Anuradha Sridharan

  Karma and its workings are intriguing topics, not just for exploration and analysis, but for bringing about fundamental shifts in our behaviors. A deeper understanding of Karma is crucial, so that we don't dismiss it as pre-ordained. I read the book " Karma " by Sadhguru in 2021, which brought a lot of beginner-friendly clarity. Since then, I have been exploring various other sources to go deeper into this subject. The latest book that I devoured on this topic is Meetu Bisht's "To the beginning of the end of Karma" .  I loved her earlier books - " Living spirituality " and " Why we are who we are ". They were filled with powerful insights and nuggets of wisdom. Her nuanced approach to writing keeps the reader engaged. In her new book, she has unpeeled various layers of Karma in simple language. It is quite voluminous (300+ pages), as compared to her earlier works. This book is divided into 3 sections. The first section focuses on the na...

 I have recently started reading Swami Chinmayananda's books on various topics related to Vedanta. Chinmaya Mission prescribes a scheme of study to understand and assimilate the teachings of Vedanta. The first book in this scheme is titled " Kindle Life ". Written by Swami Chinmayananda himself, this book is a beginner-level guide that explains the fundamentals of Vedanta concepts in simple, lucid language. Organized in small chapters, one can easily read a few pages daily as part of the Vedantic study. This book introduces many concepts - the role of mind and intellect, Panchakosha theory, the trigunas, and their attributes, the play of Maya and its expressions, mind control, refinement of personality, the importance of scriptures, etc. Swamiji explains how uncontrolled and excessive indulgence in sensual enjoyment causes the dissipation of one’s personality.  “A successful man never allows his faculty of discrimination and judgment to be disturbed by the rising tides of...

One extreme used to say, " Others' feelings are more important than mine ",while the other extreme is now loudly declaring, " My feelings are the most important. I don't care about how others feel ". As always, extremes are the reason behind many problems today. Parents are misguided by the so-called parenting Insta experts to be on their guard and keep track of every single feeling and emotion of their child. " So how does that make you feel? " - a therapist-sounding question has now become common parlance among young parents, thanks to "gentle parenting" forums and workshops. " Bad Therapy - Why the Kids aren't Growing Up " by Abigail Shrier is a much-needed book that gives an important perspective on modern-day parenting. She reiterates multiple times throughout the book that there are certain conditions (bipolar, schizophrenia, chronic depression, etc), where therapy is required and she doesn't deny the value it brin...

 Maharishi Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (PYS) dive into the psychology of the human mind. It is one of the most important texts for a Yoga Sadhaka / practitioner. Many have written translations and commentaries on this text. I bought the book " Yoga Sutras Simplified " by Vasudev Murthy in May 2023 (before I signed up for my Yoga instructor course and MSc Yoga), but never got around to reading it.  In the past year, I got the opportunity to learn the essence of Yoga Sutras from various sources. Given that PYS is one of the subjects in my current semester, I picked up this book recently.  The author says in the Introduction - " The Yoga Sutras analyse the fickle mind in extraordinary detail and ought to be required reading for psychologists! ". I couldn't agree more. He has provided the gist of all 4 chapters, covering the key takeaways. The author has approached this book neither as a translation nor a typical commentary. He has given a refreshing take by interwe...

 " The Fall of the Human Intellect " by Shri Parthasarathy ji is a crisp and short book of 140 pages, and it took me almost 3 months to finish. This is such a kind of book that needs time to contemplate and reflect upon the points discussed. More importantly, given its condensed nature, it requires deeper explanation and analogies to connect to the topics.  I'm grateful to YouTube for bringing this book and Vedanta Academy to my attention. I signed up for the book discussion sessions organized by Vedanta Institute Kolkata . The weekly sessions conducted by Ramaswamy ji have been insightful with beautiful explanations and correlations drawn based on the topics from the book. He brings in a lot of clarity through references from scriptures and personal anecdotes. Thanks to the YouTube recommendation algorithm, I came across Vedanta Institute London 's channel where the recordings of the book discussion sessions conducted by Bhaskar ji are uploaded every week. Bhaskar ...

 I read " Value of Values " by Swami Dayananda Saraswati sometime last year. He articulates his thoughts so beautifully and conveys the wisdom of Shastras to the present-day audience in a relatable way. I picked up the book " Ishvara in One's Life " from Blossoms. It's a 90-page booklet (with the perfect font size) where Swamiji explains how one can relate to Ishvara (the Divine). He elaborates on certain qualities that make one an adult - the ability to be dispassionate and objective, detaching oneself from the various roles one plays in life and one's relationship to the total.  He then discusses the qualities of the Divine - to be able  to intelligently put together to serve a purpose , the maker of all, the all-knowledge conscious being.  There were  amazing  insights in these chapters  and  I was nodding  my head while reading a couple of  chapters.  As I study more about the anatomy & physiology of the human body, I can't ...

  During a casual visit to Sapna Book Store a few months back , I stumbled upon this book .   When I looked through the Contents,  the chapter " Seven-year cycles of life " caught my attention.  As I read through a few pages, it resonated with me deeply, and so were a few other topics. But the tiny font size was a blocker. I added the title to my Amazon Wishlist, merely for reference.  I spotted a second-hand pristine copy of this title for Rs.180 during a recent trip to Blossoms. I decided to buy it, overlooking the tiny font size. What are reading glasses for? :-)  According to the author,  Maturity  is accepting the responsibility of being oneself. He focuses on  the topic of   Maturity  and the aspects that contribute to this growth. He repeatedly states that it is not the same as growing old, and he substantiates it by beautifully bringing up the differences between growing old and growing up in the first chapter. Every se...

  K asked me to write about my reading process.  If you are a reader, I'm sure you would follow a  process that's unique to you depending  on your values, preferences, and  idiosyncrasies . Your reading process tells a lot about your personality. Let me share a few specifics of my process. When I pick up a book, I read from the first page to the  very  last - yes, the preface, prologue, forward, epilogue, and acknowledgment pages as well !! I feel compelled to finish the book cover to cover. The same holds for movies  too . I don't advocate this practice, as I have wasted quite a bit of time watching boring  movies ,  just because of this need for "completion"! But for books, I don't consider it a waste of time, as sometimes a boring chapter could be a temporary barrier to  be crossed ,  post  which there could be relevant insights in the latter chapters.  If my interest in a book wanes off after a few chapters, I add...

  An impulse purchase sometimes turns out to be the book with the right insights you need to hear. During my recent trip to Mussoorie, I stopped by the famous Cambridge bookstore to check out Ruskin Bond's books. Amidst the shelves with limited walking space, I spotted Swami Rama as the author of this book . The title sounded interesting  and  of course, the print quality and font size were perfect! As you age, font size becomes  an important  criterion for buying a book🙂  This  book   written  by Swami Rama and Swami  Ajaya   brings out  the  interesting  contrast between Western and Eastern psychology.  Though the title emphasizes "Emotions ",  it is NOT the core theme of this book , I must admit . The authors  start with explaining  the need for expanding our consciousness , the misconceptions surrounding this idea  and  the changes one  starts  to experience when one moves ...

 In Dec 2023, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Gita Parayanam event organized by my IIMB Professor Shri. B Mahadevan as part of the Gita Jayanti event. Though I knew only a few Gita shlokas, I participated along with the crowd and chanted the entire Gita. The energy of the event felt so divine and blissful. As a Yajna Prasada, all participants got a copy of his book that was launched on the very same day - "Timeless Gita, Endless Bliss - Vol 2". K had bought and read the first volume many years back. It was now my turn to pick it up. Having read many self-help and philosophy books written by new-age authors in the past few years, the realization dawned on me that this one single book called Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is enough as a life manual to answer all our questions on life and how to approach various challenges and obstacles that we might encounter. Professor Mahadevan's book - Timeless Gita, Endless Bliss is an interesting teaser that provides a captiva...

  First book of 2024, is a gripping, eye-opening read in many aspects. Though I have read some of the principles and factors in other books like Digital Minimalism , Deep Work , Indistractable , and Why We Sleep , Johann Hari's Stolen Focus is an informative compilation of 12 different factors that have stolen our focus and attention. What I liked about the writing is that the author doesn't talk from the perspective of giving advice. His experiences on his relationship with devices, steps taken towards digital detox, and various factors that he attributes to the deterioration of his focus make the reader feel easily connected with the author. Anecdotal and relatable, that's how the book begins in the first few chapters. The author then slowly unravels the factors one by one, with his personal life experiences, interviews with experts, and related examples. Depending on the factor(s) that impact your attention the most, you will be able to relate to certain chapters more t...

  The book that kept me engrossed in the last 2 weeks of Dec, it was neither on my to-read list nor recommended by anyone. Somehow, this book grabbed my attention and I have been raving about it to everyone I have spoken to. Though the focus of this book is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), it delves into deeper aspects of parenting attitudes, current challenges, behavioral repercussions, and more. As you read through the book, many of the examples and behaviors discussed seem very much relatable - either observed in ourselves, spouses, parents, in-laws, or our children. The author ends the book with this beautiful line -  "If we can actively love, there will be no attention deficit and no disorder" That's the premise of this book - the role of love, the importance of attachment relationship, meeting the attunement needs of young kids, unhindered access to primary caregiver during the initial years, acceptance and attention without any condition. I'd consider this bo...

  I read 36 books in 2023 so far. 36 or 76 books - doesn't matter. 36 or 6 books - doesn't matter. What matters is that we embrace the habit of reading every single day. Reading has helped me in multiple ways. Let me share some of the benefits I have experienced: The 36 books I read this year were written by 23 different authors. Seeking different perspectives from multiple people reduces the chances of biased viewpoints and prevents being misguided by just 1-2 people's ideological views.  It takes time and effort to structure and pen down thoughts in a larger content format like a book. The output of such efforts creates way more impact than someone sharing their perspectives in a 1-hour workshop, 2200 character-limited Insta post, or a 30-second reel. Among the 36 books, 10 of them are repeat reads. Re-reading the same book after a while reinforced the learning and surprised me with new insights I might have overlooked the first time. We discussed 17 of these 36 books in ...

A trip to Blossoms allows me to stumble upon some gems of books that I wouldn't have normally known. One such impulse purchase was Swami Rama's Love and Family Life - a secondhand copy for Rs.90. Having loved some of his other books, I picked this one without much thought. In this book, he shares his perspectives on companionship, marriage, children, and the role of a family in shaping society. This book was written in 1992 and based on the examples, I presume it was written with a Western audience in mind. But most of the challenges and issues presented are very much applicable in modern India of today. He first brings up the importance of a family and how it helps children learn the qualities of being caring, open, accepting, and selfless. He then explains how the institution of marriage helps one to evolve spiritually. The couple entering this phase gets an opportunity to learn and practice essential qualities needed to live with others - truthfulness, sincerity, faithfulne...

  I had added this title to my Amazon wishlist many years ago. A few months back, while visiting Blossoms, I came across an author-signed second-hand copy and purchased it immediately. Though the title says "Ayurveda for women", nearly 60% of the book is devoted to pregnancy and childbirth. I was hoping to gain an Ayurvedic perspective on the other stages that women go through - puberty, pre-menopause, menopause, etc. But there isn't much coverage of these topics. Ayurveda is a vast science and I understand that all aspects cannot be covered in depth in a 200-page book. This book can be a good primer to get started. Certain chapters are dedicated to general health, which contain useful Ayurveda guidelines. Many of the key topics - Dinacharya, Rtucharya, incompatible foods, tri-doshas and factors influencing the tri-doshas, foods, and tastes are elaborated in enough detail for beginners. I especially found the chapter on the six seasons, the foods to be consumed and the re...