From:
https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/inputoutput.html#methods-of-file-objects
To read a file’s contents, call f.read(size), which reads some
  quantity of data and returns it as a string (in text mode) or bytes
  object (in binary mode). size is an optional numeric argument. When
  size is omitted or negative, the entire contents of the file will be
  read and returned; it’s your problem if the file is twice as large as
  your machine’s memory. Otherwise, at most size characters (in text
  mode) or size bytes (in binary mode) are read and returned. If the end
  of the file has been reached, f.read() will return an empty string
  ('').
You will have to use either a contextmanager and do:
with f as open( 'rishi.txt'):
    f.read()
or call:
asdf.seek(0)