Rashmi's Space

“Hello,” said the voice on the phone. “My name is Roald Dahl. I know you never expected a call from me, as famous as I am, but I’ve been given your name as someone who can help me with my next book…” That was how it all started. With that one dream. Of course, I knew it even before I had opened my eyes, that it was a dream. I mean, who in their right mind would say I know you never expected a call from me, as famous as I am… ?! Not to mention the fact that Dahl has been dead for the past twenty-eight years. But that didn’t matter. Not at that time. Because that dream gave me clarity. That dream propelled me into action after ages of inactivity. Well, I say ages, but it was merely months, really. Months spent going in and out of courtrooms. Months spent climbing up and down that horrid staircase of the family court building. Horrible, awful months. Excruciating months, when I preferred oblivion, and possibly even contemplated death. Months when I didn’t want to exis...

When people ask me what I do, I tell them I am a blogger, a writer. The immediate next question, of course, is “what do you write?” And I say I write on positive parenting, among other things. So they say, oh great, a lot of people are writing about parenting these days, it makes for interesting reading. And I say, but I don’t just write about parenting, I write about positive parenting. There is a difference. (Which reminds me of an advert from my childhood: ____ hot and sweet tomato chilli sauce, its different!) Cheesy, I know, but it is true. There is a difference. All parenting is not positive parenting. But all positive parenting is definitely good parenting. Parenting There was a time when “parenting” was not a term most parents bothered about. Take a look at

“Wow Mum, this mango cake looks super cool!” the little one drooled. “Yep! But no touching! Let it cool first, then we’ll cut it into pieces and…” “And take pictures and post them on Instagram and on Facebook and then tweet about it and then we can eat, am I right?” he beamed! “What? No! Where is all this coming from?” I asked aghast! It wasn’t that I was not planning on taking some pictures of this lovely cake that had turned out so spongy and looked all alphonso-yellow and super moist! But hearing my little one say this as if this was the whole purpose of having baked the cake and not the fact that it was the last day of his vacation; was what hurt me. “But you do that all the time, Mum!” “Sweetheart, I have told you before, my job requires me to post regular updates on social media and my work is such that it has to be shared on these platforms so that it reaches a lot of people and they can appreciate it and share it further…” I was going all ...

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 ...

Exams, no matter how big or small, are always made to be a big deal. Come exam time, we reduce children's TV time, we put on hold the weekend outing, we even put on hold taking them out for ice-creams or treats altogether.  "Let the exams get over first, we will have plenty of time for all these after that!"  is what we always think.  In fact, exams are such a major cause of stress and worry in many parents and children that we all actually look forward to the celebration after the exams! But do exams really have to be such a scary beast? Are they really so  important, that we rob our children of their daily playtime and TV time? Are exams something to just 'get done with' so that then we can actually enjoy and have fun? Why do we stress our children out so much when 'exam dates' are announced? And more importantly, why do we parents get so stressed ourselves!? There has to be an easier way, don't you think? Well, there is! It just tak...