Anuradha Sridharan

Book #5 of #50booksin2017 My theme for 2017 is “ More focus, more outdoors, less screen time ”. Keeping up with this theme, I picked up Cal Newport’s book “ Deep Work ”. What a fascinating read it was!  It is certainly one of the best books I have read in recent times. Many of my questions and concerns on work culture, use of social media and embracing deep, meaningful work got answered through this book. The author takes the time to explain what deep work means and why it is valuable and rare in today’s world. With many examples and personal anecdotes from his academic career, he reinforces the concept more clearly. He states that there are two core abilities needed to thrive in the new economy 1. The ability to quickly master hard things and repeat the process again and again 2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed To produce at your peak level, you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free fr...

I might have raised this issue earlier too but it deserves a separate post. I'm just back from a Chennai trip (my home place) and as usual, the first question that's being asked by elders, even before we step into the house is related to my daughter's weight. I have heard the same question over and over again in the past 5 years and it irks me every time, when asked - " Why has the child become so thin? ". By now, I should have got used to this question and should ignore their comments, but I simply couldn't put it aside in my mind.  First of all, the father is never asked this question. Shouldn't the dad be equally responsible for his daughter's weight? Why do such questions get directed only at the mother? Many times, the question is framed in such a way that the fingers point at the mother - "How did you let her become so thin?". My temper raises a lot when being interrogated this way that I would be on the verge of blurting out - ...

 Before I elaborate on the “discovery”, let me first state that I’m okay if my child watches TV or computer. I don’t think we can keep them out of it completely as the deprivation would lead to more anxiety and interest towards digital devices. But what matters most is the “time spent” in front of these devices. When my daughter was around 2 years old, we decided to disconnect from DTH services. I didn’t want her to watch any of the kids' channels that play the luring TV commercials of packaged junk food targeted towards children all day long. Instead, we started buying her the Infobells DVDs - which are age-appropriate, educational and most importantly, without any commercials. When we gave her the TV time, she would be watching one of these DVDs. As months passed, she got so addicted to these DVDs. On top of it, due to her pestering, we ended up buying more new DVDs whenever we step into a toy store. Her collection of CDs were neatly arranged in CD pouches. Sometime, last year...

The first 20 minutes, I was angry, thinking why the hell this father is forcing his dreams upon his young daughters and torturing them. But as the movie unfolds, there’s one particular scene where the two girls crib to their friend, who is about to get married at a tender age of 14. The friend replies, “ Your father has a dream for you which will help you build an identity for yourself. What about the unlucky girls like us who are expected to learn to do household chores, cooking, marry someone whom we haven’t even met and then disappear? ” This emotional scene changes the course of the movie. And it vanquished my initial anger too. Dangal is certainly one of the best Bollywood movies I have seen in recent times. The spirit of the movie is so positive - hard work, persistence, determination, un-wavered focus and a pillar of strength in a father who's unrelenting and full of hope. With each wrestling match, you support Geeta wholeheartedly for a win (though you know it is a mov...

Book #3 of #50booksin2017 My husband had read this book a few months back and highly recommended it. I had earlier read Nir Eyal’s “ Hooked ” that talked about the principles behind habit forming products, especially from a digital products perspective. “ The Power of Habit ” dives into the underlying psychology and neuro-science of how habits are formed. It was a fascinating read where the author talks about the influence of habits from an individual, organization and society’s point of view. Habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. The author talks about the habit loop which has three components: - Cue => the trigger that reminds us to go into automatic mode - Routine => the action which could be either physical, mental or emotional - Reward => the outcome of performing the routine He elaborates this habit loop by using examples of how Pepsodent and Febreze’s marketing campaign efforts have leveraged this loop. It’s not just the habi...

Image Source: https://www.thehunt.com/finds/U7qmmh-no-junk-food%2521 Short answer - Eat 3 wholesome, balanced and nutritious meals in a day. Coming to the long answer :-) This revelation occurred to me yesterday. My usual morning routine involves Yoga, cooking breakfast and lunch, packing lunch-box for my husband and then I sit down with my breakfast. Yesterday, this whole routine went for a toss when my husband had to leave very early for work. I ate a little bit of left-over lemon rice that I had packed for my daughter’s snack box. In the afternoon, I didn’t have the time to cook a proper lunch, so it was a little rice + potatoes. Around 3PM, I felt hungry and I grabbed a cup of coffee. Around 5ish, I was terribly hungry. I stepped into the kitchen, rummaging through the various shelves (which I wouldn’t normally do). I ate a couple of dates and a banana to satisfy the “health-conscious” in me ;-) But the hunger pangs didn’t reduce. So I took my daughter along to a nearby sweet...

Book #2 of #50booksin2017   When I read about the news that Amazon Kindle has started to list books in regional languages, I was ecstatic and happy. Being a Kindle Unlimited member, I quickly browsed through the list of books and this one titled Appa Ennum Villain by Bharathi Baskar caught my attention. Having read her previous books, I know I would like her way of writing.  On a beautiful Monday afternoon, I finished reading this book in a couple of hours. It is a collection of 8 short stories with themes ranging from working women's issues, friendship, parenting to love for literature. In her signature style, she has crafted engaging stories with a clear message.  My favorite of them all is the last one titled " mei thirupadham mevu ". I adore Ms.Baskar's books and speeches, one of the many reasons is that she quotes a lot of examples from Tamil literature. Through this story, she emphasizes how the children of today who are brought up with the ONLY ...

In many corporate work environments, I see this phrase being used quite often - “ let’s do a working lunch ”. The scenario under which this phrase is used is when someone is extremely busy with back-to-back meetings in a day and doesn’t have time to talk to someone who’s in need of his/her time. Let’s say, A wants to talk to B about something important. B’s calendar is filled with meetings that there’s no free slot available for that day. So B would suggest “let’s do a working lunch”, which implies A and B would catch up over lunch and discuss that important issue. Sometimes, team meetings would also be scheduled in the pretext of "working lunches". And the motivating(?) factor for the team to attend such meetings would be sponsored sandwiches, pizzas and aerated drinks. I just can’t understand why we want to multi-task during mealtime. We think of mealtime as a passive activity where our hands automatically take the food, stuff it in our mouth while our minds are idl...

Have you ever felt the feeling of emptiness after a successful completion of a project? That nagging “what next” feeling. Instead of feeling elated and accomplished after a project completion, I have experienced feelings of dullness. It may be due to the fact that we have invested so much of our attention onto that ONE particular project that our minds were consciously working towards the subsequent steps, leading up to the D-day. For example, whenever I prepare for a talk at a public forum, my mind would be busy churning out ideas and planning the flow/structure for a couple of weeks before the talk. A few days before the talk, I would be sitting down and giving my full focus and attention in preparing the slides, looking for relevant images and finalizing the outline. On the D-day, the talk would get over and a few people would appreciate or share their comments about the talk. At the end of the day, I would feel bored and dull since the one thing that my mind was completely foc...

 A few days back, I was sitting on my couch, feeling extremely cold. It was a winter afternoon, with the sun shining brightly but the heat couldn't be felt. I noticed my cat who was happily stretching herself and basking in the sunshine in my balcony. I took the book I started reading recently and sat down on the swing, close to her. The next 90 minutes felt so blissful - reading an interesting book, soaking in the sunshine and admiring my beautiful feline friend. I didn't check my phone during this 1.5 hour time period. That's exactly what I wanted in 2017 - less screen time, more focused work, more outdoors. I hadn't set this goal in the last day of Dec on a whim. Rather, this has been lingering in my mind for a while. The hypothesis was that I had been checking my phone a little too much. To validate this hypothesis, I installed an app called Checky . I had monitored my usage for a period of 3 months, so the data is statistically significant. The results weren’t ...

In my social media timeline, for the past few days, I’m noticing many people embracing oats for breakfast as though it’s a super food and going to the extent of eating 5 times a week. Brands are also promoting it aggressively by partnering with popular food bloggers in accordance with the New Year resolution healthy eating/fitness/well-being themes. As humans, we seek instant solutions. And this behaviour is well in tune with what the brands expect from us. Take a few spoons of oats, add water/milk, MW it, add some fruits and nuts and you are done with breakfast. And many people don’t mind following the same routine on all 5 days of the work week, as it is convenient, less time to prepare and can be eaten hassle-free with a spoon in one hand and a smart phone in the other. Traditional breakfasts are being put under the back-burner for special occasions or for weekends. If dosas/idlis have to be made for breakfast, the batter has to be available and the preparation of chutney/sambha...

A few days back, a video clip titled “What’s wrong with this generation?” was shared by a few friends in my FB timeline. It was a 15 min talk by Simon Senek on millennials - the passion with which he spoke and the way he listed down the reasons was just awesome. I then googled to get the full video and listened to his 1 hour talk on leadership . An absolute must-watch, I should say. Though I have read his book “ Start with Why ”, I haven't listened to many of his talks. 2 days later, after listening to his thought-provoking talk on leadership, Youtube recommended me this conversation between Simon and Marie Forleo. The focus of the talk was on his latest book “Leaders eat last” - very powerful and insightful talk yet again. I have added this book to my reading list. In this video, at 26th min, he talks about why we humans are designed to take care of each other. “There is a chemical called oxytocin which is the chemical responsible for our feelings of love, friendship and...

Today is the 50th birthday of Isaipuyal AR Rahman. His music is an integral part of my day and has been like a dear friend to me in the past 25 years. Around the same time last year, I had listed down 10 beautiful Tamil songs of ARR that didn’t get the attention they deserve. This year, I went through his Bollywood tracks. Here’s a list of 10 songs that you might not have heard (unless you are a Rahmaniac like me!) (1) Zindagi from Yuvvraaj This is a beautiful song sung by Srinivas - melancholic, soothing and soft. It’s a shame that this song didn’t get the credit it deserves. My 5-year-old plays it often on our iPod. I couldn’t find the full song on youtube, except for a short clip from the movie. Do check it out in iTunes. It’s a perfect melody to listen to at the end of a tiring day. (2) Hawa Sun Hawa from Ada Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik’s soothing voices, brilliant flute interludes and a soft beat throughout the song make it one of my most favorite Rahman’s compositions. I ...

 A couple of weeks back, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine. He is happy in his current role, earns well and settled in his organization for 5+ years. But he wants to try out something different - a new opportunity that is quite different from what he has been doing so far, a complete shift towards a new career path. Our hour-long conversation was mainly around me asking him a few questions and let him talk and share his perspectives. Sometimes, we need to articulate to ourselves on why we are keen on certain decisions/life-changing opportunities. So if you are in a similar situation where you need to decide on a new opportunity / new direction in your career, sit down with a pen and paper and answer the following questions. Or if you don’t like to write it down, talk to someone whom you trust and can open up freely, without the fear of being judged/ridiculed. 1) Why are you interested in this opportunity? What are the goals of yours that this opportunity will he...

Book #1 of #50booksin2017 I picked up this book from the library a few days back, mainly due to the fact that I want to read something other than my usual picks. It was such a riveting read, that I managed to finish it in the last 3 days. Malala’s story is that of courage, grit, belief and perseverance amidst the hard realities and uncertainties of her life in Pakistan. Her fight for her education as well as that of other girls in her country is inspirational and at the same time, thought provoking. It also helped me feel grateful and blessed that I was able to get a good education and feel a little more empowered to voice my opinions. The initial few chapters talk about her parents’ life and her early childhood in Swat valley. The way she describes the simple life and beauty of the valley and mountains is captivating. The book also details out the political turmoil and the history of Pakistan since the separation. It felt heart-warming to read about the support from her fami...

One of my favorite food bloggers, Nandita (saffrontrail) has shared her experiences , attending a women-only conference named Festivelle. At the end of her post, she has listed down her learnings from this conference. While going through this list, I was nodding my head at each point. I highly recommend you take a look at her post. One of her points is "Be kind- in person, in thought and on social media." Given that we have numerous channels to express ourselves through words, it is highly imperative that we use these forums wisely. Before posting something on social media, let’s take a moment to think if we would say the same thing to someone on their face. If not, then let’s refrain from posting. JK Rowling in “ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ” conveys it beautifully - “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” A few weeks back, I had shared this post on FB after a bitter ...

It was a beautiful evening - the clear sky, the bright sun setting in the backdrop behind the concrete high-rise buildings, a pristine lake reflecting the sun rays, 100s of chirping birds of all varieties perched atop the trees, a paradise for an ornithologist, active residents from the neighboring localities - some jogging, some brisk walking and the rest casually taking a stroll with their loved ones. It was such a happy sight everywhere as I took a walk around the lake. I prefer not to put on any earphones and listen to music. There’s enough music around, thanks to the birds, ducks and voices of other people. And yes, there’s my inner voice too, for which I need to keep my ears open. My thoughts wandered back to the past - similar evenings during my school days where I would sit on the terrace studying hard and occasionally taking a break to listen to the birds returning home in the evening, admire the shades and hues of sunset creating a collage of colours in the sky and liste...