Anuradha Sridharan

 It's exactly 3 months since I quit Instagram, a platform where I had been an active content creator for nearly 10 years. I also briefly returned to Twitter as a passive content consumer when the election fever in India was at its peak. After the election results, I deactivated the account. So technically, I've been off social media over the last 3 months (not counting WhatsApp and YouTube as social media platforms!). I have already listed down my reasons for quitting Instagram, so I don't intend to repeat them in this post. As I ponder over the last 3 months regarding what has changed, what I missed, and what I'm grateful for, a few thoughts surfaced. What I miss: Interesting and stimulating conversations, chit-chats, and comments from friends I made on Instagram. Though some of them are in touch through WhatsApp, it doesn't quite feel the same. What has changed: I continue to write on my blog whenever inspiration strikes but without the need to customize/edit it ...

 I'm like that "Gadha" mentioned by Rancho in the movie - 3 idiots. I did my Computer Science Engineering, followed it up with 5 years of work experience in programming, then did an MBA, followed it up with 10+ years of work experience in product management, and am now pursuing an M.Sc. in Yoga. I'm not ashamed of being a "Gadha"!  I believe that it is a natural process of discovering our true potential and interests. Not everyone (like Rancho) will have the clarity to pursue Engineering at the age of 17, just because one loves machines. Even if one does have the clarity, it can be stifled or suppressed by family/financial/societal pressures. I feel blessed to have the privilege of listening to some amazing lectures on Upanishads, Gita, and Yoga philosophy in my present course. I'm grateful that this knowledge is coming to me, at least in my early 40s and not in my 60s/70s.  I see many students in their mid-20s in my batch who are receiving this knowledg...

  Let's say one wants to go from point X to point Y. Person A seems to know the route from X to Y. Or he is confident of figuring it out by himself using resources like a compass, a physical map, or Google Maps. He believes that the whole process of figuring out the route is more interesting and doesn't mind spending his time/effort on this process. Person B prefers to be handheld by someone who is an expert in this route. He doesn't want to struggle independently and would rather rely on the expert's guidance. He believes that reaching point Y is the goal and if someone can assure to take us there, it is okay to take their help in exchange for a fee. The perspectives and experiences gathered by these two persons will be quite different in their respective journeys. One cannot judge their choices - be it a self-relying or an expert-relying approach. One cannot judge the "need" of an expert who offers such services for a fee as there are takers for such exp...

  I heard this statement in a Vedanta discourse and it made so much sense. It helped me connect many dots. "As you gain more and more knowledge, you will have more and more dilemmas ". Let's unpack this statement. At first glance, it might sound - " It is better not to pursue more knowledge as it might be unproductive. Ignorance is bliss ". We arrive at this conclusion because of the belief that dilemmas are bad or unproductive. We consider the effect (dilemmas) "not good" and so we end up blaming the cause (more knowledge). Let's define the two terms in this statement: Knowledge - any input or information coming from an external source Dilemmas - having to decide between multiple options or choices Let's say, a person ABC is affected by diabetes, but he is unaware that he has diabetes. When a sweet is offered to him, he accepts without any hesitation. He might even go for a second helping. ABC now receives the knowledge through a routi...

 Yesterday, I presented a day-long session on packaged foods and traditional food wisdom to a group of educators focused on sustainability.  It was an interactive session that was well-received by an enthusiastic audience. I was so glad to be in that state of "speaking" flow after a long time, sharing my thoughts on various topics I'm passionate about. While preparing the slides, I decided to reflect on my personal journey in the last 12 years and created this slide. My journey started with understanding about food and how food impacts our health. As I reflected, it feels like an organic shift from one area to the other. I felt guided and directed by the higher power while learning, embracing, and sharing about these aspects.  It also feels like the dots have connected beautifully when viewed through this lens of body-mind-intellect. As I re-read some of my older posts on food, nutrition, habits, etc, it brought a happy smile as this blog is a raw documentation of this jo...

A long pending one and I finally decided to bid goodbye to Instagram, a platform where I've been actively creating content for the past 10 years. Here's the post I shared with the reasons that influenced this decision: --------------  This decision to quit Instagram has been running on my mind for the past few years, ever since the platform turned into a reel-based model.  The algorithm prioritizes content based on entertainment, gossip, fashion, lifestyle, and other topics, intending to increase materialistic desires in content consumers.  This platform is no longer relevant for someone like me who loves the written word and likes to express herself through words. Book reviews, perspectives on life, habits, routines, and other articles/links/references shared as Stories no longer reach the audience in the first place. Every article I write is first published on my blog, which then gets converted/customized to Instagram - creating the carousel posts, trimming the content ...

 For any learning to happen effectively, there needs to be a strong purpose and a process.  Purpose inspires you to get started and continue the journey.  Process gives you guidance and direction. Both work hand-in-hand to help us reach our goal. Learning Bhagavad Gita is one of my wishes for this year and Krishna is graciously guiding me in that direction. March 4th is when I started my first class with Gita Parivar. The last 3 months have been such a beautiful journey of connecting with Krishna and diving into his teachings that is so relevant in today's times. I use this spreadsheet to track my learning progress. The plan and process just evolved during this journey. The priority is to learn the correct pronunciation and understand the meaning of each chapter taught in the class. Contemplating and imbibing the learnings happens and will continue to do so without much deliberate effort, as the seeds get planted in the subconscious. This is a life-long study, as we refle...

   "Knowledge isn't given.  Knowledge is to  be taken .  It  is taken  through a process of deep  questioning . The intent of  Questioning  is not to prove someone right/wrong, but driven by the need of  a real  quest." I came across this perspective recently  and  it made so much sense.  As I pondered over the " quest " being referred to in this context, it is THAT insatiable thirst to quench one's curiosity and  gain a better understanding of  the world - both the external and the internal. But somewhere down the road, many of us have either lost the connection with our inherent curiosity lost the will to pursue where our curiosity might take us started to look for easy, quick-fix solutions started to rely on a single person or a resource that would hand over all the knowledge that we needed on a platter decided to wait for the  right   knowledge  to come knocking at our doorsteps settl...

 While working on my Anatomy assignment this afternoon, I just paused for a moment and looked at my desk. Books, papers, YouTube videos, and PDFs opened in multiple tabs as I was learning about the structure of muscle fibers and the function of muscle contraction.  Anatomy & Physiology - the subjects I was hoping to study when I was 18 years old. It didn't happen at that time and is finally happening at the age of 42.  Since 9th grade, I had set my eyes on doing MBBS. Studied really hard in my 12th grade, ran from one tuition center to another for the 4 core subjects, did so many revision tests (wish I could bring back the same rigor now!!), circumambulated the nearby temple almost every day, and said many prayers. The 12th board exam results came out very well but my marks slipped slightly in the entrance exam of Physics paper.  I didn't get through the high cut-off that was set for the General category. If I didn't belong to the General category, I would have g...