Anuradha Sridharan

  A pic of my home and a glimpse of my childhood in the late 80s. Mom would leave for work around 8:30 AM and return home by 5:30 PM. She was working as a teacher. Dad would leave for work around 8:45 AM and return home by 9:30 PM. He was working in the private sector. My paternal grandma took over the complete responsibility of the house - cooking, cleaning, taking care of us and disciplining us. My maternal grandparents' house was next door and we would spend most of our time there. Grandpa would have a strict eye on us and catch us red-handed when we were up to some mischief. My aunt (mom's sister) helped us with school homework. My aunt and maternal grandma would take turns, plaiting my long hair in the morning rush hours before school. All of them took turns in dropping and picking us up from school when we were very young. My paternal grandma would make evening snacks for us when we return from school. The old saying goes - It takes a village to raise a child. Having grow...

 " What you missed in your childhood is what you seek in your adulthood " - I don't know the source of this quote, but it pretty much sums up my relationship with books. Growing up, apart from textbooks, I never read any story books or comics. Amma had bought a few GK and Quiz books that helped me in elocution, essay writing, and quiz competitions in school. For some reason, there was always a yearning for books. I'd pester Appa to take me to the "Chennai book fair" that used to happen every Jan. He took me once and I was clueless about what to buy. Though I didn't burn a hole in his pocket, he wasn't happy about the trip. The next year, he got irritated when I brought up this topic. I joined my first job in 2002. A small book fair was conducted at my office premises. I bought APJ Abdul Kalam's Wings of Fire, my first book purchase. Since then, slowly and steadily, the collection of books in my home library increased. I remember taking a solo tri...

Neither - might be our ideal answer. But there could be situations where we end up making a choice when we are going out. When we have to decide between the two, we mostly end up choosing the second option. This is a pattern that I'm noticing over the past few years, especially since 2020. I have made similar decisions as well. The reasons: It is made in the open. Not hygienic at all. Packaged is more hygienic (Fresh juices vs tetra-pack) These shops use ingredients of poor quality. Better to buy packaged (Hot chips shops vs Lays chips) We don't know what ingredients are being used in bakeries. In packaged cakes, we at least know the ingredients. (Cake slices vs Brittania cakes) These foods contain germs. Packaged foods don't. (ice gola vs frozen popsicles) Most of the time, these decisions are being made in front of our kids for one of the above reasons. And we perpetuate our beliefs onto them. Our rationale for choices is based on our beliefs. Are we 100% sure about them?...

 Conversation on a Saturday morning: D: "Mommy, do you know we don't have one thought? We get 3 thoughts" Me: "I don't understand. How?" D: "See, let me give you an example. The first thought can be - I want to bake a cake. The second thought can be - I don't have all the ingredients. The third thought can be - I will not bake today. Maybe some other day when I have the ingredients. That's why in English we say sometimes - I have second thoughts about this" Me: "Woah, that's very true. How did you come up with this?" D: "I don't know...I just thought about it. Or maybe, you injected your philosophy serum into me!"🙂 D reads a lot of Amar Chitra Katha and mythology stories, while I read philosophy and spirituality-related books. We keep discussing "thathuvams" or "stories with thathuvams" often (thathuvam - thought with a deeper meaning). As I started ruminating about her 3-thought perspective,...

 I always get excited about festival days. I love to do a special Pooja and cook an elaborate meal. No one enforces any rules or rituals in my home. It is completely up to me to choose whether I want to push myself on such special days. Today, being Tamil New Year's Day and a working day here in Bengaluru, I decided this morning to take it slow and not get too hyper to do multiple tasks. The earlier me would have woken up earlier, did some Yoga practice or walking, taken a bath, did Pooja, and cooked a meal all in the morning before 10 AM. Given that the Universe is hinting to me to slow down and go easy, I decided to change my default patterns of doing. It is not just the desire to do multiple things, but trying to do them all at once within the limited time through multitasking, running around, not asking for help, and secretly wishing for Hermione's time-turner. If there are 3 tasks that I would want to do and only an hour is available, I end up pushing myself and doing all ...

 During my previous trip to Blossoms, I picked up a set of booklets from the Bihar School of Yoga. These are short 80-100 pagers with a crisp and clear focus on a specific topic. Last week, I read and shared the review of " Karma and Karma Yoga ". I followed it up with another 80-page booklet titled " Yoga in Daily Life ". This book mainly talks about the basics of Yoga and how to incorporate Yogic practices into our daily routine. If you are new to Yogic philosophy and the different streams of Yoga, this book is a beginner-friendly guide. Before jumping into the practices and the actionable steps, the author sets a beautiful context on the relevance of Yoga in today's times. There were multiple aha moments in the first 2 chapters, starting with the story of a tree with thorns. "When the wind of inherent desires blows through the mind, there can never be any fulfillment, contentment or peace". "The identification with desires and sense objects lea...

 Came across this news yesterday that Indian health and wellness influencers must now disclose their qualification on social media to prove that they are qualified to endorse health and wellness-related products and practices. At a first glance, this seems like a great move. But there are two concerns to be addressed here: (1) What does qualification here mean? There are certificate courses that you can take up (for a week or two) and become a "certified health coach". Many fitness influencers take up such short-term certification courses and recommend protein shakes, supplements, etc. The qualification criteria need to be spelled out or else this becomes an easy loophole. (2) The most important one in my opinion - What is the guarantee that the intent of qualified professionals to promote certain healthy(?) products is pure and ethical AND not driven by commissions and profit sharing? There have been so many examples of qualified medical professionals promoting sugar-laden p...

 Summer is in full force in Bengaluru. Along with bright sunshine, it also brings in a boatload of mosquitos and frequent power cuts. We aren't impacted much by the power cuts, thanks to the backup power through a diesel generator (DG). Whenever DG mode is ON, the electricity provided is good enough to run basic types of equipment like fans, lights, etc. However, DG will not supply power for heavy-duty types of equipment like a geyser, washing machine, or oven. There are certain times in our life when the main energy source isn't able to cope with the demands and the backup energy mode gets switched on. What are those times? When self-care takes a backseat, When the mind is being overworked, When our sleep cycles are disturbed, When there is a supply-demand mismatch between responsibilities and mental load When the internal drive turns to self-inflicted pressure When there is a lack of willingness to compromise or prioritize certain aspects over another For the last few weeks, ...

 A few days back, I installed the Instagram app on my phone to post Stories. I publish my Instagram posts through Instagram web. I install (and uninstall) the app only when I want to share posts of others through Stories, typically 2-3 times a month. Coming to the app experience, I habitually clicked on the 4th tab in the main nav bar to check for likes/comments. Habits once set are hardwired, even though you might have stopped them. It turns out that the 4th tab now leads to Reels section. And the likes/comments feed is now moved to the top right corner. Reels feed is fuelled by an infinite scroll (also called doomscroll) of short videos and it is not restricted to people whom you chose to follow. I might be outdated on when these interaction changes were rolled out, but it is evident that such platforms want users to stay hooked onto short video format for a longer duration of time. Such short videos (Reels/Shorts) switch our attention so rapidly. They also build up our anticipat...

  Yet another insightful, crisp book from the Bihar School of Yoga. In under 80 pages, the author gives an in-depth understanding of Karma and Karma Yoga and how they are related. Karma not only refers to action but is also the manifestation of human nature. Everything in this creation is subject to the law of Karma. The software analogy used to explain the operating system of Karma is so relatable. The author talks about four different backend software, which forms the core of this book - basic instincts, swabhava or nature, samskaras or impressions, and sense perceptions. Management of these four components is a pre-requisite to practicing Karma Yoga. The author takes up each of these components, breaks them down in detail, and shares perspectives on managing them. It was quite interesting to understand how the interplay of consciousness and energy results in Karma. The author connects the role of three gunas - tamas, rajas, sattwa - with the four focus areas. He elaborates on ho...

  While doing Trataka dhyana a few days back, this thought came up. When we light a lamp, we expose just a tiny portion of the wick outside. If the exposed portion is more, the flame burns brighter than needed. It blows out quickly as it absorbs more oil in the process. When there is heavy wind, the brighter flame flickers heavily, and the chances of it turning off are high. If the exposed portion is just right, the flame gives the required brightness steadily. It lasts a couple of hours, absorbing the right amount of oil. When there is heavy wind, the flame flickers for sure, but it doesn't turn off so easily. We are the Lamp. The wick is our conscious mind. The oil is our Prana Shakti. It is refilled every morning after a good night of rest. When we overexpose our conscious minds to the external world, we end up over-consuming Prana Shakti and we feel burnt out by the end of the day. Exposure here refers to too many decisions, too many thoughts, and too many responsibilities with...

"Are you an emotional person? Do you cry often? Don't get too attached to anything. Practice letting go. Practice detachment. Don't strive to be a perfectionist. How much of your day do you spend outdoors and expose yourself to sunlight? Do you prefer asana or pranayama? Which asanas do you practice regularly? Practice simple deep breathing daily if meditation is hard for you. Consciously incorporate cooling and grounding practices in your daily life. Avoid thinking too much. ......." I met with an Ayurvedic doctor yesterday for certain issues I have been facing over the last few weeks. The above was a snippet of her conversation with me. Most of her questions were related to mind and daily lifestyle habits. After going in circles wondering why certain symptoms had come up all of a sudden, I finally felt at peace after talking to her. Of all the lifestyle and health philosophies I have explored, Ayurveda is the one that resonates with me the most. The importance given...