Siddhi Bhosale

Homecoming! Woke up early in the morning, got dressed up, and just like the first day of school, Mumma clicked me. Sat on the scooty, adjusted the mirror, and just like objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, school memories in the heart are more profound than they appear!  Reached the Vasudev Balwant Phadke Natyagruha, parked the scooty. Parents had already queued to enter. I called the concerned teacher, and she welcomed me with a smile. The scouts and guides performed their welcome salute, but what really felt welcoming was the pride in the eyes of the teacher heading them, Anila Ma’am, who was my class teacher in 4th standard. The ‘pride in her eyes’ to see me all suited as an alumni guest was one of the highlights!   Anila Ma'am, my class teacher in 4th Std. Then the council members welcomed us with a badge and accompanied us backstage. The green room, where I have met theatre actors after their performance, is where I was seated along with other guests. A...

I still remember that it was the monsoon season, and there was a poem recitation competition for the 1st standard in our school. The topic was ‘Rain’, and my parents, being wordsmiths, Mumma came up with the hook line of ‘Rain, rain everywhere, green grass everywhere…’ and Pappa filled the gaps to match the rhyme. Mumma made the props; she made cardboard clouds and attached ribbons of different colours, as if rain was falling from the clouds, and those clouds were tied to my hands, which I moved while reciting the poem. That poem won me 1st prize for three consecutive years in school, because of its originality and creativity, which my parents planted in the poem! Performance at my Playschool. I remember writing my first poem, it was a slow Sunday afternoon of 2nd February 2014. Everyone at home was taking their afternoon nap, and I had set up my study table (foldable then) in the balcony of my room at Bhagyalaxmi (the name of our house then), I was probably done with all the homework ...

My BAGWATI! Today I received my new bag. It is a multi-chain navy blue convertible backpack. Convertible because the backpack straps could be hidden inside a compartment, and it looks like an office handbag. I loved it the moment I saw it online, and around the same time, our family friends wanted to gift me something on account of my book being published, so this bag! Taking this bag in my hand flooded me with memories of the bags that I have used and bought so far. The most exciting thing during school reopening time was buying a new bag every year. Which included convincing Mumma that the old bag is not enough, or it's torn, or about to become non-functional soon. And then going for bag shopping was like an event, similar to buying a house; both are equally difficult things to choose. Touching the bags, feeling them, fidgeting with the chains, looking at how spacious the interior of the bag is, will it be able to fit our tiffin and bottle (the most important things in a bag), an...

Yesterday (21st November) was World Television Day, and coincidentally, this month I chose TV for my blog! We all have a TV story of our own, and TV has told us so many stories. TV was the first place where we, as kids, had choices because we chose our favorite cartoon, channel, visuals, and sounds. We saw TV with parents, grandparents, friends, and family too, due to which we saw all types of content, and not what our algorithm wants to show us! Along with favorite shows, we had our favorite advertisements too, which made us unmute the sound and watch over and over again.  For almost 10 years, after coming home from school, I had a fixed TV time, which was from 3 pm to 4 pm. It used to be a race against time to change from uniform, grab some snacks, and switch on the TV sharp at 3. And then the next 1 hour was the best me-time from hoping to have one Doremon for myself, to never questioning why Nobita was always in class 5th, to believing that the time machine was in a drawer, to ...