From Deepa's Desk

When I came across this quote, I was forcibly reminded of an incident that happened when my father-in-law left the mortal world. It must have been few weeks after his death, and my son who was 7 at that time was going out to play with his friends one evening. He halted before leaving and asked me all of a sudden - 'Will I never see my Thatha again?' I could only nod, too overcome with emotions to speak anything. His eyes filled up and for a few seconds, he stood there. But then he wiped his eyes, said 'Okay' and left to play with his friends. This amazed me. That he could realize the extent of the tragedy and still carry on. Kids are blessed that way. Time protects their innocent hearts and minds by giving them the ability to move on quickly. But isn't this what everyone does? We wake up every morning knowing that we are one more day closer to our mortality. We know that a demanding day looms ahead - household chores for the homemakers, office work (not to mention p

Of late, I feel overwhelmed. There is a lot to do. There's always a lot! I am someone who is most comfortable while following a particular routine.  A fixed time of the day to do a fixed task - this has been my MO since a long time. I have found that this makes my days much easier. Now it seems even this is not working! I have never believed in planning. It feels to me like we jinx it whenever we plan something. But, when there is a lot to do, planning it out actually works.  Since a week, I have taken to planning in advance, atleast for the tasks involving cooking and my writing - the two tasks that fill up my days.  I prepared a weekly plan for my cooking. This included taking stock of what is available at home, what to buy and when to buy it. Of course, it goes without saying that I leave ample room for sudden and unexpected changes. But having a plan makes me feel relaxed and prepared for the week ahead. Much of the overwhelmed feeling was because I was simply going with the fl

When the bathroom beckons me for the second time in the past 30 minutes, I realize that it is another conspiracy of the Universe to stop me from writing anything. I check the ever-vanishing WiFi and I am not surprised to see that it is not even visible in the list of available network connections. My own WiFi deserted me! I open a Word document and start typing. But what should I write about? There is this insane urge to write something but I am unable to. Since a month, my writing has been on hold because of the kid’s exams. When they finally got over, I tried to blog but I have not been able to write a single word since three days. Today, in sheer desperation, I searched for some motivational quotes on writing and I stumbled upon this gem. Write the truest sentence that you know. The truest sentence at this point of time is that, my brain is tired. And at a great cost, I have finally learnt a lesson that the past three days have tried to teach me – I cannot write with a tir

There is a Japanese word named Ikigai which means a purpose in life. It is said to be composed of four traits: 1. What do we love? 2. What are we good at? 3. What does the world need? 4. What can we get paid for? When I came across these questions, the answers sprang immediately for the first three questions, while the fourth one drew a complete blank. 1. I love to read and write. 2. While I know I am a good reader, the encouraging response from the people who read my works has given me the confidence to say that I can write passable stuff. 3. The world needs poetry, stories and art in various forms. It feels like practicality, logic and reasoning have caused an imbalance and we need something related to the heart and soul to right the balance. 4. What can we get paid for? This made me pause. Because the thing I like to do, and which I believe I am good at, does not pay. At least not monetarily. When I think about it, it amazes me that for a decade, I worked doing what I did not like a

Just like that, another day has gone by. There is a ritual I follow every day. From my balcony, I look out at the sky after waking up. Usually it is dark, but the birds start their gentle chattering. The caretaker of the building opposite to my apartment would be sweeping the road at that time. Milk-delivery guys are the only people out on the road at that time. All this happens around 5.15, give or take a few minutes. By the time I finish my bath and step out on the balcony to water the plants, the scene changes. The day is no longer dark, but it is not golden either. Have you noticed that the days have particular colours at particular times? Dawn is usually gray and takes on a slightly pink hue by the time it makes way for morning. Then for a brief lull, the morning looks white, until the sun rises. Then it is all golden. Pure bliss of golden sunshine and warmth. When I look out of my balcony at this time, the scene is so different! I make it a point to watch out yet again twice, onc

Schooling-wise, my son has had an interesting journey so far. After spending his pre-kg years in a kindergarten school, he got enrolled into a new school and started his first year there. I have to say that his first year was the only year that went smoothly in school. Thereafter, COVID clutched the whole world in its fists and led to a nationwide lockdown. Vedant spent the next two years 'studying' from home, attending online classes and doing just about everything except for studying. While I do not miss those chaotic days, I will admit that they were hilarious and funny too, if we ignore the studying part.  In his fourth year, the school finally re-opened in the month of July. But then, it closed again as the buses had not started operating, which led to the return of the (in)famous online classes. The funny part was that, we live in an apartment which is just five-minutes away from the school and don't even avail the bus service. The online classes went on for another m