Abu Dhabi: As an 18-year-old Deepa agreed to marry on only one condition – the bridegroom should be from her hometown. She could not imagine venturing out of the city where she grew up. Deepa was happy to live among a close-knit circle of family and friends in Thiruvananthapuram, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala.
But fate ordained otherwise. In 1981, she married diplomat T.P. Seetharam and that changed everything.
Accompanying her husband, the current Indian ambassador to the UAE to far-flung corners of the world in his 34-year diplomatic career, Deepa, now 51, says she has learned to make the world her home.
“You learn so much about people. You not only get to see the world, but live and experience different cultures, art forms, cuisines and languages. It has been an enriching experience so far,” she tells XPRESS.
But living in foreign lands, sometimes in unsafe territories with unfamiliar people, was not all that easy, says Deepa.
“After a two-year stint in Hong Kong, in 1984 my husband was posted to Zambia’s capital Lusaka. At that time I did not even know where it was on the world map. The law and order situation was bad, and shops would shut at 4.30pm. Sometimes we had to wait for months to get even bare essentials like salt or sugar. I witnessed political transitions in many countries -- Hong Kong, Namibia and Cambodia. We saw civil unrest and elections being conducted under UN supervision.”
Deepa says she made the most of her time in various countries by imbibing their art and culture.
“In Cambodia, I learnt silk painting; picked up a local craft called Decoupage in South Africa; and Nyon painting in Geneva.”
Showing her artworks that include Islamic calligraphy on an ostrich egg, she said: “You take a little from everywhere. And it remains with you forever.
Since moving to the UAE seven months ago, Deepa has been busy promoting Indian artists.
“I try to help them get a platform in the UAE to exhibit their paintings, and thus promote the Indian talent,” says Deepa
A mother of two, she said her son Navneeth works for a hospitality group in Abu Dhabi, and daughter Devi is a UAE-based artist.
