From Deepa's Desk

Mornings are hectic from Monday to Friday. The breakfast is always Roti since my husband carries the same for lunch too. Roti is filling and keeps the hunger satiated for a long time. I usually resort to simple veggies that do not take much time to prepare in the mornings. Lunch is also simple during week days as most of the cooking efforts go into breakfast and sending off the kid to school. However, on weekends, I try to prepare something special. While I am not a very good chef, I do like to try out new recipes from time to time. Some days they turn out all right and some days, there is a large scope for improvement. I try to add as many veggies as I can in my recipes. The main purpose is to make them healthy and tasty (here, I keep my fingers crossed).  Today, for breakfast I prepared this mini moong-dal veggie Uttapam. I soaked yellow moong-dal for two to three hours and grinded it along with some red chillies, curry leaves and ginger. I added some sooji to the batter. The...

As a home-maker, I find myself with my own share of daily issues and problems that take up a lot of space in my mind and disrupt my peace. And yet amidst all the chaos and din, I sometimes come across some days where I feel victorious. Today was one such day. To start with, my kid (who is ten years old) woke up at 4.30 in the morning. Not only was he up, he also managed to wake me and my husband too. At 5 in the morning, we found ourselves trying to convince the kid to go back to sleep but in vain.   To be honest, early morning is my favourite part of the day. I usually wake up by 5 and relish some precious moments of solitude and calm that only mornings can bring. Weekend mornings are even better. Knowing that there is no school or office and hence no hurry to prepare breakfast, I do my tasks at a leisurely pace.  But today solitude was not to be found! My kid, excited about waking early, said he wants to help me in my chores. What I heard was - 'I would do anything to e...

Life has a funny way of teaching you some unforgettable lessons.  As a blogger, getting readers and views for my blogs has been the biggest motivation for me till date. That someone took some time off to read my blogs, commented on them and gave motivating comments - this meant the world to me.  Little did I realize that over a period of time, I would become dangerously addicted to the validation of readers. It happened! Every time I posted a blog in the social media, I would start checking it every two minutes to see whether any one has liked it or commented upon it. I anxiously and eagerly awaited validation from other people for my blog. Since the past two weeks, I have been taught some humbling lessons by life - lessons that I needed to learn as a struggling writer. To start with, one of my blogs received some flak which I was not expecting. It was not anything too hurtful. But one look at the comment and my entire day was spent in silent hurt and grief. It bothered me tha...

As a millennial, I find myself at the cusp of two worlds - the one in which I was born and the one that is changing right in front of my eyes, and for people like me, it is changing far too much and too quickly. The ones whom I hailed and worshipped as gods and goddesses, the new world questions their actions and condemns them. The rules and conduct that I tried to follow all my life, the new world despises them and calls them as an impediment to empowerment. The beliefs that I held on to all my life, the new world labels them as old-fashioned and regressive. I do not fit in any world - the old is slowly fading and the new is far too advanced for the likes of me. I am trying to change. Because as the saying goes, the stick that doesn't bend, breaks. But there are many things and concepts that are beyond my understanding. Woman Empowerment As a woman myself, I am all for woman empowerment. But how did it happen that the woman 'boldly' bringing intimate bedroom scenes t...

As a blogger, I have experienced my fair share of praise and constructive criticism. I know that both are essential if I need to grow in the journey of blogging. Most of the times I try to stay stoical. I know there will be ups and downs in every journey and it is utterly futile to get swayed by them. Looking at the positive side of things, learning from every situation that brings me down, humbling myself after every defeat and never allowing anything to go over my head - this has been my approach to life. At least, I have tried my best in keeping this approach. Sometimes I succeed, many a times I fail. Today seems like one of those times when I failed at stoicism and allowed myself to be swayed by criticism. Today, I let a 'down' that I encountered in my life to overwhelm me.  Since two days, I feel like my blogs have been receiving criticism which doesn't feel constructive. It feels like the person dishing out the comment took great pleasure in writing that. It feels lik...