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...

This is a sponsored post for Hewlett Packard (HP) as part of their #ReinventMemories campaign and has first appeared on MyCity4Kids.com  “Why aren’t you talking to your mom?” I heard a whisper. “Because she is working, dodo!” this was my little one’s voice. It was a weekday afternoon and he had a friend over. While the boys watched TV and generally hung in the playroom, I was at my desk finishing up an article that was due soon. That is when I heard this conversation. I went and stood close to the playroom door and tried to hear further. “What do you mean she is working? She is at home isn’t she?  My  mom works! She leaves in the morning and gets back only in the night.” “My mom works all day too!” my little one chirped. “What does she do?” his friend wanted to know. “My mom is a writer. She writes articles and stories. I also write stories. I even illustrate them, like Quentin Blake did for Roald Dahl. Only, in my case, I am the one...

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?”...

Simi was running late. School would let out in ten minutes and she was nowhere near it yet! She was drumming her fingers on the steering wheel praying for the signal to change soon when her phone rang. It was her Dad. That surprised her; as her parents knew most of her schedule and this wasn’t their usual time to call. But even before Simi could decide whether she should pick up the call, the signal changed. Later that day, after Simi had picked up her son, ran a couple of errands and taken a scheduled client call; she was just about to settle down on the couch with a cool glass of water when her phone pinged. On checking it, she was surprised to see five missed calls and several WhatsApp messages, all from her Dad! Worried and hoping that everything was alright with her parents, Simi called home. “Hi Dad, just saw your messages and your missed calls, everything alright?” she asked as soon as his phone was picked up. “Yes, yes, everything is alright. I just wanted ...

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 ...