Ishwarya's Blog

Pretty sure I’ve turned into an alien on this site. I’ve returned from another dimension.

Logged back in after more than two years and I’ve missed so much on this. So damn much that I don’t even know where to start.

Maybe the only good excuse I have is that now I have a beautiful one year old baby girl who calls me “Amma”. My last post is dated a couple of weeks before I found out I was pregnant.

That is one long hibernation.

Anyway, I really want to be active here again and not just on Instagram. You can follow me at @deepikakumaaraguru

So to start off this new blogging phase (Again), I decided to go with a basic topic I’m pretty sure that’s overdone but you never get old with this. Cause each person has a different perspective on this particular subject.

WRITING TIPS:

If anyone’s seen the movie, Interstellar, you’d remember Anne Hathaway saying something extraordinary. She talks about love being one dimension to extend space and time. Emotions don’t need rockets or fuel or whatever is necessary to get somewhere. It just jets across the space between yourself and your object of affection, even faster than the speed of light. Similarly, imagination is another extremely powerful dimension. Within seconds or hours, your mind can travel to worlds no one can yet. And the only transport for other people is none other than your own pen.

That’s why writers are extremely powerful.

I’m proud to be one.

But all these imaginations. All this curiosity.

How are we to show other people what we can see? So many writers have one question swirling in their minds – How do I get ideas of what to write about in the first place?

It’s quite easy and natural to feel so intimidated of other people’s imaginations scoring well across readers. I know what it’s like to feel really, really insecure and twitchy at the fact that I want to write something but have no idea which idea is good enough to make a story out of. We see so many things around us but what do I actually write about?

Just anything, will be my answer. There’s so much stuff in our lives, on the television, on the Internet etc. Like, did a friend recently tell you about a funny experience? Start off your story with that and see where it takes you. Are there toys on the table in front of you? Stare at them closely and write down the first thing that comes to your mind. Ponder on it. Look around. Listen to music. Let your mind go crazy. You won’t believe the amount of wacky stuff our imaginations can conjure. Who says they can’t be developed into a story?

The simplicity of it is, don’t wait around for something and just pluck out the random thoughts and curiosity present in your mind. We all have them.

Back when I was in the final year of high school, we had a Scholastic book fair, where the catalogue I was presented flashed a book titled Spring Fling at me, the pretty cover of which grabbed my attention at once. I had to buy it and I think when I did, that was the only copy of it at school.

And in no time at all, the pretty cover and the blurb at the back magnetised almost every single one of the girls in my class that I didn’t see the book for three months after I read it, before it was returned safe and sound to me

Okay, I seriously must admit I didn’t expect to love this series when I first opened a Court of Thorns and Roses. The heroine, Feyre, gained my affection within a few pages but as the aftermath of what she does in the very first scene takes us into a world of the High Fae and their High Lords, the story started to move slow, save for the romance blossoming between Feyre and the High Lord whose Court she is in, and I was wondering whether it was a bad idea to have ordered all three books of this series at once on Flipkart, before things took a very interesting turn and kept me on the edge of my seat.

New characters got introduced, the terror everyone was speaking of gave her a terrifying intro with a devilishly gorgeous face and a dark, intimidating High Lord with his own terrifying intro starts to play with the ball in his court, debating when to turn it into a ball of fire to at hurl it at who really deserves it.

Feyre was a badass heroine who always got herself into dangerous situations due to outside forces but owned the smart mind of a huntress to kick asses and fight her way out. I loved the journey I went on with her, things turning more interesting than ever as the dark intimidating High Lord of the Night Court decides to lure Feyre into a life-changing decision, right when she is dangling herself over the edge of a cliff. But there is more to this fantasy saga than the frequency between this dangerously beautiful High Lord and Feyre. The world that surrounds the Courts is filled with blood thirsty demons waiting to sink their claws into the first person who strays out of the lands, all ruled by the terror that is the King of Hybern, who owns a weapon a thousand times more powerful than the most powerful of all the High Lords.

And this beast must be put an end to if the High Lords don’t want their Courts wrecked by hell.

Bargains, tension filled alliances, betrayals, back-stabbings and the constant thirst for power surrounds theses Lords as they put together a plan to bring down Hybern once and for all. You never know when who will hand over who on a platter to the demon. That’s what makes this series so interesting. People couldn’t trust people even in their own Courts.

Dangerous, very dangerous to live in this world.

And I enjoyed every single second of reading about this world.

Every character was interesting and I genuinely loved a fantasy heroine after a long time. Cause you know how most of fantasy heroines are, just plain infuriating with their unbelievable (not in a good way) selflessness, idiotically timed selfishness, and bitchiness running along the undercurrents of their character, which everyone around her so adoringly worship. Ew.

But Feyre Archeron is one fantasy heroine I’ll ALWAYS be routing for. She was just plain … believable. I loved her so much! Her fierce spirit, her bravery, her nerve, her kindness, her infinite love … all of it was so beautifully sketched out, making her into into one very amazing heroine I couldn’t help adoring so much. If she was real and standing in front of me, I’d definitely make sure she is a member of my best friend squad.

The story moved at a steady and great pace. Nothing rushed or dragged. Every scene and sequence of events and the descriptions and dialogues, they all fit in perfectly. Nothing to give or to take. The relationships between characters were built extremely well. I mean, it was the magic of it that tells the reader just how much that person means to the other person. Because every time there was a threat to one of Feyre’s close comrades, I always felt a fear. The author told me, in well written words and dialogues, what that person means to Feyre and I didn’t want her to lose them. It’s a story perfectly and beautifully balanced with battles, dangers, threats and bargains on one side, and love, bonds and family time on the other.

Great job, Sarah J. Maas!

You won me over!

With Feyre, Rhysand, Cassian, Nesta, Elain, Lucien, Azriel, Amren, Morrigan and all the other characters!

Five out of five!

~~~~~

Click here to follow Deepika’s pastel themed Instagram.

I’ll take you on a ride

If you can just stay with me

I’ll show you why the dancing fireflies reflect my heart

If you can just stay with me

I’ll show you why the rain washes away my insecurities

If you can just stay with me

I’ll show you why the thunder is music to my ears

If you can just stay with me

I’ll show you why I love to race trains to represent the power of my ecstasy

If you can just stay with me

I’ll show you why I feel I can ride to the end of the universe

If you can just stay with me

I’ll show you why the ocean waves spray blessings

If You can just stay with me

I’ll show you why the soaring birds share my soul

If you can just stay with me

I’ll show you why the entire world looks so beautiful

Cause you stay with me

You like me

And I like you

The waves hum between us

The wings of our hearts flutter

Vibrating blushes

Waiting

Waiting for the first step

Is it going to be you or me?

Shyness doesn’t make me a sensitive girl

Shyness doesn’t make you a weak boy

It gives us more reason to savour this

Savour each nervous step

Savour each meet of our eyes

Savour each notice of each other

Savour the small piece of paper that has a hello

Savour the constant awareness of each other

Savour the daring nerve to reach out for each other’s hand

Savour the twitters at the first contact

Savour the pounding of our pulses when we confess the magical words

Savour the dreams that come with the mutual feeling

Savour the roses that are blooming all around us

Savour the walls they put up against the thorns

Savour the innocence

Savour the excitement

Savour everything

~~~~~

Click here to read my debut novel, teen fiction, DANCE DREAM on Wattpad. It’s about a sixteen year old ambitious girl who fights her father, her school nemesis and navigates through all other rocks hurled her way to be who she wants to be.

Click here to follow me on Instagram.

Click here to follow me on Facebook.

~~~~~

The sight of a clear, mysterious forest has always made me feel like a child again. I feel like all of my commitments, responsibilities and demands are swallowed by the green abyss and the juvenile yet vibrant imaginations that used to saturate my thoughts when I was in my single digit ages come back to life.

I used to imagine getting lost in a prehistoric forest with two friends, hearts pounding in fear. I used to imagine we climb up the trees to escape from a Tyrannosaurus Rex that’s chasing us. Or is that a silly notion considering it would put us at a convenient biting height? How would it feel like to be chased by one? Is it as please-bless-me-with-wings-so-I-can-fly-out-of-range as I can imagine?

I have never imagined getting lost in a present day forest. No, dinosaurs have always been rich in my mental world. We’re humans, we only think about what doesn’t exist. I’ve always transported myself back in time to the Jurassic and the Cretaceous, where the sun shines warm on the lands, where there are thousands and thousands of miles of nothing but forests where anything can jump out at you. I love imagining myself on thrilling adventures, thrust into the middle of the unknown, getting lost and huddling together with my companions in a survival instinct, ears always on the alert for strange and intimidating sounds that can blend in with the rustling of the trees as they get caught in the wind.

And the imagination goes on and on.

This is why I love going to forests or anywhere close to nature, so I can let loose of my mind and get inspired to imagine and then create all of it on paper.

What place inspires you the most?

Best,
Deepika

~~~~~

Click here to read my debut novel, teen fiction, DANCE DREAM on Wattpad. It’s about a sixteen year old ambitious girl who fights her father, her school nemesis and navigates through all other rocks hurled her way to be who she wants to be.

Click here to follow me on Instagram.

Click here to follow me on Facebook.

~~~~~

When your best friend publishes her book baby, it’s such a damn proud moment.

Writing is literally the most easiest part in the publishing process. It’s not a cakewalk to get someone to agree to publish your work. No. It is not, contrary to what so many people assume.

It requires bravery, grit and crucial decision making.

And my best mate makes me beam with pride as she finally publishes her debut novel, one she’s nurtured so close to her heart.

“With Love, Forever” by Kavya Janani is a book that tells us about quite a curiously silent love story between two people from the opposite ends of the spectrum – the lovely Bhavana and sweet Jairam. It was like a box of chocolates that held so many flavours for me to enjoy without leaving anything out.

The factors – love, innocence, delicate waves, friendship, heartbreak, family ties, struggles, stability, instability, beauty and the magic of first love – were all packed with the right dimensions, a Monica Geller neatness and a very rich vocabulary that is a definite inspiration to every reader of this book. The words just flow eximiously from the author’s pen, with fluid and ease to mould Bhavana for who she is. I practically witnessed an unstable and innocent teenager develop into a confident and mature young lady who knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.

In the first half of the book, Bhavana’s exhibited to be the common Indian 15 year old of 2007. The innocence that drips with her every young and hormonal emotion is really a heart gripper, amidst the typical Indian scenario in her household – the caution exercised for each move she makes oblivious to them and how she is restricted from getting out there too much.

The innocence of her really gets to the reader, as the rage of her hormones tickles her curiosity when a guy starts to notice her. She is consumed with the interest of embracing that bundle of nerves that are the pink hearts of every 15 year old.

This seriously is a very different love story from what I’ve read so far from other authors.

Cause you know how love stories are – Guy meets girl, they get attracted, hit it off, bring forth a very weird reason to fight, separate and then get back together. That’s stereotypical.

But the frequency and the waves displayed here were delicate and quiet. Which is the first factor to intrigue the reader. Is it really possible for silent love to exist? Well, I guess it does exist. I admit I felt it was weird for two people to just stare and stare at each other and fall in love without knowing anything about the other but hey, we’ve all had our own crushes at school and they usually originate before any sort of interaction.

We don’t even know why we like that person.

We just do.

And Bhavana and Jairam did just that. These two adorable kittens represented what it’s like to have a crush on someone and what it’s like to be brave enough to go for what your heart calls out for.

And then out of the blue, we find Jairam to vanish off the face of the world.

As the mystery of that underlines Bhavana’s subconsciousness even as she moves on with her life, it reaches into her to painfully grasp the core of what her heart really wants, instigating her and her friends to go in search of the man in question responsible.

I enjoyed reading the story of Bhavana and Jairam and I definitely would recommend you passionate readers out there to grab a copy of With Love, Forever and get to know about a kind of love that starts even before it is supposed to start and then shifts into first gear, piquing our curiosity and interest with each page.

Great job, Kavya!

I hope you continue to entertain us all with more of your unimaginable ideas!

To get your copy of With Love, Forever, please click on this link

Quite a delayed review from me here since I shared this with my other social media handles but I guess it’s okay.

The Lion King.

I hear the name and my heart is overwhelmed with nostalgia and emotions. The original 1994 animation must be the very first Disney movie I ever saw, back when I was five, and must have watched it a million times after that (and still counting). I remember reading the illustrated little book written off it over and over too, ending up sleeping next to it frequently.

I saw the live action of 2019 on the second day of release, despite my brother’s warnings through the phone in the middle of the night after he saw it the first day. I needed to see it.

I was so grateful the high note of the very opening of the title song and first scene – The Circle of Life – was not changed at all and that was all it took to shake me in my seat with the feels. I was mesmerized with the song all over again while singing along softly, even though the original female voice was changed, but something began to feel off as I watched the attempted replica of the song scenes.

No, I thought to myself, this isn’t good.

Because for one, Rafiki sits while lifting baby Simba up into the air for the kingdom to see, lifting being the operative word here. Where is the fiercely enthusiastic Rafiki who thrusts the cub up with pride as he forces his body forward with the hind legs? And Mufasa didn’t hug him like he does in the original upon his arrival.

I came across loads of reviews from people on the internet, some of who were annoyed that we were annoyed with the lack of emotions on the characters’ faces. “What do you expect from real lions?” they asked. And that’s exactly why The Lion King should have never been attempted for a live action remake. It’s the human avatars of their souls that radiated expressions that we understood without the need of words. If they justify these being real animals, when did real animals start speaking the human language, I must ask, let alone hone human emotions like ambition, jealousy, cunningness and cruelty?

It’s a package deal, guys. And I think the original creators didn’t make this an animation by accident. Because these emotions could be emoted only through drawings they create. The special edition DVD I own has two CDs, the second one being an exclusive documentary of behind the scenes. It’s stunning to see how much they observed animal behaviour and sacrificed their muscles into drawing thousands of illustrations until they got a look of each they loved. We can point out who is Mufasa, who is Simba, who is Nala, who is Sarabi and who is Sarafina in a second.

There is one scene of the live-action, however, I loved.
When little Simba gloats to Scar about being future king and how he’s gonna ‘ruuuule it all’, the scene is shot of Simba standing facing the pride lands with innocent excitement while from behind, Scar’s dangerous temper is seen to steam from that ferocious lion face. The camera focuses in and out of Simba’s excitement and Scar’s threatening glare, which was actually bone-chilling. I really loved that scene.

But to be honest, the live-action also felt like being scripted from the original script, like, the characters were speaking as if they really needed to act this out. Nothing felt scripted in the original. The slots of dialogues and the pauses as the emotions sink in were all so fluid and natural. The power of scene constructions was eximious, staunched with nothing but natural beauty.

In stark contrast, the delivery of the remake was blunt and dry.

For instance, the scene of Simba running back to Pride Rock after Rafiki knocks some sense into his head with the help of Mufasa’s spirit (and really, people, we all love that scene because we DO see his spirit! His voice isn’t just supposed to echo from the clouds!) is shot with a sharp focus on the pounding of the determined acceleration of his limbs, the sound of it reverberating all around, telling us he means business. When he ran in the remake, it didn’t feel the same. It looked like he was running off to any place.

Don’t get me started on the way they have executed the original goosebumps raising scene of Simba climbing up Pride Rock in the end, where we understand how he is shouldering responsibility with each step, where we understand he is taking up his destiny and how he is remembering who he is.

Certain comic inputs from the hyenas were missing too. We found them amusing in the original because of the insane cackling one that’s Ed. The voice actor who gave him those cackles and giggles had labored his voice box for four hours straight in the recording room, testing every single silly and mad laugh he could come up with so the best ones could be chosen. And I admit I was looking forward to seeing Ed accidentally catapulting Banzai into the thorns when they chase Simba to kill him. I missed that.

I guess the only factors to save this remake were the original songs they didn’t change as well as the same background music composed by Hans Zimmer. I also loved little Simba, wishing I could reach through the screen to cuddle the cub to me. He was just as adorable as the original cub.

And I am happy with how the kids of this generation have come to know about The Lion King. I’ve been telling everyone who loves this remake, having only seen this, to please watch the original and that they’re missing out on something so incredibly magical if they don’t.

Sorry, Disney, I can only award 2/5 stars for this.

People who don’t break a sweat have all the authority over the people who do.

People who don’t break a sweat don’t give the right justice to the people who do.

People who don’t break a sweat narrow down the choice of self justice to the people who do.

People who don’t break a sweat don’t know the value of sweat like the people who do.

People who don’t break a sweat can’t increase the depths of their pockets without the people who do.

People who don’t break a sweat will always vanish behind all the drops of sweat shed by the people who do.

People who don’t break a sweat don’t shine like the people who do, literally and metaphorically.

Cause the people who break a sweat are the ones without toxins in their body.

Never underestimate the power of sweaty hard work, whether it’s your skin that’s sweating with physical activity or your brain that’s sweating with creativity.

Best,

Deepika

~~~~~

Click here to read my debut novel, teen fiction, DANCE DREAM on Wattpad. It’s about a sixteen year old ambitious girl who fights her father, her school nemesis and navigates through all other rocks hurled her way to be who she wants to be.

Click here to follow me on Instagram.

Click here to follow me on Facebook.

~~~~~

Dearest Deep Blue,

A nature scion

You resemble your siblings

Stupendous, mysterious and intimidating

Born from the same womb

But your mystery roars louder

Dearest Deep Blue,

You start off shallow, pretty and safe

Then rattle my lungs with your depth

The abyss of your blue questions my love

Why should I be afraid of you?

Why should my heart thunder in my chest in the deep?

Why should I feel like you’re swallowing me into space?

But that doesn’t stop me

That doesn’t keep my thoughts away

You still flood my mind

When someone asks for a theme

You still consume my soul

When someone asks me where we should go

You still purify my whole

When someone advises me to relax

You’re the eternal infinity of mysteries

Where lies the magic

Dearest Deep Blue,

I love to dance in your waves

Dearest Deep Blue,

I love to be kissed by whale fluke splashes

Dearest Deep Blue,

I’d love to be a mermaid

Dearest Deep Blue,

I wish I could talk to your babies

Dearest Deep Blue,

I wish I could live with your babies

Dearest Deep Blue,

My love for you is bigger than the universe

Love,

Deepika

~~~~~

Click here to read my debut novel, teen fiction, DANCE DREAM on Wattpad. It’s about a sixteen year old ambitious girl who fights her father, her school nemesis and navigates through all other rocks hurled her way to be who she wants to be.

Click here to follow me on Instagram.

Click here to follow me on Facebook.

~~~~~