The light Within!

Today’s class with my 7th graders was not  just another psychology session—it became a mirror to their inner world. The theme was “The Mask I Wear” —a gentle, powerful exploration of how we often show one face to the world, while hiding another underneath. The session began with a story, a simple yet deep tale that sparked thought and self-reflection. And then came the part that left me still, even hours later—the mask drawing activity. Each child was asked to draw a mask: what the world sees on the front, and what they feel on the back. And the honesty that poured onto paper was humbling. Some masks had bright smiles on the front—eyes twinkling, faces glowing—but on the back, they drew tears, anxiety, loneliness, or the pressure to be “perfect.” Some masks showed the same image front and back—children who perhaps wear no mask, or who haven’t yet learnt to. O thers were confusing, mixed, layered with scribbles and contradictions—just like emotions often are. Their written reflectio...

  "Three daughters, one journey, countless reasons to believe in the power of love and resilience." I have often been asked—sometimes with sympathy, sometimes with concern— "Three daughters? Don’t you wish you had a son?" To that, I have always smiled and said, “I was never raising children to carry on patriarchy—I was raising people to carry forward values.” Bringing up three daughters in a society where the birth of a son is still seen as a blessing and a legacy was not always easy. The whispers, the pity, the unsolicited advice—all tried to plant seeds of doubt. I’ve heard everything from “You must try once more for a boy” to “Who will take care of you in old age?” These were not merely words—they were reflections of a deeply ingrained cultural bias. But I chose a different path. I chose positivity . “You cannot control the world, but you can shape your response to it.” Positivity, for me, became an anchor. I decided early on that my daughters would grow...