Women unsafe in my city-bangalore

General Thoughts, My Bangalore-A view from a woman's perspective, Reshma's Blog

Bangalore has number of pros and pitfalls like any other city.

But increasingly, I have begun to feel and worry on how unsafe the city is becoming at any time, especially post 9pm.

I have been brought up in an environment where I was used to see my father raise his voice over any kind of wrongdoing by anybody.

Even though for most of my teenage years and much later, I continued being an introvert, work life made me see everything and everyone in equality. This applied to me as well where I started raising concerns over any inequality when it came to me or those around me in an organization. Of course it didn’t help me in my career graph but I chose to be a person who wanted equality.

Over the years I have got into several arguments at public spaces, traffic junctions and several other places when I have felt someone is misbehaving or breaking the law or even basic human manners.

Slowly, I have received threats from auto rickshaw drivers, bus drivers, motorists, car drivers (men and women) that they would abuse me or manhandle me.

I have learnt to calm down and now my freedom of moving around has become limited as I am not very sure, i will be back home safe after a watching a play or movie alone or with my child post 8pm. So I tend to travel in crowded spaces or closer home and try to avoid arguments with anyone.

Like many others. I have started silencing my conscience even when there is something wrong going on in a public space. Unless it is too huge a problem for me to be silent.

Reading this morning, just after a festival of good over evil, I felt sad that it is in my bangalore another rape has occurred. This one, the third in a month’s time.

I do hope collectively as Bengaluru citizens we will help each other in being good and avoid crimes.

I do not want to pinpoint to any community or religion but its time to take a stance for women to be safe and happy. This I mean within homes and outside homes.

 

 

 

Why you need to blog?

General Thoughts, Reshma's Blog

If you have a skill over a language or  good at expressing yourself through an art form, along with primary writing skills,  then it’s time you start your own blog.

Bloggers are present in all industries and now we have food bloggers, travel bloggers, parenting bloggers, tech bloggers, career advice bloggers and so many more.

Well if you are one of those who wants to add,  ” But I am not good at anything specific, so what do I blog about”? Then its time you find something that interests you.

Even if you are not a good writer but an entrepreneur, then do consider joining a crash course in writing or hire a blogger who can update a blog for you. Blogging has over a period of time become an important marketing tool in the internet and mobile age.

There are many spaces where you can contribute your content besides your own blog. It may initially not pay you well financially but it definitely helps in personal branding.

Writers may not be bloggers. Some professional writers may even consider bloggers to be of lesser strata in talent but if you are a professional blogger, you will be soon credited for good work by corporates or your own readers who value your opinion.

What does a good blog on any topic do for a reader? It actually makes the reader feel that someone here understands his or her position over a dilemma on a particular topic. Blogging should help readers to solve their anxiety to a certain extent at least after reading a blog. This often doesn’t happen in every article in a publication as the writer is expected to take a stance of a third person. But a blog is like a friend talking to you so there is higher scope of a personal connect.

Its absolutely fantastic if one develops into a niche blog to find and build a targeted audience.

On a personal level I am able to identify myself as a blogger who loves to write on women and parenting. If there is something known as short story blogging then would like to credit myself to that title as well.

Reading a review of a movie or a  product or service is great by a publication or online media. But a regular and talented blogger will also find her or his audience who would love to believe in the blog as an honest opinion.

With blogging becoming serious business, its time people hone their writing skills.

Good bloggers are valued in today’s content driven digital world. So good luck in becoming a blogger or finding the right one for your business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Payal, the quiet girl who found her voice finally

Kiddo stories, Reshma's Blog

Short story for kids aged between 4 to 8 years.

Payal was a very quiet girl. She would attend her new school, do all her worksheets regularly,  but she hardly interacted with anyone in her school or in the neighbourhood.

When any child would try to befriend her, she would excuse herself to find solace in her world of aloneness.

The class teacher after two months of school asked her parents to come and see her. Payal’s parents came to the school and explained to the teacher that Payal has always been a quiet child. And she wants to be left alone. They assured to the teacher that she had a loving environment at home. Even in her old school in a different town she had been a quiet child.

One day as Payal was walking towards the school gate a bright black butterfly with amazing designs on its wings came and sat on her shoulder. Suddenly Payal froze. She wanted to remain still in that position.

She just didn’t wanted to disturb the butterfly who seemed to enjoy resting on the little girl’s shoulder.

The security guard outside  the school gate whistled loudly as the school bell rang giraffe morning assembly. He saw Payal at a distance and asked her to get inside the gate. Payal didn’t utter a word. The guard now raised his voice and asked her to rush inside as he was closing the gate, or else he would complain to the teacher.

Payal gestured towards the resting butterfly and asked him to be quiet. The guard went inside and got the class teacher in s few minutes. Once the teacher saw Payal, she asked her what was she doing there outside when it was time for her to be in the classroom.

Payal whispered that she didn’t want to shoo away the butterfly. The teacher was stunned st the response and she angrily asked the girl to walk inside. But Payal nodded her head in disagreement.

After a few minutes the teacher who had angrily told Payal that she will be complaining to the Principal, came back with the entire batch of students from the class. By now it was almost an hour since Payal was standing still.

The teacher, Ms. Dixit said ” I was very upset this morning. When I told about you to the Principal Ma’m, she asked me to take a session here outside under the tree. So all students will be having an open classroom today. And you can join us when you are ready”.

Payal nodded her head now in complete agreement. After a class on mother nature and a drawing session, finally Payal was able to relax herself. The butterfly had flown away from her shoulder.

Payal walked up to her teacher and said that she felt like standing still as she identified with  the butterfly who wanted to just be there as it wanted. Not disturbed. The butterfly though just wanted to rest somewhere felt as though it seemed to love aloneness and that need not be loneliness.

Her teacher told her it was fine to be like her but it is nice to return smiles and build friendships in the world.

From that day Payal tried to converse little more with her classmates but she was often again seen happy being alone. And everyone too was fine with it.

It seemed as though Payal, (the meaning in India refers to anklet that makes subtle noise when the wearer  moves) found her voice.

She was the silent Payal. One finds anklets that don’t make any noise without the little bells and those are adored too by those who wear them.

She was like one of them, doing just fine and required acceptance.

 

 

 

Once upon a time a writer was a Radio Jockey

Uncategorized

 

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I came to know a month ago of term know as multipotentialites through a you tube video featured on Tedx talks. This was by Emilie Wapnik. It was refreshing for me to listen to the talk and I could identify myself with what she tried to convey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJORi5VO1F8

Somehow I have always dabbled in various professions and one of them happened to be getting to the shoes of being a Radio Jockey. I loved being there and doing what I was doing. AIR FM Rainbow gave all the recognition to me as one of the well known RJ’s.

In all its limitation of not able to compete with private stations of having a edit technological tool before playing live radio or hosting from different venues or reaching out to Bollywood or Kannada film stars, yet FM Rainbow had its loyal audience.

I had hosted careers’ shows, baking shows with an expert, interviewing Bangalore icons and much more.  Yet it had become the case of a filled glass and not wanting to dive more

 

So I had to say goodbye to one of my best loved jobs/careers and embraced a new juncture in personal life. This further led me to a totally new career and as of now continuing with some parts of the phase. Though I like to identify myself as a blogger these days than anything else.

Stumbled upon this photograph where I used to literally travel 18 kms from my home to the AIR station at 5.30 in the morning to be on time at 7.00 am. Along with the Kannada RJ, we had to present our shows and the show finally culminated in a request show. Of course now the formats have completely changed and further too I had started doing the afternoon shows where it was a pleasure hosting Meethi Yaadein of old hindi numbers and the 4pm show of playing the latest Hindi film numbers as part of the request shows.

If any of the old listeners still remember me then it would be lovely to receive a hello message from you.

Breakfast theme outings on Saturday mornings

Explore Banglore -My Bengaluru, My Bangalore-A view from a woman's perspective, Reviews

Last week I had been to a story session for adults which revolved around a food information story session in Bangalore. The session was held by one of the popular storytellers in Bangalore and a simple breakfast was presented to the audience. So it was a session over breakfast. I had been there alone and got to interact with a few other participants, some who had come with family, some single and some of them being friends outing on a Saturday morning breakfast. Though I was unable to decide at the end of the session whether I truly liked the session what I did feel was it was a different outing in my experiences list and felt good about that.

So it is no longer Sunday brunches that have been attracting Bangaloreans as an outing. Now we have Saturday theme breakfast sessions too.

Again it was only last week that I tried looking for walks to go in and around Bangalore, specifically for heritage walks. And the ones I checked indicated walks ending with a sumptuous breakfast at a south Indian eatery.

As more number of people are trying to explore new forms of outings either for ‘me time’ or family, looks like Saturday breakfast sessions are here to stay.

Maybe soon we will have story session over a breakfast. Maybe I would begin that soon.

Parenting: how much is too much?

Pregnancy and Parenting, Published Articles

 

Pic: Shree D N

Being a mommy blogger and more importantly a mother for sometime now, I have realized how many parents find it tougher to raise a child than ever before. On one hand, one is supposed to monitor the child’s activities so that he or she is guided in the appropriate path in life. On the other, parents are supposed to allow the child to grow independently and let the growing one celebrate freedom.

However, to prevent abuse and to ensure that the child is not misled by people, social media and various other distractions, a parent has to be constantly vigilant and on his or her toes to be able to take immediate action, about anything that may be suspected to cause damage to their child.

A recent video of a man forcibly trying to kiss a young child in a mall on a toy car ride sent shivers down the spines of many parents who saw the disturbing video. It made parents question whether they could set a boundary on monitoring their child’s life?

Does it include every second or minute, until the child is completely aware of taking charge of life. And when is that appropriate age? Not everyone has answers, but sharing such information to make other parents aware of unpleasant activities that can be hopefully avoided, does help. Many seem to agree that parenting in the current times is not an easy path to walk through.

Shuchi Chokhawala, a mother to young daughters, aged eight and five, says, “Earlier parents would be concerned about a few things like education or health; simpler things. Today, putting the child in a prestigious school, cannot guarantee the right development or safety, and this is a major concern. Moreover, tremendous cyber exposure is available, where children get hooked to it from the time they are toddlers. While this undoubtedly opens doors for knowledge, parents need to be cautious about what the child is learning.” Children easily get addicted to various gadgets. The trick is in ensuring that they use them the right way.

Agreeing that parenting has changed drastically, Pooneh Shah, mother to a teenage daughter and a six-year-old boy says, “Earlier, parents had it easier. There was no internet or mobiles that bombarded us with unwanted information. Today, although parents want children to be independent, it isn’t easy. We hear of many unpleasant incidents and that makes parents more alert and anxious. We want to monitor every aspect of the child’s life. Like many others, I too am forced to do many things which actually make my kids more dependent on me; a sad reality of parenting in today’s world.”

Given the scenario, it is therefore important that young people who want to be parents be aware that they must embrace this phase of life wholeheartedly, and not just because of pressure from family or relatives. It is also critical to understand that this phase comes with responsibility and that it needs to be treaded carefully. This obviously doesn’t make being a parent a less joyous experience.

However, one needs to take care to avoid donning the role of being a helicopter parent. There is a fine line between monitoring, and the damage of overdoing the responsibility. It is also essential to remember that regardless of whether one is a mother or a father to a child, we have equal responsibilities to raise responsible children. It is also equally important to make children aware of how they can take care of themselves in the world.

Parenting is tough, but not impossible.

Written by  Reshma Krishnamurthy Sharma

 

Published originally in Citizen Matters on September 18th 2015

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/tips-to-new-parents-bangalore-parenting-tips

Reshma Krishnamurthy Sharma lives in Bangalore and loves reading and writing on society and changing lifestyles.

Blogger’s party by women’s web & Jean-Claude Biguine

General Thoughts, My Bangalore-A view from a woman's perspective, Reshma's Blog, Uncategorized

Yesterday it was a meet, an invitation for a few bloggers in Bangalore to catch up, have a bit of pampering done at an upmarket salon . I am just glad that blogging in the women’s world is getting recognized with some fun element.

Unlike earlier where only fashion bloggers or technology ones were recognized; thankfully now there are so many niche segments in the blogging world that it’s hard to ignore true bloggers. Can say that happy to be in this space right now.

It was good fun having a brief interaction with author Milan Vohra, the dilemma to blog or write a book to connect with the audience and more. I was present too at the meet and was happy that blogging is serious business.

The meet was organised by content provider women’s web in association with the french salon brand.

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A new initiative for mums – Mums and stories on facebook

General Thoughts, Reshma's Blog

 

mums and stories.new

It’s been a wonderful start this week. Something which I was hoping to connect with mums I know, I would like to know is finally happening on the social media on a page called mums and stories.

If you have something to share as a mum do write in on the page with relevant story, yours own or about your children or anything that can be shared on a mums network. Hope to see some interesting stories around.  The story from real people, real moms is something we want to listen and read. And it can be about an incident, motherhood as an experience, anything on being a mum anywhere in the globe.

 

 

Growing up in a multi-culural environment

General Thoughts, Reshma's Blog

Last evening, I went out to see a documentary film, an indo german collaboration, Amma and Appa.

While the intention for me to go and see it was also to understand how children grow up in multi faceted cultures, it was also to figure out if differences in inter country marriages are more difficult to manage than inter state marraiges.

While I do not want to judge the film or which marraiges are easier to sail through, increasingly I do feel it is important to teach children to respect and tolerate others cultural and religious views.

Fanatics are present everywhere and I do hope future generations will not be misled in the name of religions and learn to live in a literal global world.

I do hope I can pass this message to my family at least.

Bruno & Bunny – Friends story for kids

Kiddo stories

 

bruno & bunny

Bruno a small growing puppy and bunny a rabbit, of the same age who were going to the animal school in a far away city.

Being the brats and the naughtiest of the animals in the class, they were sent outside the class as punishment. They had to stand for a good three hours until the school was over just outside the class.

” Bunny, do you think Rhino Madam will call my papa to tell him that I got the punishment today?”

Giggling, Bunny says, ” It’s okay I think. We’ll handle your papa. After all he knows us too well. Don’t you remember what your parents told us the last time we were caught on blowing soapy bubbles in class?”

” Yes I think as long as we don’t injure other kiddos in the class, it is fine.”

Just then Rhino madam walks out of the class and looks sternly at the two mischief mongers. ” I don’t see any regret on your faces darlings. Maybe it is time for stricter punishment” she says.

” Bruno, you will stand in the classroom and Bunny will be here outside, both of you not seeing each other for the rest of the day.”

Suddenly the slight smirk vanished from the two and they pleaded together, ” Sorry madam, please this will not happen again, never again we will throw paper rockets in the class. But we request you to let us stand together. Our legs are aching but it is conversations that is making us go through this turmoil smoothly.”

Rhino madam thought for a few seconds and said, ” Never means never again. Or else you both know what would be the consequence.”

As Rhino madam left the two naughty ones, Bruno and Bunny looked at each other and laughed as they were just happy to be together, no matter where they actually landed themselves for the day.

BY RESHMA KRISHNAMURTHY SHARMA