Ratika Deshpande
Ratika Deshpande
Ratika Deshpande
Hey there! I’m Ratika Deshpande (she/her), a writer, reader, student, and global citizen. My articles have appeared in Reactor magazine, Authors Publish magazine, Submittable, and The Learning Scientists blog. I earned my B.A. (Honours) in Applied Psychology from the University of Delhi. Born in Indore, I studied in Nagpur and New Delhi. Currently, I’m pursuing an M.A. in Education. I love fantasy books, Studio Ghibli movies, Indian classical music and cooking.
Latest Posts
August has not been kind to me. Work draws taxes from my soul and the weather from my body. I read in deep, hours-long gulps on the weekend, then spend my time craving the feeling of crafting good sentences. On a day when the...
Lately, I’ve been rereading the articles that I’d previously shared here. The goal was to go back to pieces I’d considered important enough to save, and to see why. I also wanted to discover parts of myself I’d forgotten. What were the...
Constant quiet may not be a good idea, just like constant busyness. It’s the latter that makes the former more meaningful. Still, I have to make sure I find stillness during my personal hours, too, and not just on the weekends. I should...
“Back in the 1940s, when we became independent from Denmark, our economy was extremely poor, and there was a very strict quota of importing goods. So before Christmas there were very few gifts to buy. But there was no quota on paper. We...
Some books are heavy. Others have weight in them. I just finished a book of the second kind, a book I’d been meaning to read for a long time, a book I waited to buy a copy of even though my college library had it so that I could mark it...
Before I zeroed in on education as the area I want to focus on, I’d spent years reading all I could about the climate crisis. This is a collection of links from that period that I still have, all in one place. I’m sharing them in case...
Sometimes, I have a really strong urge to write a small, quick poem. And sometimes, I just find the right inspiration, as in the following case, on a night when I wanted to play with words but my window and the night outside felt dull:...
Some rules and guidelines after spotting patterns, gaps, and disappointments in my reading list: Read physical books; do not read online articles. Physical books allow for longer engagement with an idea and do not have a comments section...
“Nothing we keep around us is only for décor, is it? We select and surround ourselves with objects that speak to or for us, whether we are aware of it or not.” – Samantha Sotto Yambao, Water Moon, pg. 139 These days, I am thinking again...
Since writing is the only thing I can do very well, I wondered recently if there was a way of doing some good in the world by using this skill, other than authoring books or becoming a journalist. I was thinking of the impactful letters...
A recommendation list from that time a year or two ago when I was obsessed with these” Orunge by Jennifer Reuter & Jessica Moore (cute, 5/5 for art and wholesomeness, very short) Sidetrack by Andi C. Buchanan (beautiful writing and...
An incomplete list: Educate yourself on what’s going on. If you don’t know what’s going on, don’t opine about it. Sign petitions. Share petitions, and talk about why those petitions are important. Look up local communities working on the...
Do notlet another night pass.The days are not endless. Do not waitfor clarity.Wait not for time.For space,peace,love. Wait for no one’s thumb of approval. There will be no sudden momentof enlightenment.The words will not write...
Lately, I’ve been finding myself tired of reading stuff by and about Western people. I’m mainly talking about the U.K. and the U.S.; I don’t think I’ve read much stuff by Canadians or Australians, including blog posts and online...
This morning, while making my bed after breakfast, I finished listening to Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida (narrated by Kaipo Shwab, translated from Japanese by Haydn Trowell). It’s a series of stories that take place past midnight...