An Interventional Radiologist by profession, a Zumba trainer, marathon runner and a fitness expert, Dr. Deepashree has had to juggle many roles during the past few years.
Dr. Deepashree
Chennai:
She manages to do all of this and more with a smile, the secret of which she’s penned in her non-fiction book Art of Balance – Life, Health & an Obsession. In this interview with DTNext, she tells about the need to discuss work-life balance, its implications on physical health, future plans of writing and more.
Why did you feel it was necessary to write a book about this topic?
I wrote this book to share my experience. I feel that fitness is most important for our well-being yet it is the most neglected. Even I got into fitness late in my life, but as I got in, I realised how important it is for my body and mind. Now, it has become a part and parcel of my life. As I have quoted in the book, “All I needed was to get my shoes on and an empty road. I run… leaving behind doubts, indecisions, fear, hesitancy, disappointments and regrets.” I am sure many can relate to my story.
Did you undertake any research or is the content based on personal observations?
This book is my transformational journey through challenging inroads of career, family and my passion for fitness through the maze of health myths and misinformation. It all started when I had a disc prolapse last year and I underwent a surgery for the same. At this point, I was on bed rest and started penning down my thoughts, which I wanted to share with people. This is the time I happened to meet Donn, who is the publisher of this book. He encouraged me to write a book instead of blogs and share insights from my life with the world.
Roughly how long did you take to write it and did you edit it as well, or was it done by the publisher?
We started in November last year and the book was ready by April this year. The publisher worked with me hand in hand for editing.
Why do you think women are asked or made to talk about balancing work and career whereas men, who have families and children, are never asked such questions?
In our society, unfortunately, even today women are expected to do household chores, take care of family, etc. even if they are pursuing a career. Hence, they need to balance more. But things are changing now and men have started the balancing too.
Tell us some ways in which readers might benefit from your book.
They will get inspired and motivated for sure because I am an ordinary woman, who they can relate to. I was never into fitness in my early days but now as I experience it, it has become my obsession. “The fact of the matter is that I truly thought this was my time and space to do things that I had never done before, so indulged myself with no reservations whatsoever.” I am sure they would get the true sense of nothing is impossible.
Have you ever thought about writing a medical field-based fiction novel?
I haven’t but I believe in the Laws of Attraction and I would like to write a book to share the power of this through my experiences.