Anuradha Sridharan

While browsing over the newspaper this morning, two contradictory news items struck hard on me that has been disturbing my thoughts ever since I glanced at them. One was the unbelievable rent rates (around 10 lakh rupees a month....you read it right! it's for one month and not for one year) that high flying corporate executives are ready to shell out on exclusive villas in Bangalore. Although newspapers tend to exaggerate the figures, even if I reduce this amount by 50% and consider it as 5 lakhs a month, it's still a huge figure for rent which I'm not able to digest. I turned a few pages, wondering how people are ready to shell out such monstrous money on rents. Another article caught my fleeting glance. Because of lack of growth hormones, a 22 year old woman in Gulbarga district still has the physical and mental traits of a child. Since her family couldn't even afford a single meal in a day, they couldn't spend on the hospital expenses to get this defect on her pi...

Email that I had sent to my Consumer behavior (CB) Professor and my projectmates at PGSEM on Sept 02 2008 below: While coming to work today, I came across this restaurant "Bon South" in Koramangala which specializes in South Indian veg and non-veg cuisines. This initiated some CB related questions on brand associations and culture in my mind. 1) The exterior ambience of this place somewhat looked like a continental/Italian restaurant. Will someone looking for a South Indian cuisine identify with this exterior? 2) The brand name (Bon South) itself sounds non South Indian. How can consumers relate to it? I feel this is where the restaurant "Malgudi" has touched a chord. The external appearance, the doors resembling traditional Chettinad homes and ofcourse, the brand name has clear associations to South India. 3) Most importantly, the menu offered by Bon South (got this info after some Internet search) has a range of options from all four South Indian states at an exor...

My first tryst with watching a cricket match live from a stadium occurred long time back in Chennai . It's been more than six years since I shifted to Bangalore but never got a chance to experience live cricket from Chinnaswamy stadium. This indeed came true last Sunday on the fourth day of India v/s Australia test match. With tickets being booked online, all we had to do was reach the stadium on time. I was expecting a huge crowd on a Sunday morning but people started thronging the stadium only after 11 AM. As I entered the stadium, I realized that this is the last series for Ganguly. Although I am not a big fan of him, I felt a little sad because Sachin's last series may not be that far. My childhood hero (he still is!!) has started to play lesser number of matches due to injury concerns. When the players were busy with their net practice, we settled for good seats in our stand. After a while, the stadium started to erupt in loud cheer. While I was wondering what the fuss is ...

My contribution to Cafe Writing - Sept & Oct Project dark clouds beckoning to pour down mist traveling from distant mountains Cool breeze adding to the glory I stood there contemplating A tiny drop let caressing my palm announcing the arrival of monsoon injecting a fresh stream of energy I stood there motionless glad to have caught the first splash, the murmur s of threatening thunder passing cryptic message from the heavens I stood there in awe hot cup of tea awakening my pallid senses rivulet s flowing swiftly by my side, swoon ed by this magical evening I stood there feeling blessed

Rambled this piece during a quiet evening date with the sea and the waves at Marari Beach கரையை தொட்டுச் செல்லும் அலையே என்ன சேதி கொண்டு வந்தாய் எனக்கு என்னை ரசிக்கும் உனக்கு பரிசுகள் பல கொ ண்டு வந்தேன் தொலைதூரத்திலிருந்து உன்னிடம் எதையும் எதிர்பார்க்கவில்லை உன் புதிர் மொழியின் அர்த்தம் தேடும் வேளையில் எதிர்பாரா நேரத்தில் உன் கண்களின் பிரகாசத்தை உணர இதோ கொண்டு வந்தேன் ஆழ்கடல் சிற்பிகள் எத்தனை அழகு எத்தனை வடிவம் என் சமர்ப்பணம் இந்த அதிசய சிற்பிகளுக்கு வெள்ளை கூடை கொண்டு சேர்த்த பல வண்ண பூக்கள் தொட்டு எடுத்த என் கைகளும் நிறம் மாறிய அற்புதங்கள் ஆதவன் மறையும் வேளையில் மேகக்கூட்டம் ஆடும் நடனங்கள் அமைதியான இந்த தருணத்தை எடுத்து செல்ல முயலும் வார்த்தைகள் தென்றல் தீண்டிய என் கூந்தல் கவிதை எழுத துடிக்கிறதே அதை கட்டுப்படுத்தும் என் கைகளும் போராடி களைக்கிறதே காற்று திசை நோக்கிச் செல்ல கால்கள் இரண்டும் பறக்கிறதே மேகத்தின் உள்ளே நீந்திட என் மனமும் அலை பாய்கிறதே

With the clock striking midnight and my fingers busy typing a case analysis (and one more case to read for another course), the stress that's building up is automatically cooled down by this brilliant romantic yesteryear melody "Gazab kaa ye din" from Qayamat se Qayamat Tak. What a superb classic! This perfect moment has to be recorded in my dear blog. Music can be a coolant, a refresher, whatever you might want to call it. Sometimes I wonder if my iPod (and iTunes) has some artificial intelligence abilities. Because the songs it picks up in shuffle mode suits my mood so nicely (thanks to Apple!). This song reflects my fantasy in some way - getting lost in an isolated forest with my loved one where no laptops, TVs or mobile phones will ever work. The innocence and fresh feelings the two characters portray in this song is just amazing. When I listened to this song first time in Doordarshan long time ago (remember Rangoli on Sunday mornings!), it brought a smile to my face....