From Deepa's Desk

Today, the evening blues threatened to return after a long time. But something stopped them. Something ridiculed me to come out of my little self-centered world. For, in one part of the world, a war is being waged and innocent people are facing the toughest time of their lives. In another part of the world, natural disasters like floods and earthquakes have ripped apart entire towns, thereby altering the lives of the people who lived there.  I had come across an image containing a poignant life-lesson. I had saved it in my collection. Here it is: It is indeed hurting everywhere.  Miles away, in a corner of my home, I read about tragedy and destruction, and feel helpless and useless. What can anyone do in such a situation!? Today, I badly wish I had Orenda, the power to affect people's lives. Today, I wish I could send strength, confidence and hope to everyone who is in dire need of these. I wish I could alter the course of events and give a positive ending to everyone's story....

Since the past few days, a walk in the evening has become a daily routine. I find it immensely calming and relaxing. That, it also prevents the inevitable argument between me and my kid when he refuses to start studying at the allotted time, is just an added bonus.  But today I could not go for the walk. I had to visit the local PO in the afternoon for a parcel that deserves an entire blog for itself. You see, Dad sent it to my address but wrote the pincode of Bengaluru. When it reached Bengaluru, he redirected it to Hyderabad where I live. It reached the transit mail office of Hyderabad. I and my husband made two visits to the PO only to hear that it hasn't arrived there. Then we got a message that the parcel has gone back to Bengaluru. From there it again was redirected to Hyderabad. That the parcel contained food items made it all the more interesting. What a journey it had! Anyways, I went to the PO today to collect it finally. So I had my quota of walking for the day and was f...

What do you do when your kid is an uber-picky eater? You think of ways to introduce veggies into his meals.  Since two days, I have been trying to make different types of parathas. Yesterday was peas-paratha. I boiled some peas until they turned soft (they turn soft quickly!). I grinded them into a fine paste along with green chillies, curry leaves and coriander leaves. Then I added some spices (turmeric, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder), salt and crushed Ajwain to the paste. I mixed the paste with wheat flour. The parathas turned out fine. The kid first asked what kind of paratha it was, made a face, then ate it. Also carried it for snacks! So far so good! Today I prepared carrot-and-beetroot paratha. You need to resort to desperate measures when dealing with a picky-eater! I grated two carrots and a small beetroot and stir-fried them in a pan by adding the above mentioned spices. Once cooled, I added the grated veggies into wheat flour and prepared a dough. Fair war...

The sky turned dark early today. It was only 4.15 in the evening and I was preparing a cup of tea when I happened to gaze outside the window of the kitchen. A somber, grey hued sky greeted me, reminding me that it is that time of the year when the days will be shorter and there will be less sunshine.  It is amazing how each day seems to go by slowly but when we look back on the year as such, we realize that time flew by. Sometimes it feels that we stay stuck up while time marches by and before we know it, we have missed much in life.  At this stage of life, I wish time slows down. There is lot more to experience and enjoy. There is so much still left to do! It is moments like today, when I realize how quickly time is passing by, that I regret lamenting or feeling low about miniscule things while there is so much of life to catch up with.  I think a reminder of the fleeting nature of life is necessary every now and then. Today has brought me out of the gloom that evening b...

I am a stickler for routine. I even have a fixed time to have coffee! Perhaps that is taking it too far, but it helps me feel centered. Any change in the routine makes me feel imbalanced and I feel like something is wrong, a feeling which stays with me for the whole day.  So, I have a time for a task, and a task for a particular time. The morning routine goes fine and as per my plan until the kid wakes up and unleashes his chaos. Even then I ensure that my tasks go on as usual.  Of late, a routine has formed in the evening, a routine which I had not planned and which, I find most unwelcome. Like every parent, I had prepared a time-table for the kid for his studies and also a fixed time for the same. This felt perfect for me, the routine-addict. But the kid is not very particular about routines. He does what he wants to, and when he wants to. Needless to say that ever since I set up the time-table, probably once or twice he followed it. Most of the days, the evenings are spent ...

The evenings usually bring in a sense of melancholy. It doesn't really help matters that I do not have a social life. I am also socially awkward, although I wasn't so before. Two years of isolation and lockdown reduced every tiny bit of contact with people. Add to it, the time spent in the virtual world, and what I ended becoming is someone whose virtual avatar has friends but who has none in real life.  It's not that I did not have any friends before. In my childhood, I made some really wonderful friends. But I was weird (even) then. Had no idea of dressing sense, often spoke before thinking, was never street-smart or worldly-wise and I more often lived in a dreamland of my own where everything was possible. Now that I look back now, I am amazed as well as humbled that some friends were good-hearted enough to stick by me!  But like in most cases, life happened. Friends parted ways, most of them got busy with their responsibilities and gradually, the childhood friendship be...

A long weekend comes to an end, bringing with it evening blues. The daunting prospect of the coming week ahead looms large, promising chaotic and rushed mornings, endless arguments with the kid, dealing with his studies and doing the routine chores.  A lament rises from the depth of the heart - why can't weekends last forever? The monotony of daily life slowly edges towards boredom, which brings in frustration, which is amplified 100X every time the kid refuses to co-operate during his studies, which in turn, leads to hot arguments and debates. The kid's capacity to debate against homework, studies and school in general, fills me with both awe and despair.  Perhaps the problem is, we wait for special days or occasions to be happy. Or maybe, happiness is over-rated. I, for one, am always for contentment over happiness in any given day. For some reasons, happiness scares me while contentment is soothing. I am sure I am not the only one who feels so. There are many who have t...