Anuradha Sridharan

Getting inspiration from others has always been one of my characteristics. Here I go again, getting inspired by my friend Biju. The ten most amazing things - that was the title of his wonderful article. I accede to most of the things he has listed down such as the petrichor - smell of earth when rain drops fall on it, sunset and sunrise. I have always been an admirer of nature. My list of 10 things(not necessarily in chronological order) would most probably circle around nature. 1) Taking a walk through mountain ranges when my entire body is covered by the white, fluffy clouds drifting so fast. (Have experienced this many times in Munnar, my favourite holiday destination) 2) Walking through the path(called as "Varappu" in Tamil) between lush green paddy fields on a quiet summer evening. (Thanks to Karthi Thatha (my neighbour's grandfather at my native place) who used to take us for a walk during summer vacation) 3) Watching the never ending tea plantations enroute to Munn...

This topic has been in my mind for quite some time now. Since Toastmasters has been making a profound impact in my life, it has to be written in my blog. I love talking, be it to myself or people around me. It is impossible for me to keep my mouth shut for a few minutes. Please don't call me a palaver,though!!! I always had the fear of speaking in public. The context of the word "public" here refers to "in front of an audience" and "on top of a podium". Luckily, I had identified this fear when I was in my first year of engineering. My Physics lecturer had asked me to give a presentation on Optical Fibres. I had prepared well at home but when I stood in front of my audience, my hands trembled with fear. I could hardly grip the chalk piece. My supposedly neat handwriting looked terrible on the black board. The 20 minutes turned out to be a nightmare. Then I decided that public speaking is an improvement area for me and I need to work hard on this asp...

I'm not a person who would experiment with different cuisines whenever I go out for lunch or dinner. My appetite is very much satisfied with a bowl of fried rice or a roti/naan with a side dish made of paneer. For evening snacks, I can't think beyond chaat items especially the crunchy bhel puri and my all time favourite Dosa. When I was a child, I always use to admire those long crispy Saravana Bhavan Dosas. Yes...They were long when compared to those tiny home made dosas. How crispy, neatly folded and brownish they are!!! I used to wonder how they make it so crispy that it actually melts when you put a piece of Dosa in your mouth. Add to that, a spoon of sambar makes the tasty dosas delicious. I still remember the day when I went to Saravana Bhavan in T.Nagar for the first time. As usual, I ordered for Dosa. There came the mouth-watering dish with 4 varieties of colourful chutneys and a small cup of madras sambar. I prefer the green(made of mint leaves) chutney over the w...

If you are guessing that I'm gonna write about my hubby or music or books, you are wrong. Definitely they are close to my heart but one unique aspect of my life which I used to long for and cherish those sweet memories forever is May , the month of summer vacation. This morning, when I lazily turned my daily calendar to read the thought for the day, I realized the date was May 4th. Is it the same month which had myriad moments of fun, frolic and laughter during my childhood? After starting to stand on my own legs, this month made hardly any difference to me. Turning a few pages back of my unwritten autobiography, I can't come to a conclusion which May was the best. Is it the May when my brother and I(Herein after will be referrred to as We!!!) climbed the guava trees in the hot summer afternoon plucking the ambrosial pink coloured guavas and our grandpa caught us red-handed? Is it the May when we took 25 paise from our grandma's cute jute purse (Com'on, don't call i...