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Article

That Space inside

our head

CA Meenakshi Sundaram

“What do you see?” My parents allowed me to explore my life. They
gave me the personal space that defined and
My Grandfather would ask me, looking at the star-
filled sky. As a 9-year-old, it would fill me with shaped me.
wonder. Every night, My Grandfather would take My father would say, “There is the sky on your top
me to the terrace for the star gaze. He would tell and earth beneath you. How you manage the space
stories about each star. in between decides your space in this world. Do
whatever you want! It is your life. But every choice
“Can you see the star, which appears slightly red. It
is Rohini (Which is known as Aldebaran in the west). leaves with consequences. Take responsibility for
Our ancient stories say that Chandran (Moon) likes the choice and accept the consequences”.
Rohini the most”. The freedom of choice allowed me to explore the
I never asked why. Just looking at that dark space world. The society we live in contains both pleasant
lit with sparkling stars and a cool moon filled me spaces and bad spaces. I have visited both
with joy. extremes and learned from both. My mother put in
some constraints which suffocated me. However,
He would put his finger on my head and say, “What those space constraints gave me discipline, helped
you see there in that space is actually inside the me learn to follow the rules of the society.
little space inside your head”.
The freedom to explore gave me the power to
“What do you mean by that? There is no moon or question some of those constraints. The way my
stars inside my head.” I would retort. parents operated that space helped me to learn to
“True. But the wonder you feel about the twinkling use discretion to accept space constraints when it
stars, and the moon is inside your head. Everything is for overall betterment and break the constraints
you experience emanates from what you hold in whenever it appeared just old-fashioned.
that space in your head and how you feel about it”. Constraints in space teach us discretion. The

My Grandfather passed away. But those words discretion to live with them or to break away from
stuck with me. Space touched me in multiple ways. the shackles of these constraints.
Understanding different spaces helped me unravel Talking about space constraints, have you felt that
my life. space expands or contracts depending on how we
1. Space We Live : feel ?

The Space we grow up shapes our lives. Let me give you an example. The house I grew up
in is just 1/10th the size of the house I presently
When the Society or Government provides us live in. But in that small space, almost 20 of my
with space to lead our life at our will, we call it a friends could squeeze in to watch a cricket or
society with freedom or a democratic government. tennis match. In terms of size, it was small but
However, when society robs us of our freedom, it could accommodate more. One reason, it was a
amounts to slavery or oppression. den of like-minded people. Fast forward today,
When we have enough space to express our even though my house is much bigger, I hardly get
thoughts, we progress. The word “space” invokes to host over 2–3 families at a time.
another word — “exploration”.
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