Shrinika Neethi

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...

This was a speech I delivered in Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan University, Samayapuram, as part of the Trichy Toastmasters Club meeting. The audiences were a full house of students coming from various departments who were enthusiastic about public speaking. This story is a result of my improvisation of 3 folk stories originally from Aesopica/Panchatantra. I assume position on the stage and acknowledge the audience with eye contact and a smile. You know, this place is just like my college auditorium where I have attended numerous meetings. Back then, I would be sitting as part of the audience commenting or making fun of the speaker. I mean, come on, not all speakers are interesting. Some are boring, some are in fact funny, and some others are so good at putting us to sleep that the only way we can remain awake is by entertaining ourselves. Now, the tables have turned, and I am the speaker standing in front of a big bunch of students wishing for good behaviour. I mean, come on, I have prep...

  This is a memoir I had posted in Facebook on April 29, 2020. It was during the pandemic lockdown. Someone said that the quarantine period is a good time for inward travelling and so I did..... into myself and the loft shelves. Dug out quite a few pictures and memories. Penning my memoirs - Quarantine Diaries. DRAWING CLASS    An exciting part of my summer holidays was the Art lessons I took from Artist Vadivel (Vadivel Sir). The month long course happened for 2 hours each morning in the terrace of his home, it was a charming ambience..... lots of daylight, thatched roof for shade, coconut and neem trees for cool breeze, a kind teacher and his warm family.       Straw mats were spread on the floor and students of all ages sat together in clusters. The smaller children preferred to get distracted by the bees, fruits and birds on the trees; some used to chit chat by the water pot and almost all badgered SIR with useless queries. He enjoyed it all. Us teenage...

The following write up holds tid bits of my 2 days stay in Dharma Gurukulam, Palani (a homeschool that  upholds the Indian Knowledge System/ Rishi parampara) where my son is studying in 6th grade. Almost 7 months into his first year there, I noticed him and his classmates rising above  the hardships of the asharam lifestyle and gradually evolving into a sprightly set of younglings . Picture Courtesy : Srishti Khatry Monthly visits to Dharma Gurukulam are an exciting affair, for the obvious reason that I get to be with (my son) Vaibhav after what feels like ages. Besides that, it is the wonderful drive – smooth highways running between lush green fields and awe-inspiring hills. Indra devta has always been kind enough to cover up the sun with cottony clouds, things would not be as pleasant if not for the right lighting. So instagrammable, no filters needed. I did not stop for the usual podi dosai break at Anandhas Hotel in Pazhani, reaching the destination at the earliest was mo...

     With more and more women climbing up the corporate ladder and assuming up leadership positions, now is a good time to focus on your attire. Not because your current one is bad but with some styling tips your next purchase can help you in being taken seriously. Power Dressing means to dress up in a style intended to show that you are a leader/ person who holds an important position in a corporate, business, politics or government.     The adage ‘Great leaders have Broad Shoulders’ have meanings both metaphoric and literal. Shouldering responsibilities and holding oneself accountable for the outcome is an invaluable trait of a good leader; that is the metaphoric meaning of the saying. Coming to the literal meaning, studies suggest physical attributes like being tall, having a deep voice and broad shoulders contribute to people subconsciously trusting and accepting a person as their leader.       While the metaphoric ‘broad shoulders’ is an ...

    Do you have any memories of listening to stories? Well, I have many. When I was a toddler, my mother used to tuck me inside the bed and tell me sweet bedtime stories to put me to sleep.   As I grew a little older, I often used to complain,” Gawd! I’m so booooooooored!”. Just then, my grandmother would sit me down and tell me stories of scary witches and wonderful fairies. When I was in college and lived in the hostel, a few of us girls would get together in the night. We would close all the doors and windows of the room, turn off the lights and burn a single candle. We’d sit around it to tell spine chilling…. teeth chattering stories of ghosts.    Reading novels, watching movies and web series are all fun, no doubt. But to listen to someone narrate a story is a different kind of fun. And that is exactly what we are going to do now, I am going to narrate stories for you from the famous Aesop’s fables. Not 1, not 2 but 4.   About 2600 years ago,...