What kind of book would you expect from an Instagrammer, who is famous for her delectable food and the drool-worthy pictures she clicks? A cookbook or some book related to food, right? Wrong! Natasha Diddee is anything but predictable and she's proved it by writing Foursome, a work of fiction. "Just like an actor doesn’t like being branded a chocolate boy or a villain, I too hate being typecast," says Diddee, whose debut book is about four girls and how they struggle with the curveballs that life throws at them.
But before you think 'chick lit', be warned that this Pune-based author's book is anything but a fluff read. Dealing with themes like divorce, failed relationships and other such scenarios that plague every modern, Indian woman, this book might be fiction, but it is largely based on facts. "In India, we decide to stay in things that we might not really want to be in — from marriages and relationships to jobs. And 'divorce’ is a hush topic because it is still associated with shame," says the author, who writes from personal experience.
Diddee put together the first ten chapters of the book about ten years ago, while waiting in a café for a client to turn up. But she later fell sick and was unfortunately diagnosed with a tumour in her stomach, and she had to get her stomach removed entirely. It was only after recovering from that did she get back to the book. "There are some things in life that force you to introspect and this was one of those events for me. I decided that I wasn't going to die this way, wasting away in a hospital bed," she says, with the same steely resolve she felt back then.
The result of this resolve was not only her book, but also her Instagram account that is 52,000-followers-strong, where she posts pictures of healthy meals with recipes and a dash of inspiration. Through this page she hopes to drive home the point that, "we need to take our bodies more seriously. I had no choice, I had to unlearn and relearn my body again, but people need to wake up to this sooner.” And through the book she aims to start conversations about all that is taboo in the society when it comes to relationships. "There is no point of repressing such problems because it can happen to anyone; you are not alone," she concludes.
To check out more of her preparations, click on instagram.com/
