While most other individuals her age live their life by rote in today’s technological whirlwind, Deepti Sudhindra, jewellery designer, theatre person and Bharatanatyam exponent chooses to embrace the simplicity and organic way of life, living each day as it comes and following a path that she feels she has been chosen to live
At 38, Deepti Sudhindra has found a deeper meaning to life and living. “My biggest luxury today is that I can lead a simplistic life,” she says, her entire being resonating with a surreal sense of satisfaction and calm. “I always felt, from when I was little, that I never belonged…. there was a longing within me that was never fulfilled. The common parameters of existence never made me elated. I was searching for something, but didn’t know what I was looking for. It was only in my early 20s, when philosophy fell into my lap that I actually began to get a grip on that elusive sense that I was searching for,” she tells.
A jewellery designer par excellence and a talented dancer, Deepti has created waves in Bangalore with though her design firm The Jewellery Project. The label boasts of intrinsically Indian but globally aesthetic jewellery designs. Her designs are like moving installations, each inspired by varied Indian themes and ideologies. Every work of metal, precious or semi-precious probes deeper into the meaning of life and living in their own way.
A student of SNDT Mumbai, Deepti says she received the best education one possibly could in design. “One of my teachers discouraged me from pursuing a design course abroad (which was the expected path for one to take) and encouraged me to scour the bazaars of India and learn hands on from local artisans and craftsmen,” she tells. Back then in the late 90s, it was unheard of for single Indian women to travel solo through the marketplaces of Jaipur learning the trade from local karigars. But that’s exactly what this gutsy lady did and received the finest education from that journey!
From there on began her quest into the deeper meaning of life and her journeys continued further North into the Himalayas and its surroundings. “Twenty years ago it was unheard of for a 23 year old to take off in search of something that she had been looking for since childhood. But my journey down the spiritual path and my love for philosophy slowly drew me towards the actual meaning of my life and my reason for living,” she explains.
After taking a long break from dance, another of her passions, she has taken to Bharatanatyam again under the tutelage of renowned danseuse Padmini Ravi. “After looking at much of western philosophy and neo-Indian philosophy I hit a wall, as far as perspectives in my life were concerned, around 10 years back. I firmly believe that the Universe links you with various sources and hence I was drawn towards Vedanta. I was compelled to probe deeper into the meaning of life and realised that I had to return to dance to gain some sort of peace amidst all the internal turmoil I was going through. Dance is a spiritual part of my life now. Its like moving meditation for me,” she avers.
She says she wakes up each morning thanking the Creator for giving her another day on this Earth to work, live and do what she was sent here to do. She says, “I put myself to tests on how to live minimalistically. Once I even purged my wardrobe because I just felt that I had too much and had to get rid of the excess in my life. Its one of the most beautiful feelings when you realise that you have only what you need and that you can get by on just that much and still remain happy and contented.”
Be it minimalistic living, designing unique jewellery, exploring India or finding deeper meaning in experiences like a padayatra (which Deepti has undertaken from Kanyakumari to Trivandrum), this dynamic lady reveals in the alternate lifestyle she leads. She began putting her life into perspective at a young age and says that 20 years hence she has just begun to find some fraction of peace within herself. “Life has been an adventure so far and I’ve enjoyed living every moment of it. You just have to follow your path with conviction and accept everything the Universe doles out,” she explains in her trademark collected manner.
