Hello!
Welcome to Divya Writes, an occasional newsletter on relationships, parenting, motherhood, marriage, food, and books.
I started blogging in 2008 and since then I’ve struggled with finding the perfect name and domain for my blog. After changing it every couple of years, I think I have finally found something that I like. The blog now resides at https://divyakamath.com
My latest post is about our tiny garden, how my husband and I view things differently, and some thoughts on asymmetry. You can read it here: On Gardening and Asymmetry
In January, I wrote an essay about what is home. Is it the place you grew up in, the place you live as an adult, or the place your ancestors lived in? You can read my thoughts here: Where are you from?
I plan to write longer essays on the blog and will be saving other fleeting thoughts for this newsletter. The kind that keeps you awake long after your kid kicks you in the stomach at 3 am, rolls over and falls asleep, but leaves you wide awake worrying and stressing about things that somehow don’t seem as worrisome when the sun is shining bright. What is it about 3 am that makes everything, every thought, every sound, every shadow, seem more sinister than it truly is? People like to refer to their closest friends as 3 am friends. Instagram has been my 3 am friend during this lockdown.
Instagram is one of my favorite apps. It is a black hole for my time but it has also proven to be a much-needed distraction for 2020. The endless scrolling and sliding, which previously seemed wasteful, has been cathartic during the most stressful parts of this year. When the lockdown started, people resorted to their kitchens to find comfort in food. Watching people cook and share videos and pictures on Instagram has led me to try out a few new recipes. I’ve also made and eaten more pasta this year than ever before.
Sharing a few favorites from all that we have tried so far:
Bread! I followed Mark Bittman’s no-knead bread recipe and we were thrilled with the results. Please excuse my son’s water bottle in the picture. Is it possible to take pictures around the house without a stray toy or some other baby item photo-bombing it?
Tortilla Pizza: Used a flour tortilla as the base, followed J. Kenji López-Alt's Cast-iron Tortilla pizza recipe. Again, pleased with how it turned out. Since we have only one cast iron pan, this was a little slow. Took a good 30-40 minutes to dish out enough pizzas for four people. But using a sheet pan instead of a cast-iron did not make it as crisp. Honestly, this is the best thin crust pizza we’ve had. Costco tortillas crisped up better than the ones at our regular grocery store. We’ve made this at least half a dozen times since March this year and I highly recommend.
This newsletter is a creative outlet for me. Something to focus on as I struggle through this pandemic. It is also an attempt at reconnecting with friends and family while we continue to remain isolated. There are other avenues for reconnecting - we have Instagram, WhatsApp, and various other apps. The problem with all these apps is that they are fast-paced, loud, and require immediate attention. Email in comparison is slow, it is devoid of the pressures of newer apps - the knowledge of messages being seen, delivered, of the other person typing, or being online, the urgency to view short-lived stories before they disappear. Email is also intimate - it is the next best thing after handwritten letters.
It is not to say that email is perfect. Emails pile up as do messages and posts on social apps. But somehow it seems easier to go through emails on a lazy afternoon - reading, discarding, responding. It is easier to move them into folders, and save them for another day. With the messages on social apps, older ones are forgotten, lost in the flood of words and pictures and videos.
And so this newsletter is an attempt at reconnecting with a slower mode of communication. If you are looking for a short, warm, relaxing read - something to accompany a cup of a hot tea or other beverage of choice while lounging on your couch, or maybe on a balcony, perhaps this will be one of those reads for you.
You can reply to this email if you have any feedback or comments. Do you like the idea of a newsletter? What else would you like to see in this newsletter? I’d love to know :)
I will write again soon.