Anuradha Sridharan

 Continuing my  annual ritual  of reflecting on the year gone by, I sat down this morning to think about my 2020. Early in Jan, K had been on a business trip to the US. He bought a gift for D - a cooperative strategy board game that all of us can play together as a family. Little did we know that this game would become a reality for all of us on the planet in 2020. Yes, the board game is called Pandemic . In the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we played this game of Pandemic so many times, taking up roles of a Quarantine Specialist, Contingency planner, Medic, Researcher, etc. Just like everyone else, I faced times of uncertainty and stress this year in various contexts, but as I look back, there are aspects that I'm extremely grateful for. Similar to the previous years, let me start off the review with my reading list. Given the various other priorities and responsibilities, reading took a backseat this year. This reflects in the number of books I have read so far...

 Sometime in mid-Dec, I realized that I'm 10 posts away from crossing the highest blog posts count for a year (94 posts in 2017) and 15 posts away from hitting the magical number of 100 posts this year. Ever since I became aware of this number, I have been consciously working towards hitting this target. I've been thinking about topics to write and investing a good amount of time every morning in writing. This afternoon, as I looked at the number, I still needed 2 more posts to cross the milestone. Of course, one of them would be my review of 2020. As I was walking on the terrace this evening and thinking hard about this penultimate post topic, this question hit me hard - "Why am I focusing so much on the number #100? So what if there are 99 posts this year?" As I pondered over this question, many instances that I have observed these days came to the limelight.  The nights when K used to go for a walk to hit that 10K number on his step counter,  The evening when FIL s...

 Have you ever been inside a thought rabbit-hole? Let me explain how it unfolds. You feel hurt by a situation or by someone. Or you feel angry about a situation or someone. But you couldn't do anything about it. You feel frustrated, helpless, and want to vent out. Sometimes, there might be people available to listen to your ramblings. Sometimes, the ramblings just loop through in your head. As these ramblings happen in your mind, the mind takes you through the thought rabbit-hole - it opens up a box of thoughts related to that person - past incidents, past snide remarks, etc.  Yes, all negative, unpleasant thoughts are the first to be encountered by default. As you pass through this rabbit-hole, you feel even more frustrated, you end up indulging in self-pity.  After you have had your fill, you might try to distract your mind off with the usual suspects - social media, binge-watching, eating sugary foods, etc. Meanwhile, the rabbit-hole gets well established with the pres...

 Growth drives profitability. Especially in FMCG companies, where the margins are relatively low, the only way to achieve growth targets is to increase sales. How to achieve growth targets?  At a higher level, brands adopt one of these three strategies (1) By increasing the consumption of existing consumers (2) By increasing the pool of new consumers from the identified target segments (3) By repositioning the product (or creating a slightly different product variant) to newer target segments For strategy (1), brands use promotion tactics that encourage consumers to buy more. "Buy 3, Get 1 free", "Buy 3, Get Rs.100 off", etc For strategy (2), brands use multiple tactics in the retail space - free samples, combining complementary products, small pack sizes, discounts, etc I mainly wanted to talk about strategy (3) in this post as this is becoming more and more prevalent these days. A few days back, I was listening to this talk by Mr.Sanjay Singal, COO Dairy and Bever...

 2021 is almost here. Most of us make resolutions at the beginning of the year. As I mentioned in an earlier post , " Habits, not resolutions " is the right strategy to reach our goals, be it in any area of our lives - fitness, health, career, passions, etc. Small, daily habits are a much better way to incorporate changes in our life than taking up larger resolutions. I plan to share a few ideas related to food and our eating habits. If one or more of these resonate with you, do consider adding them to your list of habits for 2021. There are good habits to add to our routine and there are not-so-good habits that we consider removing from our routine. Here's a list of 7 eating habits that are detrimental to our health. (1) Having coffee/tea along with breakfast After having a nutritious, wholesome breakfast, do you like to grab a cup of coffee/chai immediately to wash it all down? The point of eating a nutritious meal is all lost, thanks to this habit. Coffee/tea prevents ...

 Retirement corpus - a phrase I come across often, given that I listen to experts in the personal finance space. It is the amount needed to be saved before we retire from our work life so that we can lead a comfortable retirement life with the same lifestyle we are currently living in. I have a difference of opinion with this thought process, which I shall reserve for a future post. This post intends to encourage all of us to build a "health" corpus in our 30s, 40s, and 50s.  What's the point of working hard, taking stress, ignoring our health, and saving up a lump sum, which ends up as hospital bills and recurring medical expenses? Not to forget the ill-effects of managing these ailments in our 60s and 70s, which robs us (and our spouse) of our (their) vital energy. I believe it is crucial we start building our "health corpus" too. Think of it as a savings account. Every decision you make concerning your health and wellness is tallied against either credit/debi...

  " When something is taken away, you realize how much you took it for granted ". This is one of the valuable lessons that Covid has taught me this year. The bright sunlight, fresh air, view of the outside world, clear blue sky, white clouds, the Sun, Moon and Stars, birds returning to their nest - I never prioritized to spend my time with these blessings of Nature until this thing called "lockdown" forced me to stay indoors in March/April.  It's now been 9 months and I spend at least 15-20 minutes every single day walking on my terrace. No one had stopped me from doing this pre-Covid but it was my own choice to stay indoors and stick to my gadgets/devices and various other priorities. What has this daily walk given me? Plenty. Exposure to sunlight . Living in a country like India blessed with abundant sunlight, it still surprises me that 70% of our population is deficient in Vitamin D. Regular sun exposure has helped me deal with body aches. It gives me more en...

I have been asked this question multiple times - "Why do you mostly write about what NOT to eat? Why don't you share more about what to eat?" I had elaborated my answer in an earlier post but this point needs to be re-emphasized. When faced with a health issue, we immediately start looking for more foods to eat that will address the symptoms. For eg, when someone suffers from constipation, he/she starts to include psyllium husk, OTC fiber supplements, or even traditional herbs and spices like adhimadhuram (liquorice), karunjeeragam (black cumin), etc. We are only adding more to our digestive system, but not thinking about foods we are eating that could be the culprits. Eliminating maida-based products like biscuits, bread, bun, etc from the diet provides good relief from constipation. But we are not ready to give up on such junk foods and instead, we overload our system with more and more products to address the symptoms. The native, traditional herbs and spices need to ...

  76% of this pack is nothing but Sugar. Yes, the other ingredients seem natural. But it is certainly not a healthier drink that can be ingested everyday along with milk. Definitely not for diabetic patients and it is clearly mentioned in the pack.  I'm not able to convince my family elders (who are diabetic) to stop drinking this sugary mix. They also add a sugar-free pill (artificial sweetener) on top of this sugar loaded drink!!  As I wrote in my earlier post , old habits die hard. Most urban senior citizens of today are addicted to milk and they want to mix some form of "packaged health powders" to drink their milk. Not to forget the artificial sweeteners - either added separately in the form of powders or pills OR the sucralose/aspartame/acesulfame present in health mix powders. Continuous intake of artificial sweeteners causes various side effects - abdominal fat, increased consumption of sugary foods and simple carb foods like polished rice, maida etc, changes to t...

 Though I have been doing Yoga regularly, somehow I wasn't making time for meditation practice. The habit kickstarted all of a sudden one day and I have now completed 21 days of daily meditation before bedtime.  Sometime in Nov, D was having trouble calming herself down for the night. Loud TV noises were coming from the living room as family elders watch TV at high volume post 8 PM. One evening, as she was getting disturbed by the noise, K and I cuddled along with D and played the 10-minute meditation "Daily Calm" from the Calm app . K has been a subscriber of the Calm app for a couple of years and he has been meditating almost every day. After the 10-minute session, she felt better and slept well that night. From then on, D and I have been meditating every night around 8:45 PM. K joins us whenever he is free. Sometimes, our pet cat W also joins the family meditation session.  I find the daily meditation very relaxing and calming. It helps me get deep sleep, and it also h...

Among the various lifestyles that I have explored so far (vegan, WFPB, raw food, nature cure), the one I'm more inclined towards is the Ayurvedic way of living. Primarily, because it doesn't advocate a one-size-fits-all lifestyle. The emphasis on the individual, his/her unique traits, and suggesting a lifestyle that is best suited to his/her personality - I tend to resonate more with this underlying dimension of Ayurveda. In my quest towards understanding more about Ayurveda, I picked up this book - Ayurveda - The Science of Self Healing by Dr. Vasant Lad .  This guide provides a basic understanding of various key principles of Ayurveda. The book elaborates on the human constitution or the tri-doshas. The characteristics of each dosha are well explained, both physical as well as mental attributes. It also talks briefly about the Panchakarma treatment procedures and their importance. The food guidelines for each dosha are well explained, along with a tabular chart of various foo...

Once upon a time, there was a cat named Judy. She has just become a mother to 4 little kittens - Playful, Leo, Sleepy, and Scady. She brought the 4 kittens to a nearby apartment. A few families in the apartment fell in love with Judy and her kittens. They fed them food and milk. Judy was happily nursing her little kittens. It was a joy to watch the 4 kittens cuddle up together, roll on the floor on sunny afternoons, or chase each other. The kittens provided a much-needed reprieve for many little children in the apartment, who are stuck in their homes and online classes thanks to Covid. They observed how the kittens were nursed by their mother. They observed how Judy was protective of her kittens, standing guard nearby but at the same time, giving kittens the space to play and have fun. As the kittens grew, Judy pushed them to become more independent. She was hissing and growling at them when they wanted to nurse or cuddle up with their mom. After a few months, Judy left them but the fo...

How many idlis can you eat for breakfast?  What's your " Capacity "? I can easily eat 4 rice idlis / 3 millet idlis. But do we have to eat according to our capacity every time?  How much to eat for a given meal depends on multiple factors - appetite level, physical activity/energy expended, the taste of the food, time in hand, eating awareness etc. This is our " Limit " for a given meal. I had prepared saamai (little millet) idlis and coriander coconut chutney for breakfast this morning. Instead of loading up my plate to my capacity, I decided to serve myself only 2 millet idlis. As I focused on chewing the idlis and eating mindfully, I felt that 2 idlis were sufficient for me today. I didn't go for the 3rd. I have found this little tip to be quite helpful in controlling my portion size and avoid overeating.  If you are serving food to a family member, do not load up their plate by default with the capacity they usually eat. Let them finish the food served a...

  We are creatures of habit. The older we get, the more we run on autopilot. We stick to the habits even more strongly. We are reluctant to change. We have heard of this saying, "Old habits die hard". As I observe my dad and my in-laws, I have realized how true this is! It is extremely imperative that we follow the right habits starting from our young age. Even if we have missed this phase, we still have time to correct our ways for a few more decades. Of course, if we adopt a growth mindset, change is possible at any time. But as we grow older, habits on autopilot are more convenient to follow than taking a conscious step towards change. If you are in your 30s and 40s, keenly observe how you go about your daily routine.  From the time you wake up till you go to bed, what are the habits you do on autopilot? For eg, after I brush my teeth, I head to the kitchen, open the fridge, and take a pack of milk. Now if I need to break my daily habit of the morning cup of tea, I need to...

 Winter season is upon us. All we want to do is snuggle nicely inside a cozy blanket and hibernate for most of the day. Our appetite levels are higher than usual. So there are good chances that we might choose heavy food, which would make us even more lethargic. Staying active throughout the day helps us to remain fit and not pile up on extra pounds during winters. Here are a few tips that will help you to stay active. 1) Check off the "Morning four" habits every single day Wake up early, at least by sunrise Get some form of exercise done - Yoga, brisk walk Get exposed to morning sunlight Have a bath in the morning These 4 habits will kickstart your energy levels for a productive morning. Another trick that helps you to move outside more often, which can be clubbed with the "Morning four". Wear clothes that are suited for stepping outside your home. If we continue to wear nighties/night pajamas, they make us feel lazy and sleepy. And we would end up using this as an...

For the past few weeks, I have been coming across certain information related to food from multiple sources - "Cooked food is dead food", "Eating raw is the best for health", "Grains are hard to digest" etc. This is completely in contrast to the eating patterns that I have been following since childhood. As a person who doesn't blindly accept every idea that comes my way, I wanted to understand this contradicting information further.  Yes, I do eat fruits and raw vegetables, but I could never eat them as a stand-alone meal. They don't give me satiety as cooked food. Moreover, we have been cooking food for centuries. So many new recipes and combinations were formulated across different regions, leading to a vast repertoire of cuisines.  These thoughts led me to this question - "If raw food is so nutritious and healthy, why did we even switch to cooking foods in the first place? Why do we cook food?" I have been asking this question to the ...

  Did I catch your attention? Let me break the suspense right away. There is no such thing as THE BEST diet plan for everyone. Repeat after me. There is no such thing as THE BEST diet plan for everyone.  What works for one person may not work for you. It is up to each of us to figure out the diet that is suited for our bodies. It takes time, it takes effort but that is the one we can sustain for a long time. Social media is spewing dietary advice all the time. Let me admit, I do that quite a bit too 😉 As I was contemplating why everyone doles out so much food-related advice, I came to this conclusion - "Right food can change our lives for the better - good health, more energy, better sleep, and much more. When someone figures out the diet that works for them, they want to share their experience with the world" What's the process that is typically observed? Person A gets knowledge about a certain diet ABC. Person A tries the ABC diet for a few weeks/months/years. Person ...