This post is by a Mother, for other Mothers. While everyone is welcome to read it, you may do so under advisement that it does contain some sensitive (read secret) material. Okay, what do we do on our birthday? Among other things, we cut a cake, blow out candles and make wishes, right? So then if on Mother’s Day, if we mothers were to cut a cake on the day and blow out some candles and make wishes, what would our secret wish list look like? Gets you thinking, right? Here’s a few wishes right off the top of my head; and you are welcome to add your own in the comments section... #1: We wish our kids were more like us/ not so much like us (depending on the situation we are dealing with :D)

The first time I wrote an essay on ‘Mother’, was when I was in school. Scouting for ideas, when I went to ask Dad to tell me something that I could use in my write-up, he said something that I have never forgotten till date. He said “After God made the world, he wanted to be around to see that all that he had created, was running smoothly. But then, he couldn’t be personally present with everyone at the same time…..so then he created a ‘Mother’ for every home. That way, he knew his creation was in good hands”  

She is clothed with strength and dignity And she laughs with no fear of the future   - Proverbs 31:25:31 NLT Beauty, grace, glamour, mystery - a woman represents all these and much more! As a mother, sister, friend, lover, wife and soulmate; a woman has always been the symbol of strength and dignity since time immemorial. Sometimes, hailed as virtuous, courageous, adventurous, strong-willed.....but most of the time, not mentioned, not acknowledged.....it's that time of the year to celebrate her once more!

I recently met a few friends for lunch. Part of the group, were working moms, stay-at-home moms and a working from home moms (like yours truly).  After the initial cat-up about kids and family, the conversation naturally veered towards work-life-balance. One of my friends, who is a stay-at-home mom mentioned that she was looking for a part-time job. She felt a little a little depressed, she said, and admitted that she was stuck in some kind of an identity crisis. A mother and a homemaker by choice, she couldn't help the feeling that she was losing out on her identity as an individual. We all knew her to be a very intelligent and successful person in her own right, although, she sometimes tends to think more with her heart…so, this friend of mine, felt she was losing herself somewhere between being a mother and a wife and a dutiful daughter-in-law.  Listening to her, another of my friends, who works full-time, said it was much better to be at home full time, as she s...