Moms Who Blog : Featuring Deepika Pillai

Hello and welcome to Mom Blogger October on the Times of Amma. As regular readers know, the Times Of Amma community is all about inspiring Moms and building them up as they work on being themselves and Mothers. And so, this month is dedicated to featuring Moms who are working on being themselves and mothers, while expressing themselves through their blogs. Today we meet, Deepika Pillai, A 20-something (almost 30) year old free-spirited, peripatetic, happy soul. She is Amma to a 10 month old little human cub, Vivaan. She is a trained Indian classical dancer though she has not danced in a while. She has worked in Marketing, first in Luxury Hospitality and then in Retail. She is currently off from "work" so that she can dedicate herself to raising her baby. She is from India - a part of her is from Pune, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. She lived in Dubai for a few years before moving to the US earlier this year with her husband and son.

What was it that prompted you to become a blogger? My parents love traveling and our little family of 4 have been on numerous road trips ever since I can remember! I would always sit in the front seat while my dad drove and this probably instilled an innate love for being on the road. I continued this as I moved out of home to study and work. I'm blessed to be married to a man who loves and supports the same ideology. I started blogging about Travel when I got married and moved to Dubai. It was an outlet for me, being in a new marriage and a new country. You could say I was "outside of my comfort zone". But it's been the most wonderful journey with my husband. When I got pregnant, so many people said - oh your life is about to change. You will no longer be able to do anything, no going out, no dinners blah blah. It's been everything but that. Yes, it's different with a baby. But one can still enjoy doing every thing that they used to do, but now you have another pair of eyes to enjoy along with you! My blog evolved with my life and I now also enjoy writing about parenting and family travel. Our lil globetrotter has already been to 3 countries and over 15 cities! Which has been your most memorable post to date and why? Definitely "Tips on life with a bump and traveling with a bump". I enjoyed writing them a lot and they have been my most popular posts. And that's when I started taking my blog seriously. What has the most memorable comment on your blog been so far? Every comment is memorable and equally important for someone who is just setting out to make a mark. Good, bad, ugly - all comments are welcome. Have you ever started to write a post and then abandoned it? Why? So many! Some times I draft some thoughts but I can't make it substantial. Sometimes I've written something but then I abandon it if I feel it's turning out blah. Do you stick to a regular posting schedule or do you post whenever inspiration strikes? Do you have a writing routine? There are certain times in my day when I've actually stopped and thought - hey, I wish someone told me that before. And then I immediately start planning my next draft. Through Deexterous, I'm just trying to help others - even if it helps one person, my job is well done. I do write when inspiration strikes but I try my best to publish every one or two weeks Do you find it hard to get your voice heard in the crowded blogosphere? The blogging community is extremely warm and bloggers co-exist so well in their own skin. Sometimes I feel that I've hopped on the bandwagon quite late and it's now crowded with established and novice bloggers alike. But as I mentioned, I started blogging as an outlet for myself not necessarily to compete with anyone. After almost an year of dedicating myself to the blog, I can say that there sure is enough space for every individual to voice their perspective to albeit the same topic. We're in the mobile era where even my Amama & Tatha surf the internet - there is plenty of audience for every one of us! Many say that blogging is dead thanks to other micro-blogging avenues like Instagram,Twitter and others. As the owner of a traditional blog, how would you respond to that? I feel traditional blogging has more structure than micro-blogging platforms. Certain features like indexing and categorizing are much easier to achieve in a traditional blowing platform. But with how technology has come so far, maybe micro-blogging sites will also evolve. Let's wait and watch what happens! What tips do you have for other Indian Mom bloggers?

Keep writing! When planning a trip or when I had any doubt on pregnancy or parenting, I often turned to the Internet to read about what others have to say. I did so mostly when I did not have friends who would've experienced a similar situation. That's when you need reliable resources online. The internet has changed the definition of friendship - don't you think so? Blogging is a fantastic media for reaching out to other parents and sharing wonderful ideas and unique experiences. You can follow Deepika's blog here.