Shrinika Neethi

  Link to the previous blogpost  https://hridayakamala.blogspot.com/2026/06/lost-in-transfer-culture-series-2.html About the same time I started watching Star TV there were two other things my parents made me do. First, I went for Yoga classes to alleviate my Asthma. Gautham master/ Yoga master, as I used to call him, was tall,dark, young with well oiled hair and a thick moustache. He was the calmest and warmest man I had seen, I was his first student. At the time, Yoga was unheard of in my social circle and that is probably why I could not fully appreciate the fact that he was from the lineage of Suruli Swamigal Siddhar. Nevertheless, I was respectful and obedient. My body’s natural flexibility allowed me to perfect the asanas with ease and earn his love and appreciation. Apart from asanas (physical exercises) and pranayama ( breathing exercises), he also spoke about yogic philosophies to the level of my understanding and made me participate in his annadanam service whenever ...

 PATRIOTIC TOURISM - Day 2 & 3 Delhi We reached Delhi around 11:30 the next morning, by the time we checked into our hotel and got ready it was late afternoon. We chose to hang out in Connaught Place. We bought a vintage typewriter and the last available copy of historian Vikram Sampath's book on Veer Savarkar. Walked around enjoying a kulfi from Mother Dairy and took a rick back to the hotel late evening.       The next morning we got ready to visit the Red Fort. Apart from the wonderful history of the fort and it's architecture we were thrilled to visit the recently set up museums. About four two-storeyed blocks built by the colonisers for official purposes are now converted as musueums,  First one called Azaadi ke Diwaane - about freedom fighters I came to know of many lesser known freedom fighters from all walks of life. Their stories were awe-inspiring and heart wrenching at the same time. Grateful for their sacrifice 🙏🏼 The second one dedicated to Ne...

 PATRIOTIC TOURISM - Day 1 - Prayagraj  There are many types of touring - Staycations, Heritage trails, Spritual Tourism etc. But this summer that went by, my son and I went on a Patriotic tour! For the past couple of years he has been reading heavily about the Indian Freedom Movement and has developed deep affinity for the heroes involved and wanted to visit the historical sites. So much so that a home body like me felt inspired to oblige 🙂       We first flew to Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The taxi driver was courteous as he took us around the city which has got a good facelift since Kumbhamela. After a decent lunch, we proceeded to visit the legendary Alfred park where Chandra Shekar Azad was martyred.      It was a vast area, not very crowded and had the vibe of a place where you can just sit out and read a book on a sunny winter afternoon. The tall old trees and green grass all over showed that the park has been well maintained over the year...

Click on link to read 1st part https://hridayakamala.blogspot.com/2026/05/forefathers-gift-culture-series-1.html     AI generated image    Born in the mid eighties, I have sweet memories of watching TV programmes like Chitrahaar, Chitramala and Oliyum Oliyum in Doordarshan, along with my large family. Then, with the liberalisation of the Indian Economy came the cable TV. The first cable TV office in my city was set up in our locality when I was 7 years old; upon the service provider’s request my grandfather agreed to subscribe to a connection. A large dish antenna was set up in our terrace for uninterrupted signal so that we can watch TV programmes from across the globe….. but only American channels were available. Soon I got to watch series on Star TV - Bold and Beautiful, Santa Barbara, Baywatch, Beverly Hills et al. I learnt that there are people in this world who don’t live the way we do but lead great lives nevertheless. Since then, anytime my elders asked me to...

  This post is the Introduction to a series on Indian/ Bharatiya culture Picture- AI generated If you are an Indian reading this English blog post on your smart device, it is apparent that your grandfather or someone older in your lineage who lived in a remote village decided to upgrade to what they thought was a better life. Such an ambition requires discipline, adaptability, focus, hardwork and perseverance. Just as much as itrequires us to break mental barriers, shed limiting habits and associations, work through setbacks, unlearn and relearn. So, it is the lifestyle and knowledge transfer of our forefathers and their successive generations that ensures we live a ‘pro max’ life with relatively minimal efforts. If we do it right, our children can enjoy the same benefits. This can be clearly understood if one visits their native village and sees the descendants of their grandfather’s peers facing the same challenges that your family faced one or two generations ago. We then feel a...

THOUGHT BUBBLE #1  A bowl full of pomegranate arils peeled and kept ready for consumption is an unfailing indication of love, the depths of which you can scale only when you peel it and see for yourself.🥹🥰 You can be sure that someone is barely tolerating you when they say, " Hey, there are Pomegranates in the fruit basket, you can have them if you want" 😆😆😆😆  ஒரு வட்டா நிறைய மாதுளை முத்துக்களை சாப்பிடத் தயாராக உரித்து வைத்திருப்பது அன்பின் ஒரு தெளிவான அறிகுறியாகும், அதன் ஆழத்தை... அதை நீங்களே உரித்து பார்க்கும்போது மட்டுமே அளவிட முடியும்.🥹🥰 "பழக்கூடையில் மாதுளை இருக்கு, உனக்கு வேணும்னா சாப்பிடு" என்று யாராவது சொன்னால் அவர்கள் உங்களை 'ஒப்புக்கு சாப்பாணி'யாக எண்ணுகிறார்கள் என்பதை நீங்கள் உறுதியாக நம்பலாம். 😆😆😆😆😆

                A large part of the custom tailoring orders undertaken at Composium are for Princess Gowns.  These gowns are made mostly for girls between 7 to 10 years of age. I see passionate mothers who would go to any length to throw the perfect birthday party for their daughters; they would also scout for any length of fabric in their little girl's favourite color to give her the perfect gown.           So, the whole princess experience begins with the mothers bringing their girls to my boutique after school. It is so cute to see the little ones tag along their mothers like ducklings behind Mama duck - without a care in the world chatting away about their day at school. The mother will begin with her grand plans for the girl's birthday, this is precisely the point when these girls will look at my reaction for validation. I pamper them with the mandatory excited expression and say something like, " Oh wo...

 I have collected many tiny memories of my relatives and mine and strung them all together into one fictional story. This 15-minutes-read is set in the late 1980's small town in Tamil Nadu,India.The picture of my father and me is to add some character to the story . The last gulp is the sweetest, thought 5-year-old Babbu as she drank the lemonade freshly squeezed by her ammamma. It was almost nightfall on a Sunday. Babbu had a rollicking weekend at her ammamma’s house playing games like lock-and-key and hide-and-seek with her cousins. It was then time for her to go back to her house which was in the next street. Mother called out to her elder sister who was reading a book sitting on a branch of the guava tree, an advantageous location for when she wanted to snack on her favourite fruit. Babbu, amma and akka bid farewell to everyone and started their 5 minutes’ walk to their home. There was an eerie calm in the atmosphere, the sky was darkening, all the shops in the street wer...

Me bored Boredom was a common feeling in my childhood. At such times, I’ll run off to my ammamma’s house which was walkable distance from my home hoping that a change of place would amuse me. One such afternoon in 1996 when I was 11, going there didn’t help either. I was so bored, so bored, I almost cried. Mindlessly changing channels on the cable TV, I saw an advertisement for Coca Cola, it had just penetrated into smaller cities like Trichy and was aggressively marketing. The drink came in an attractive red, first-of-its-kind tin can that you got to pop open, all the cool white skinned teens in the ad were drinking it and seemingly, having the time of their lives. Anything new in the market, I had to try it; so, I decided to entertain myself by drinking some cola. A coke can costed Rs. 20 and I had 0. What do I do for funds? Ammamma can be my financier, I thought. She was in the dining hall serving lunch to my mama. I put on the sweet-grandchild face and politely requested her to gi...

  This is a continuation of my previous post about everyone in the society being knowledgeable and skillful. Click on the link to read that https://hridayakamala.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-day-in-life-of-boutiquewali-skill.html Siddhayogi Shrimaan Adinarayanan and Matrushree Smriti Rekha Adinarayanan   #education Good education is necessary for people to acquire knowledge and skill. A sizeable portion of our income is spent on our Children’s education; graduates lap up high-paying jobs in different cities to pay off their education loan and hold on to them to afford good education for their children. So, to bring down the costs we first need to spend. To spend, we take a loan. To pay off that loan, we raise the cost of our services and spend further to cope up in a costly society thereby not bringing down the cost. How would it be if timeless education was made price-less? My son studies in one such institution where education is given as charity – VIDYADAANAM. DHARMA GURUKULAM in...

My employees and me A lady in her early 60’s walked into my store to enquire about the services offered. Her appearance humble and dignified. Salt and pepper hair well oiled and plaited, a big maroon Kumkum pottu on the forehead, adorned by some basic gold jewellery that are considered mandatory by south Indian women. A simple chiffon saree with floral prints and a plain full voile blouse with a slight puff on the sleeves.   The tailor who she visits regularly is now too old to do a good job and she couldn’t find any new ones who can stitch a well fitted blouse; that caused much frustration for her.  I could make out that she is the kind of person who makes meticulous efforts to look smart. As confident as I was about making well fitted garments, I didn’t want to promise her anything. As expected, she was taken aback upon knowing how much it would cost her for a blouse. She politely expressed,   “Well, that is too expensive, dear. Whatever happened to the time when tai...

This content was originally released as a video in my youtube channel, click on the li k to watch the video https://youtu.be/nGlFYSxBgNU “ Why do priests pour gallons of milk, curd and other stuff on temple idols? God never asks for such resources to be wasted! There is no point in holding on to these meaningless rituals. These litres of milk can feed hundreds of poor people. So insensitive!” This is something that every Hindu has wondered, at least once in their lives. The answers that our elders gave were not convincing enough. So.... should we conclude that Abishekams are indeed meaningless?! Don’t let your curiosity die yet. Invest the next 10 minutes of your life on this video and get enlightened. Vanakkam and Welcome to the 1st episode of Hinduism simplified, in which I will be throwing light on prejudiced Hindu practices and their real purpose. Go to the bottom of the blog post to find reliable reference materials that would answer any doubts and questions you might have. Coming...

  ……Continuation of part 1 Click on the link to read the first part https://hridayakamala.blogspot.com/2023/02/p-o-v.html For all the infamy, the fox is not a bad guy, at all. It is the unforgiving society that left him no choice, no? Like the fox, I too have been misunderstood, neglected and taken for granted…..innumerable times. Not all situations offered a chance to explain my stance, I had to put up with a bad reputation. It was very unfair, with time I realised that I should deal with it regardless of how I felt about it. I started watching out for myself, pointing out others' mistakes before they could point out mine, judging people presuming they would judge me anyway and kept up with the cut-throat attitude that was much required to stay afloat at work. Not long after, I saw myself running around in circles, blaming the world for my woes, feeling insecure, lonely, threatened, and exhausted. That was a high price to pay for surviving. When we say that the way of the worl...