A humming word

/The years 2008-2013 were filled with learning and wonder. I had freelanced for Young World, The Hindu, where I met Syeda Farida ma'am (Or fondly known as Farida ma'am). This post is an ode to her./ In a world full of fanged monsters, Farida ma'am was a chubby-cheeked angel. The first thing you'd notice were her eyes - calm yet fiery and next, her tenor: a sing-song rhythmic quality that fitted her so well. I first met her at The Hindu office. It was a dream-come-true for me. She offered me coffee, which I reluctantly had and she pored over my blog posts that I printed for her to see.Her eyes lit as she smiled and told me that my interests were in social service, art and literature related articles. And, she suggested me to write in those beats . She gave me some writing tips, since I did not major in journalism. However, I enrolled in one, immediately. Such was her effect! Initially, I was hesitant to speak with Farida ma'am and a couple assignments later, we ...

Dear volunteer with a good ear, The movie, Dear Zindagi directed by Gauri Shinde, that stars Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt, and the more recent, Marriage Story directed by Noah Baumbach, that stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, clearly underline the need for a therapist. A therapist is a third person who offers a perspective that your biased loved ones cannot. While depression has to be taken seriously, so has to be therapy. You cannot move about saying "Please, talk to me. I will be your ears." Sorry, you're not a student of psychology. Sorry, you're don't champion mental health problems. Skills such as empathy, counselling, trust are embedded in them through years of learning and training and they are professionally adept to handling people with anxiety and mental health issues. If a friend or relative says, I have a stomach pain, you don't say, come I will diagnose it. I have given pudin hara to my friends earlier and they were fine. Yo...