Deepti: He taught me not to take life too seriously; Navdeep: She's been the Zen influence of my life

Time of India

09-08-2025

Deepti and Navdeep
It's not every day you meet a brother-sister duo like Navdeep and Deepti, 39 and 43 respectively, both unmarried, living with their parents and four dogs, and happily charting life their own way.
They don't fit the 'typical' brother-sister mould, but their bond is strong, honest and refreshingly unconventional. You won't find a typical sibling story here: no squabbles over the TV remote, no sharing the same school bus, not even growing up in the same city. This
Rakhi
,
Navdeep
and
Deepti
share their journey with Hyderabad Times, offering a glimpse into what makes their bond unlike any other.
Deepti and Navdeep
Summer holiday siblings
Navdeep: We may be inseparable now, but we didn't actually grow up together.
For most of our childhood, we lived in different cities and only met when school broke for the summer. We were like summer holiday siblings. I grew up with my parents in Hyderabad and Deepu was raised by my grandparents in Vijayawada. Though we grew up apart, we went on to be each other's rock.
Deepti: Summer holidays were so much fun. We were 5 cousins, and all of us would gather at my grandparents' home. My first memory of Navdeep was of me and my cousin Divya putting him on the tricycle to teach him how to ride it.
He'd look like an English boy, very light skinned and cat eyes, golden brown hair. He was the naughtiest among us all. But he was also the smartest of us all.'
Navdeep and Deepti
Partners in mischief
Navdeep: She is definitely the more caring one among us. I remember this one time I had chicken pox. My sister would tell the whole village that my brother has chicken pox. She'd stay close and sleep beside me despite my condition. But when she got the chicken pox from me I was out playing around. And she was like 'what the hell!'
Deepti: I remember he'd steal change from my grandfather and buy chocolates.
There was this one time he stole money from my father and went to Ocean Park with our watchman's son. He got beatings from my dad for that. He got angry and decided to leave the house and become a lorry driver. That was his first career plan.
Deepti and Navdeep
Adulting together as teens in Hyderabad
Navdeep: She moved to Hyderabad after completing her intermediate. We were both teenagers then and there was a phase when we'd fight a lot. But we actually got a lot closer to each other during that time.
As we were living in the same home, she knew everything I was doing and vice versa. Our connection actually deepened during that phase.
Deepti: Navdeep had already started acting when I moved to live with my parents. But we did a lot of things together. Whether it was our first trip to Goa or our first trek to Annapurna Base Camp, we kind of adulted together I guess. We're both kindred spirits in some sense. We both love travelling and being outdoors.
Navdeep and Deepti
Living life on their terms
Navdeep: Our lives mirror each other's in the way we've both chosen to live on our own terms. It's not very common to see a 39-year-old boy and a 43-year-old girl, both unmarried, living with their parents and four dogs. We share the responsibility of caring for our parents. We've made our mistakes and had our ups and downs, but we never interfere in each other's choices, right or wrong. We stand by each other come what may and only later, in hindsight, tell each other, 'Maybe that was a mistake' or 'You could've done that differently.
'
Deepti: He's the youngest but he's the rock for everyone in the family and among our friends as well. He's the light of any room he walks into. He's been there for me through thick and thin. When you are making unconventional choices, it is important to have friends and family who tell you to do what you want, it's ok. Whether it was quitting my high paying HR job to start a café, or when things were going down for me, he was always there to support me.
Even if it's my mistake he'd always have my back.
Navdeep and Deepti with thier father
A balance of energies
Navdeep: She's been the Zen influence of my life. She's into meditation and has a very Zen way of looking at things. In some sense she has had that kind of grounding influence on me.
Deepti: Navdeep taught me to not take life very seriously and accept people and situations for what they are and let other people be. Even when he was dealing with the drug scandal, I remember how he was the one assuring everyone in the family that everything would be ok. I guess I'm the way I'm because of him.