Articles by Malathi Rai

If there is one woman who truly inspires me every single day, it is Vidya. Originally from a village in Uttar Pradesh, marriage brought Vidya to Mumbai 15 years ago. Her husband was already working in the city. As Vidya learnt, the big city offers opportunities that may be lacking in villages and small towns, but life can be quite hard. About six years ago, Vidya's husband deserted her, leaving her to fend for herself and their three children who were at that time aged 9, 4 and an infant. The middle one, a daughter, is a special child, with…

Many of us may have heard this short story about a little boy on the beach. Once upon a time there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. Early one morning, he saw a small boy on the sea-shore.  A big storm the previous night had littered the vast beach with thousands of starfish. The little boy bent down every so often to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. “May I ask what is it that you are doing” he asked the boy.“Throwing starfish into the ocean” the…

Dr Syeda Ruksheda is the co-Chair of women’s mental health speciality section of Indian Psychiatric Society. An eminent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, she has specialised in young adults, women and families, in a career spanning 20 years. She also has two TEDx talks to her credit. In this video she talks to Malathi Rai, who wrote the concept, story, screen-play and lyrics of Smile Simi, a film on depression released on World Mental Health Day this year. Syeda and Malathi discuss the mental health pressures on women from marginalised sections of the society and how tough it is for such women…