Anuradha Sridharan

5 days have already passed by in this new year. In a blink, we might find ourselves in the end of January. Days fly past so quickly that we sometimes wonder what we did in the last one month (and eventually, the last one year). I have been in such situations quite often and so I decided to start a tiny habit which I have named as " Small wins ". In my brand new 2014 diary, I have started a separate section where I'm writing down my small achievements everyday that has made some difference to either me or my family. For example, - when I went to an ice-cream parlor and didn't have a scoop of ice-cream (a spoon to taste doesn't count though ;-) ). - when I did 1 mile Leslie Sansone walk (I know people who walk 4-5 miles, but for someone like me, 1 mile is a victory) I'm hoping that these small, tiny wins would make a big difference at the end of the year. And it would also be fun to read them later and have a laugh with loved ones. If you would also like to s...

As an evening snack, I prepared a bowl of salad yesterday for my 2 year old daughter. She loves steamed sweet corn and tomatoes. Along with these two core ingredients, I also added steamed green gram sprouts, cucumber and carrots, with a dash of salt, pepper, lemon juice and chaat masala. She loved the way I shake the bowl to mix all the ingredients together. I let her eat on her own, using a spoon. As she was carefully picking out sweet corn and tomatoes, I also showed her the other veggies. I started a conversation with her, asking her the colors of the vegetables and she answered them right. She then started picking sprouts and cucumber on her own and ate a few spoons. She isn't a big fan of raw carrots but I added it anyway, just to ensure she takes a couple of bites at least. To my surprise, she did pick a few of the pieces and chewed them, without spitting it out. I wanted to share what worked for me and my child, in this whole experience: - I engaged her during the salad pr...

Although my blogging frequency has been quite low, I definitely would like to keep up the tradition of reviewing the concluded year. It feels nice to know that I can go back to get a glimpse of how the past 8 years were. I read this interesting quote somewhere - " We overestimate how much we can achieve in a day and underestimate how much we can achieve in a year ". 2013 was a productive and most importantly, an emotionally peaceful year. It started off with completing the long pending tasks (ones that are important but not urgent) such as dental treatments, health checkups, passport renewal and getting a new passport for D. D has grown quite fast, from crawling to walking to running. She speaks so much and sings a lot of nursery rhymes. She is no longer a small baby but an individual with her own interests and wishes that "must" be fulfilled at any cost. She is in that phase where if she doesn't get what she wants, she will throw a big tantrum. At the sam...

The only vacation we took this year was a trip to Coorg in early Sept. Finally I managed to pen down my experiences. Husband and I had been planning for a vacation for quite some time since it's been 3 years since our last one at Swaswara . We wanted to go to a place which is toddler friendly in terms of food, space and distance from Bangalore. D is 2 years now and she loves being outdoors. We enquired a few places in Kerala but the thought of taking a flight or a train was scary with D screaming within a few minutes after we board a flight/train. So we decided to go for a drive nearby which is not more than 5 - 6 hours. We had earlier went to Mysore and it was comfortable, driving down with a toddler. We called up Orange County and bookings were done for a 3 night package. Since I had mentioned to them that this is our wedding anniversary special trip, they wanted to make it special. The day before our trip, we were packing our things and D was quite curious and interested t...

I participated in the Nasscom Product Conclave event from Oct 28th - 30th. It was my first professional networking event in the past 3 years. It was a good experience, interacting with industry experts and peers. Also, it was great to catch up with many of my ex-colleagues from Yahoo! and Cleartrip. Though I was there on all 3 days, because of the distance, I couldn't spend as much time as I would have liked to. Here are the notes from some of the sessions I attended: Day 1: Growth Hacking workshop by Ravi Trivedi - one of the best sessions I attended. He was extremely clear and focused on the topic. I only wish we had more time. 1 hour was just not enough. Growth hacks - are short-lived - Requires limited spend - Focused towards rapid growth Three ways: - Inbound marketing - customers convert better - Conversation marketing - make sure to check if the customer is ready - Organic customer acquisition (organic search) 3 step marketing plan: - Identify your...

At the beginning of the year, I set out a goal for myself to share with other moms on what I have learnt during the last 2 years, when it comes to feeding my little daughter. I'm neither a doctor nor a nutrition expert. So please use the tips shared below at your own discretion and consult with your pediatrician. I plan to write this topic in a 3 part series. In the first part, the main focus will be on nutrition in the first 6 months after your baby is born. I can complete the post in a single phrase - "breastfeed exclusively for 6 months" But to reiterate the importance and to share my experience, I think a few more lines is necessary. Even before my daughter was born, I made a commitment that I will breastfeed her and I was quite strong about it. Since I decided to take a break from work much earlier than delivery, it gave me time to read up and understand the benefits of breastfeeding. Towards the middle of the third trimester, I started to include oats, bottlegourd...

With the amount of noise and hoards of information consumers take in everyday, it's quite a challenge to stand out and get noticed, especially in consumer markets. No amount of loud marketing or jazzy advertising will give you the reach unless your product adds some value in the life of a consumer. Flipkart advertisements are cute but if the state of their customer service, delivery processes,  inventory and their shopping interface aren't what they are today, the ads wouldn't have much of an impact. In consumer behavior terminology, we call this as " attitude towards the ad " which inturn triggers the "attitude towards the brand". We might like the ad but the brand/product wouldn't gain much from the ad. I would keep referring to this book again because it's one of my favorites. Marty Cagan talks about three important attributes of a product in his book " Inspired " - valuable, usable and feasible . Usefulness of a product is a ...