LAMHE

In my counselling practice, I often meet women who confide their pain to me — stories of marital discord, loneliness, and emotional isolation. Again and again, I notice a familiar pattern: when the partner is absent, either emotionally or physically, the mother turns to her daughter. Slowly, the daughter becomes her confidant, her comforter, sometimes even her mediator. I cannot deny that I have lived this truth in my own home. I am a mother of two daughters, and there were times when they quietly slipped into that role between me and my husband. Whenever there was tension, he would sometimes ask them to step in, to mediate. And while I tried to avoid placing that weight on their shoulders, I could not always protect them from it. As a mother, I saw their maturity and wisdom; as a counsellor, I saw the danger. They were never meant to be our therapists. Psychologists have a name for this: parentification . It happens when children take on responsibilities that belong to adults. Sometim...

The Writer’s Reflection: Stories of the Mind Every story begins with a turn—एक करवट. Sometimes life turns towards joy, sometimes towards restlessness, sometimes towards silence. As a writer, I often find that the deepest stories don’t come from imagination, but from those unspoken turns of the mind. On this World Mental Health Day, I don’t want to give advice; I want to share a reminder: every emotion we carry is a story waiting to be honoured. Whether it is anxiety, grief, or hope—each deserves its space in our diary of life. The Artist’s Reflection: Healing Through Rhythm When I dance, I notice something strange—the same step feels different on different days. One day it releases anger, another day it releases tears. The taal, the raga, the brush of rhythm across the heart—they all remind me that art has always been humanity’s first therapy. Long before psychology found its language, we were already healing through music, colour, gesture, and movement. Perhaps that’s why mental healt...