Rashmi's Space

The wind blows my hair in my eyes as I struggle to put the washing out to dry. The weather has been treacherous lately. Sudden rains and thunderstorms, followed by hours of calm, strong sunshine; only to be caught unawares by strong winds that howl in the narrow passages and tear at the hoardings on the highways. Oh, I almost forgot! Hello! Myself Mrs. Bhagirathi. The kids in my building call me Mrs. B. I am a housewife. Homemaker, they call me these days. Not that it makes any difference to what I do. But it is a better title it seems. Anyway, as I was saying, it is important to get all the washing done as early as possible, before the weather turns. And also because, once all the household chores are done, I can sit and concentrate on something that I actually enjoy doing! Like read, for example. Or maybe even get some creative work done. Some gardening. There are always bills to pay, of course. And when everything else fails to hold one’s interest, well, there is alwa...

It was a bright, sunny afternoon. I was at work in the study and my little one was tinkering with my phone. Suddenly, he asked, “Who is Deepali Kamath?” And I was like, “she’s my friend, why?” To which he countered with another question, “isn’t she on Facebook?” And I was like, “What? Why are you looking at my Facebook? And why are you looking for Deepali Kamath specifically?” Now, my little one and I are, on most days, more friends than mom and son. So yes, he does have access to my phone and he does have permission to ask me any questions – and I mean any random questions! But here I was a bit intrigued by all this curiosity regarding a specific friend of mine, especially, considering I had just spoken to her yesterday; within the little one’s earshot, I might add.  So, “what’s with this sudden curiosity about Deepali?” I asked him.   "Nothing," he shrugged. "It’s just that, I find her name in your contacts list but not in Facebook; and I know you are...

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?”...