After last week’s column, I got lots of letters from avid readers of all ages. But it’s clear that nobody — simply nobody — put my experiment of intention into practice.

Tell me something really useful to change my life for the better...” — excerpt from a letter from a teenager.

Fate they say plays a very crucial role in our lives. At times it can turn cruel too. I, for one, was a victim of a cruel twist of fate.

I feel insecure all the time, crying silently without people noticing. You’ll never understand this I know, but please help anyway”— an anguished cry from a teenager.

When I heard the news about the blasts in Zaveri Bazaar on the evening of July 13, the first thing that came to my mind was the safety of my 33-year-old son Prashant Joshi.

Nobody and nothing plays fair. Why should I?” — excerpt from an angry letter of a 16-year-old.
Yup. Nobody and nothing plays fair. Welcome to the real world. In time, you will probably realise that life itself is pretty unfair — along with society, fate, girlfriends, our political leaders, lottery tickets, not to mention dreams,

Like every little girl, I also dreamt that I would make it big someday. It is ironic that though I am a successful writer today, my own life has been nothing short of a story in itself. I belonged to a film family — my mother Anwari Begum was a well-known actress, who featured in 10 to 15 films, but gave up her career after marriage to look after her children.