Instagram story viewer> @deepiahluwalia> Posts

deepi ahluwalia

@deepiahluwalia

2.5K

followers

1937

following

mama | writer | alm candidate in creative writing & literature (🖕🏼AI) | former: commercial photographer & director

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

What I’ve read so far this Fall term. Yes, I flag the hell out of my books. Yes, I believe writing in books is blasphemous. Don’t come at me because I have never. NEVER!! (except that one time…) Okay, let’s dig in 👉🏼

This might be my favorite book of all time. Yes, that’s a high bar. What Rushdie does in Midnight’s Children is a feat of layering Indian colonial and post-colonial history with the lives of the main character, Saleem Sinai, and his multigenerational family. It’s packed with humor and trauma; it puts events—from 1915 to 30 years after India’s independence—in close proximity, especially for those of us who were never taught this history (specifically the diaspora). It’s magical realism and the human experience written for the Indian audience, while very accessible for those who are willing to learn about India’s not so distant past.

#salmanrushdie #midnightschildren #magicalrealism #indianhistory #bookerprize

I once joked that I would turn a 100 years before I finished One Hundred Years of Solitude. It’s DENSE. But! It’s fantastic and has defined what is magical realism. Gabriel García Márquez plunges the reader into the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo. It’s repetitive through names and choices; it’s cyclical in time and actions; it’s a study of human behavior and fated characters. It’s a challenging read but so worth it!

#magicalrealism #nobelprizeliterature

Oh Shirley Jackson, you delightfully spooky lady. I read most of The Haunting of Hill House before bed and let me tell you, it still gave me the creeps though the story is 67 years old. This tale delves into what’s imagined and what isn’t. It makes us question the sanity of the main character, Eleanor, while also throwing glances at the supporting cast. It digs into loneliness and how that may manifest in one’s life. Then there’s the house. That damn house…

#shirleyjackson #thehauntingofhillhouse #horror #gothichorror #spookyseason

Beloved stayed with me for a long time after reading. Toni Morrison was a gift and her work is no different. The pain is palpable in this book—as it should be—and that is a reason for reading it. Post-civil war, we are taken through trauma, me by @deepiahluwalia

14

3

6 days ago

Last week, I traveled to Cambridge from Toronto to attend Convocation at @harvardextension School. What a joy and honour to meet my Creative Writing & Literature friends and peers, to explore the Harvard University campus, to listen to the inspiring words of Deans, professors, and lecturers, to sit/read/write in the Widener Library, to attend class online in the Smith Center, to enjoy coffee and conversation around thesis vs. capstone/scholars vs. writers with my fellow (women!) writers, and to cap off my last night with pizza in the park.

It reminded me that while writing and close reading a stack of books may feel like a solo endeavour, we are continuously sharing through our exploration of our human experience—our human connection—and its depths are infinite.

Some of the words that stayed with me:

“Education is a Movement” and “Remember, you are not passive observers and learners at Harvard University; you are the authors of what comes next.” – Shirley R. Greene, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean of Community and Belonging

“AI can draft, summarize, and answer in seconds. But it CAN NOT be present. It CAN NOT sit with a hard question. It CAN NOT listen to a classmate who sees the world differently. It CAN NOT notice the moment an idea changes you. That is HUMAN work, and it is the heart of a Harvard education.” — Nancy J. Coleman, Ed.D., Dean, Harvard Division of Continuing Education and University Extension

Thank you to everyone at HES and Harvard for making this experience so memorable. See you at Writers’ Residency next summer!

#hesconvocation #hesproud taken in Harvard University by @deepiahluwalia

71

12

8 days ago

Trees have been on my mind for months. This one, the mystical willow, reminds me to surrender, to let go of grief and sorrow, to be reborn. It is a spiritual tree—a safe haven to tuck into, to sink into its eternal wisdom. by @deepiahluwalia

21

0

4 months ago

I didn’t expect writing to reconnect the extracted parts of me. When I left commercial production to focus on writing, I put aside my camera, closing a decade long chapter. I no longer had the love for crafting images—too much time had been spent creating for others, the process now hollow, no longer personal. But it’s when I wrote that I started to see images and scenes and stories play out in my mind.

I was being shown what I had longed for, what I’d been trying to fit in a mold that could never be as pure. My tool had evolved, but I hadn’t stopped being a director and photographer. Composing and directing a scene by guiding the reader’s gaze on the page was just as important as it was on screen. I knew this but clarity comes in unexpected places, like on a trail through an old growth forest, a place brimming with stories. by @deepiahluwalia

35

1

4 months ago

Since September, I’ve been immersed in craft, critical thinking, and story. That journey has now become official: I’ve been accepted into the Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) Program in Creative Writing and Literature at Harvard Extension School.

In just a year, I’ve close-read the works of literary giants, classic and contemporary, dissecting their craft choices; I’ve descended into various forms of the underworld, swimming through myth, folklore, and fairytale; and I’ve learned mythic structure and memoir go hand-in-hand, allowing myself to write the most vulnerable parts of me. And that was just the intro ride.

More to come. Buckle up. by @deepiahluwalia

177

100

4 months ago

One of the best writer moments was bringing this baby into the world with @sl.ferrari, my brilliant best friend. An idea that sparked while we chatted over pasta in an Italian restaurant; that was pitched / sold / written from L.A. and Sicily (and in between); that became a full manuscript in under six months, along with beautiful illustrations by @jessicaolahart, all while falling in love with these women and their stories. So, in honor of #internationalwomensday, share a story about a woman or two, and gift this compendium about Inventors, Rumrunners, Lawbreakers, Scientists & Single Moms who Changed the World with Food, to the spectacular women in your life. 💗 by @deepiahluwalia

33

1

7 months ago

Starting the edit of this behemoth. Yes, I know it’s a lot of paper (single-sided, double-spaced, if you were curious). But I needed to see it. Feel it. 🖤 This first round is to fix POV (I changed my mind midway) and spackle holes, as well as fix as many plot/continuity issues before I send this puppy off to @meadereads in November for her feedback (very excited about this). Oh, and I also need to trim around 10K words…that Part I is lookin’ pretty chonky. by @deepiahluwalia

65

10

a year ago

Today, on the sixth anniversary of my husband’s passing, I completed my first fiction manuscript, a story idea that first sparked in those early years of grieving. After I typed the last sentence, I stared at those two words for some time. “The End” is a strange concept for no thing truly ends, it just changes form. Ideas and characters leave the pages of a book only to linger in our subconscious. Stories live on, people live on, energy is transferred countless times—even in death. The lines of ending and beginning are constantly blurred.

To write is no small feat. To complete a 110,000 word novel requires something beyond just the limited capabilities of the mind (as any writer out there can attest). Whatever may come of this, I am immensely grateful for this milestone—1 year and 4 months in the making. Now the rewrites begin and the journey continues…but first, a much needed movie-watching evening with my girls. 🖤 by @deepiahluwalia

113

36

a year ago

by @deepiahluwalia

29

0

2 years ago

by @deepiahluwalia

39

4

2 years ago

by @deepiahluwalia

97

1

2 years ago

New Work: Danzante Summer Campaign | Lounging ✨🍇
—
Client: @danzante_wines
Production: @rodeoproduction
Director & Photographer: Deepi Ahluwalia
Producer: Charles Reisdanaee
Photo Assistant: Rosanna U @uannasor
Digital Technician: Mori Arany @mori.arany
DOP: Daniel Demenezes @danielfrank24
1st AC: Ernesto Lemus @elemus90

Food and Props Styling
Food Stylist: Kay Pollock @_kay_pollock_
Prop Stylist: Suzanne Campo @suzcam

Glam Team
Wardrobe Stylist: Jillian Vieira @jillianvieira
HMUA: Christina Rubiales @xtina_rubi

Talent
Jas @wantmanagement
Masseni @elitetoronto
Ugo @wantmanagement
Wyatt @bnmmodels by @deepiahluwalia

28

5

2 years ago