Anuradha Sridharan

Another year coming to an end and this time, it is also the end of a decade. 2010s will be very special to me - I became a mom, identified my passion and learned more about myself. If 2000s was the decade I ran the rat race and followed the crowd, 2010s was the decade when I slowed down and focused on my priorities. My previous annual reviews are a reflection of that shift. 2019 is no different. Self-reflection is a powerful tool and in the current age of distractions, we hardly invest any time in just being with our thoughts. On one cool January evening, I made this list of topics I wanted to learn more about. As I look back, consciously or unconsciously, most of the books I had picked up this year are inspired by this list. Here's the list of books I completed in 2019 and quite a few (not listed) are in progress. Though I had set a goal to finish 40 books, I'm glad I was able to at least cross the 50% mark. Notes for Healthy Kids by Rujuta Diwekar Heartful...

Before I proceed further, let me state upfront that I'm quite far away from calling my life a disciplined one. But discipline is something that I constantly strive towards. This word " discipline " came into my life many years ago and I remember that evening sometime in Nov 1991. I was in 6th grade and I returned home with the progress report card of my second midterm exams. I had secured 2nd rank in class and my mom was furious. I was a 1st rank holder during the first midterm and Quarterly exams. I slipped to 2nd rank. In hindsight, this might all sound ridiculous, funny, does-it-even-matter etc. But let me tell you what my mom told me that day - "Discipline ee illa ippo ellaam. romba neram velayadikkittu irukke nee" (No discipline at all, playing a lot these days). My mom inculcated the competitive nature in me and her insistence towards 1st rank helped me in many ways during my childhood days. There are pros and cons to this parenting approach and I...

  This year is turning out to be one of the best years, reading-wise. The books that I chose to read this year are such interesting, thought-provoking ones. As many of you might know, I'm a huge fan of Dr.Sivaraman. I love to listen to his talks on youtube. During one such talk, he mentioned about the book "The biology of belief" when he was briefly speaking about epigenetics. It is one of the areas that I wanted to learn about this year.  The basic premise of Bruce Lipton's "The biology of belief" is that our beliefs/perceptions control our biology and that environmental factors play an important trigger in how our bodies react and respond. The author has taken an alternate viewpoint of the popular Darwinian thinking that our genes determine our life.  He takes the reader on a fascinating journey in elaborating this alternate viewpoint and touches upon a wide range of topics, right from the cellular structure, genetics, environmental influe...

There has been an increased awareness of Omega-3 fats in the past few years. Media has been buzzing with multiple articles on Omega-3 fats, supplements and fortified foods. In this article, I have tried to summarize my understanding of this fat group. Disclaimer: I'm not a medical professional. Do your due diligence before making any changes to your diet. Omega-3 fats belong to the family of polyunsaturated fats (PUFA). They are an integral part of cell membranes throughout the body and affect the function of the cell receptors in these membranes.  According to this source , Omega-3 fats lower blood pressure and heart rate, improve blood vessel function, and, at higher doses, lower triglycerides and may ease inflammation, which plays a role in the development of atherosclerosis. The three main omega-3 fatty acids are  short-chain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) long-chain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) long-chain docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) ALAs are es...

After a long time, we (K, D and me) went out shopping on a Saturday afternoon. We had a clear intent of what we need to buy and we stuck to it (mostly!). It took a good 2.5 hours to shop for a few clothes and footwear for all of us. We didn't stop for our evening tea anywhere, instead, we chose to come home and I straight headed to the kitchen to make ourselves a strong cup of masala chai along with popcorn (made with dry corn, salt and oil). After 15 minutes, we were sipping tea and munching on hot popcorn. This made me think about our decision-making process. How do we decide whether we want to make something ourselves or buy from a vendor? "Buy" doesn't necessarily mean products; it also includes services that we avail from a service provider. There has been extensive research done on the "Build vs Buy" decision framework in the enterprise space. If a particular activity is closely tied to the "core" function of an organization, then...

  Many years back, my husband K and I attended a 4-day "Art of Living" course. One of the phrases that the instructor mentioned is clearly etched in my memory - " Expectations reduce joy, Surprises increase joy ". When I enrolled for the 2-day weekend farm visit organized by Bhoomi College in their Gumalapura organic farm, I absolutely had no expectations. All I wanted was a break from the usual weekend routine. It was such a memorable experience for our whole family. If you love nature, farms, fresh air and interaction with good set of people, I'd highly recommend you enroll for this weekend programme. Yes, get surprised like us. It will be a unique experience for the kids as well as city-bred adults. Don't read the finer details mentioned below. I'm jotting down here, so I can revisit the experience through my own words years later. Even if I go there again, I may or may not feel the same joy I felt while returning home on Sunday evening...

  Nutrition-related books have become quite popular these days, as people are more curious to find out healthy options to eat and diets to follow for weight loss and preventive wellness. The saying - "It is not what you eat, it is what you absorb that makes a difference" has certainly a lot of merit to it.  Earlier this year, I had made a list of topics I wanted to learn more about. Specifically, on nutrition, I wanted to learn more about the role of our gut. As I was looking for books related to this topic, a friend recommended me this particular book written by Giulia Enders. What a fascinating and insightful read it is! The author has taken the complex process of our digestive system and explained it with so much wit and humor. If you had taken up Biology in your high school, the chapters related to different parts of the gut and their role in digestion would be a good revision. They took me back to my 12th grade and I surprisingly remembered every single d...

One of the goals that I'm working towards is to become self-reliant as much as possible in different walks of my life. Given the uncertain situations related to climate change, environmental degradation and the various health-related issues, I believe that becoming self-reliant is the ONLY way to cope with the challenges of the future, for the sake of our's, our children's and our planet's well-being. The concept of self-reliance is not a novel idea - that's how most of our grandparents and our ancestors led their lives. Our generation (and to some extent, our parents' generation) completely moved away from this principle of self-reliance. We are dependent on market forces for every little thing to lead our day-to-day life - right from the toothpaste we use the first thing in the morning to the mobile app we use to track our food intake by the end of the day. As these market forces are becoming more and more centralized, a few big corporations dictate wh...