Re: [silk] Mental Illness, Relationships, and Awareness

[Charanya Chidambaram]

I agree with Venkatesh wholeheartedly. I have had intimate experiences with
close friends as well as family with severe personality disorders as well
as chronic depression. The first thing that helped was to stay rooted in
empathy - to always try to consider every situation from their perspective
before talking about the situation itself, its causes and possible
solutions.

Therapy was very helpful as it gave a lot of clarity.

What has helped the most is a daily mindfulness practice. I'm working with
a family member to help them journal their daily life and am starting to
read more about Hakomi Method of psychotheraphy that looks very holistic (
http://hakomiinstitute.com/about/the-hakomi-method).

There are currently no practitioners of Hakomi in India, so I'm trying to
immerse myself completely and also trying to get someone to host trainings
and workshops this year.

On 15-Jan-2018 8:06 PM, "Vani Murarka"  wrote:

I totally agree with you. Seeking out a  professional listening ear that
can glean out the light in us even in the midst of blackness is a very wise
gift to give ourself, and yes, depending on our surroundings, might be
absolutely vital. I too have benefitted tremendously from professional help
and still turn to it when I feel the need.


On Jan 15, 2018 7:50 PM, "Venkatesh H R"  wrote:

Two my closest cousins have lived with being mentally ill for years now,
partly because their parents were unwilling to accept it and continued to
insist that all was well. As a result they were denied professional care
until well into their twenties.

A consequence of this is that I tried therapy myself. I found it helpful,
both from a personal (I had some thought processes to sort out which I was
able to do) and academic perspective.

Now I believe that therapy is for everyone, just like physical workouts are
for everyone.

Also, a friend of mine - Amrita Tripathi - has started a mental health
collective. Those curious can find it here:
http://healthcollective.in/about


On Mon, Jan 15, 2018 at 6:56 PM, Vani Murarka 
wrote:

> Thanks Lakshmi
>
> On 15-Jan-2018 6:52 pm, "Lakshmi Pratury"  wrote:
>
> > Also want to let you know about yourdost.com that offers free online
> text
> > support and gives you options to find the right psychologist - this is
> more
> > for the social aspects and adjustments and not necessarily a medical
> > treatment.  Hope this helps.
> >
> > Warm regards
> > Lakshmi
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 15, 2018 at 6:45 PM, Rajesh Mehar 
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Vani,
> > >
> > > I haven't had to deal with mental illness in myself or in my immediate
> > > family.
> > >
> > > But I have seen several people discussing mental health and getting
> > support
> > > from each other online.
> > >
> > > E.g. On Twitter, there is a handle @therestlessquil operated by a
woman
> > who
> > > regularly discusses mental illness. In fact, just this morning she was
> > > asking people dealing with Bipolar to respond to get thread because
she
> > is
> > > thinking of organizing group therapy.
> > >
> > > Also, a close friend whose mother deals with some pretty intense
mental
> > > health issues had found The White Swan to be a great resource.
> Especially
> > > from the perspective of the caregiver, which often goes
unacknowledged:
> > > http://www.whiteswanfoundation.org
> > >
> > > Hope this information helps you.
> > >
> > > On Mon, Jan 15, 2018, 10:59 Vani Murarka 
> wrote:
> > >
> > > > I have multiple sclerosis. It is a result of trying to meet the
> ailment
> > > > proactively and as responsibly as I can, that I learnt about
> observing
> > > the
> > > > energy space in me and others.
> > > >
> > > > My brother has bipolar. Currently he is in one of his manic phases.
> His
> > > > condition places acute strain on the family. It is all quite
> terrifying
> > > at
> > > > times. In all this, I continue to try and observe the energy space,
> in
> > > him,
> > > > in me, and in whatever is happening in the family -- in each
> individual
> > > and
> > > > as a organism as a whole.
> > > >
> > > > I feel my only job here is to love. To love each and every person as
> > best
> > > > as I can. I feel, that to love a person is to see that person, and
to
> > see
> > > > is to see beauty. All else is blindness. Of course in all this, the
> > first
> > > > thing is to love myself and to see beauty in myself.
> > > >
> > > > Whenever I am unable to see beauty in a person, to me that is an
> > > indication
> > > > that I am not seeing correctly, and so I try as best as I can to
> > further
> > > > see my thoughts and emotions, trying to understand that person
> better,
> > > > until I can see that same behavior of the person from another
> > perspective
> > > > which makes me feel I have a better understanding of where he/she is
> > > coming
> > > > from.
> > > >
> > > > In the present 

Re: [silk] Hello silklist

[Charanya Chidambaram]

Welcome home Peter :)

On 14-Oct-2017 4:04 AM, "Udhay Shankar N"  wrote:

On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 5:39 PM, Amitha Singh  wrote:


> Oops sorry Deepa! My bad, TGP = The Goa Project 
> One of Udhay's many babies :)


​This makes me sound somewhat louche. :)​

​Udhay​

--

((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] When to quit

[Charanya Chidambaram]

Absolutely agree with Arjun - I love the thought process he has mentioned
in his mail, as it tends to optimal decision making in life. For me, what
has helped over the years is to treat everything I do as projects and box
them into 'WIP', 'Action', 'Archive', 'Delete' - it allows me to apply my
brain and heart space in the right places.


On 27 July 2017 at 10:27, Arjun Guha  wrote:

> Udhay wrote asking for an "academic viewpoint" and that got me thinking
> about the question. I am a researcher at the Institute for Stem Cell
> Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore.
>
> As long as the answer to the question "Will this line of enquiry change the
> way we think?" is  "yes" or "maybe" I don't quit. I stop when resources
> become limiting and restart once resources come to hand, even if it is
> years later. I have imbibed this from my mentors both in India and in the
> US.
>
> Best,
> Arjun.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 10:07 AM, Biju Chacko 
> wrote:
>
> > After some amount of prodding by Udhay, I decided to think about this a
> > bit.
> >
> > In my opinion, most people quit because it's just the easiest thing to
> do.
> > It's the final step in a sequence of small decisions that paint you into
> a
> > corner whose only exit is quitting.
> >
> > Interestingly enough, I don't think the lack of explicit decision making
> > always results in bad outcomes. I think you end up doing what you
> *really*
> > want, rather than what you think you want or what society tells you to
> > want.
> >
> > This is good thing when you're making career choices, less so when you
> are
> > trying to eat more healthily or exercise more.
> >
> > At some level, wisdom is knowing when to trust your gut.
> >
> > -- b
> >
> > On 27 Jul 2017 08:31, "Udhay Shankar N"  wrote:
> >
> > > I occasionally listen to the Tim Ferris podcast, and I found last
> week's
> > > episode [1] particularly fascinating. It's a panel of people giving
> their
> > > take on the question "how does one decide when to quit and when to
> > > persist". I recommend listening to the episode, but my intention in
> > posting
> > > here is to ask the community the same thing.
> > >
> > > How do *you* decide when to quit and when to persist?
> > >
> > > Udhay
> > >
> > > [1] https://tim.blog/2017/07/23/when-to-quit/
> > > --
> > >
> > > --
> > > ((Udhay Shankar N))  ((via phone))
> > >
> >
>

Re: [silk] On Silk, by Silk

[Charanya Chidambaram]

This was an incredible read to wake up to!
Reminded me of my very first conversation with Udhay over a cup of 'not
beer'.


On 2 August 2016 at 13:02, Mahesh Murthy  wrote:

> Nice, shrabonti!
>
> On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 12:36 PM, Shrabonti Bagchi 
> wrote:
>
> > FYI, good people...
> >
> >
> >
> http://factordaily.com/silk-indias-oldest-mailing-list-history-geek-culture/
> >
>

Re: [silk] Luck Matters More Than You Might Think

[Charanya Chidambaram]

True. I think we tend to simplify context,  environment, having met the
right people at some time who end up helping later,  knowledge learnt in a
continuum to - luck in the moment,  as it feels like it came together
without effort.
On 19 Apr 2016 10:28 a.m., "Shenoy N"  wrote:

> Acknowledging that most, if not all of your achievements would never have
> been possible had it not been for generous doses of luck is a lovely
> practical philosophy and it is not difficult to see how it will result in
> humbler and more compassionate individuals. However, there is the danger
> that it could - and I've seen this in several members of my immediate
> family - lead to a complacent "what will happen will happen"  view on life
> which tends to dissuade anything in the nature of enterprise. So,
> double-edged, imo, as most practical philosophies tend to be
>
> On 19 April 2016 at 09:41, Charles Haynes 
> wrote:
>
> > Strongly agree. I'm smart, but my success, such as it is, is more luck
> than
> > skill.
> >
> > That said - luck favors the prepared, and "the more I practice, the
> luckier
> > I get."
> >
> > -- Charles
> >
> > On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 at 11:18 Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> >
> > > This strikes a chord. I work with early stage technology entrepreneurs,
> > and
> > > have done for over 2 decades (this includes the dot.com boom, a period
> > > that
> > > has special relevance to this topic) I have come across several people
> > who,
> > > through some confluence of circumstances, have made a lot of money. The
> > > temptation (including for the people involved) is to imagine this is
> > > because they were smart. This is almost certainly not true, as can
> easily
> > > be demonstrated by the fact that there are always many other people who
> > are
> > > demonstrably at least as smart who have not succeeded.
> > >
> > > Thoughts?
> > >
> > > Udhay
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/why-luck-matters-more-than-you-might-think/476394/
> > >
> > > Why Luck Matters More Than You Might Think
> > >
> > > When people see themselves as self-made, they tend to be less generous
> > and
> > > public-spirited.
> > >
> > > ROBERT H. FRANK  MAY 2016 ISSUE   BUSINESS
> > >
> > > I’m a lucky man. Perhaps the most extreme example of my considerable
> good
> > > fortune occurred one chilly Ithaca morning in November 2007, while I
> was
> > > playing tennis with my longtime friend and collaborator, the Cornell
> > > psychologist Tom Gilovich. He later told me that early in the second
> > set, I
> > > complained of feeling nauseated. The next thing he knew, I was lying
> > > motionless on the court.
> > >
> > > He yelled for someone to call 911, and then started pounding on my
> > > chest—something he’d seen many times in movies but had never been
> trained
> > > to do. He got a cough out of me, but seconds later I was again
> motionless
> > > with no pulse. Very shortly, an ambulance showed up.
> > >
> > > Ithaca’s ambulances are dispatched from the other side of town, more
> than
> > > five miles away. How did this one arrive so quickly? By happenstance,
> > just
> > > before I collapsed, ambulances had been dispatched to two separate auto
> > > accidents close to the tennis center. Since one of them involved no
> > serious
> > > injuries, an ambulance was able to peel off and travel just a few
> hundred
> > > yards to me. EMTs put electric paddles on my chest and rushed me to our
> > > local hospital. There, I was loaded onto a helicopter and flown to a
> > larger
> > > hospital in Pennsylvania, where I was placed on ice overnight.
> > >
> > > Doctors later told me that I’d suffered an episode of sudden cardiac
> > > arrest. Almost 90 percent of people who experience such episodes don’t
> > > survive, and the few who do are typically left with significant
> > > impairments. And for three days after the event, my family tells me, I
> > > spoke gibberish. But on day four, I was discharged from the hospital
> > with a
> > > clear head. Two weeks later, I was playing tennis with Tom again.
> > >
> > > If that ambulance hadn’t happened to have been nearby, I would be dead.
> > >
> > > Not all random events lead to favorable outcomes, of course. Mike
> Edwards
> > > is no longer alive because chance frowned on him. Edwards, formerly a
> > > cellist in the British pop band the Electric Light Orchestra, was
> driving
> > > on a rural road in England in 2010 when a 1,300-pound bale of hay
> rolled
> > > down a steep hillside and landed on his van, crushing him. By all
> > accounts,
> > > he was a decent, peaceful man. That a bale of hay snuffed out his life
> > was
> > > bad luck, pure and simple.
> > >
> > > Most people will concede that I’m fortunate to have survived and that
> > > Edwards was unfortunate to have perished. But in other arenas,
> randomness
> > > can play out in subtler ways, causing us to resist explanations that
> > 

Re: [silk] Indo-Mexican fusion restaurants and recipes

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 21 October 2015 at 18:56, Naresh  wrote:

> Charanya yu lead! Numa /cobalt venue! New space ready early December
>
> Naresh Narasimhan
> Sent from my Phone
>
>
​happy to :)

Give me a few days and I'll have the thread up and running on our fb group
to get this going! ​

Re: [silk] Indo-Mexican fusion restaurants and recipes

[Charanya Chidambaram]

So much potential for experimentation! :)
I would love to try my hand at some of these and come up with some good
recipes.

Perhaps a dinner soon around this theme?

I have been to both Habanero and Chinita and both are far from being
authentic.

On 21 October 2015 at 06:14, Thaths  wrote:

> Inspired by the biography of M.N.Roy for the last couple of years I've been
> thinking of Indo-Mexican cuisine's possibilities. There are a handful
>  of  restaurants
>  around the world that serve this food, but
> I've haven't been to any of them yet (came close to going to Avataar's in
> Sausalito, but they were closed the day I walked to Sausalito from San
> Francisco). Their menus seem to full of "curry" in mexican clothing
> (Chicken Tikka Burrito, Prawn vindaloo enchiladas..., you get the idea). I
> was thinking of food that was fused the other direction.
>
> Some of the potential dishes I've been dreaming of:
>
> Bhel puri with chorizo (or soyrizo), pico de gallo, sour cream
>
> Pani puri with tomatillo rasam
>
> Uppuma made with masa harina
>
> ...
>
> What are some dishes that you think would make great Indo-Mexican dishes?
>
> Bonus points if you can actually whip up and share a recipe.
>
> Thaths
>

Re: [silk] Bangalore Silkmeet?

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 16 February 2015 at 17:38, Vinayak Hegde vinay...@gmail.com wrote:

 I will need to drop out. Something urgent has come up at work.

 -- Vinayak

 On Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Thejaswi Udupa
 thejaswi.ud...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 
  Yup. See you all there. I may be closer to 6:30pm though.
 
 
 
  I will be a little delayed too. Somewhere in that nebulous stretch of
 time
  between half past six and seven.


​May not be able make it :(
Have a good time everyone! ​

Re: [silk] Bangalore Silkmeet?

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 12-Feb-2015 7:08 am, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 So, a show of hands then:

 Danese Cooper
 Zaheda Bhorat
 Udhay Shankar
 Vinit Bhansali
 Surabhi Tomar (?)
 Biju Chacko
 Shoba Narayan
 Venkat Mangudi
 Divya Sampath
 Vinayak Hegde
 Thejaswi Udupa
 Gabin Kattukaran
 Arjun Guha
 Julian Philips

 Who did I miss?

+1 count me in.

Re: [silk] E.T go home :)

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 27-Aug-2014 11:47 am, Rajesh Mehar rajeshme...@gmail.com wrote:

 I'm very interested in your ideas on pop-up dinners! Welcome Charanya. And
 let me know if y'all are meeting up to discuss food, while eating food.

Hi Rajesh,
I am keen on a night out with Korean food.  If there are more people
interested,  we could plan something soon to eat and make merry :)

Re: [silk] E.T go home :)

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 27-Aug-2014 2:41 pm, Anil Kumar anilkumar.naga...@gmail.com wrote:



  On 26-Aug-2014, at 9:38 pm, Charanya Chidambaram 
charanya.chidamba...@gmail.com wrote:
 
  On 26 August 2014 14:23, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:
 
  Welcome. I'm afraid I didn't get a chance to talk to you at the meet.
  What do you do? What interests you?
 
  -- b
 
  ​Hi Biju,
  My day job is that of a Communications consultant - I have worked with
  universities, startups and various governments over the last few years.
I
  also moonlight as a chef every now and then with my pop -up dinners :) I
  have hosted more than 200 dinners mostly across Europe and am starting
out
  in India with Bangalore.
 
  I absolutely adore travel and spent my last year travelling around
India -
  from spending time in monasteries to paragliding to pretty much eating
  my way through the rest of my travels :)
 
  I have been part of the coworking and coliving movements and am bringing
  parts of that to my new home in Bangalore and am very excited for what
lies
  ahead.
 
  A tiny glimpse into my wonderland  :)

 Hi Charanya:

 Welcome to Silk-list.

 My wife and I will be very interested to attend a pop-up dinner, if you
plan one in New Delhi. Please let me know :-)

 Anil Kumar

Thanks Anil :)  I'll be in Delhi sometime in October.  In case I plan a pop
up,  I will definitely let you know.

Till then!

Re: [silk] E.T go home :)

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 27-Aug-2014 3:38 pm, Thejaswi Udupa thejaswi.ud...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Wed, Aug 27, 2014 at 3:34 PM, Rajesh Mehar rajeshme...@gmail.com
wrote:

  If you haven't yet been, there are two really nice Korean places in
  Bangalore. One called Arirang in the Kammanahalli area (north
Bangalore).
  And one more called Soo Ra Sang in the Indiranagar area
(southish-eastish
  Bangalore). It would be great if I could get about a week's notice.
 

 You missed a third. Hae Kum Gang on Castle Street. Definitely not as
 upmarket as Soo Ra Sang, but very tasty food.

I didn't like Hae Kum Gang at all.  Loved my experience at Su Ra Sang -
food as well as interactions with the owner.  Arirang is where I want to
head next.

Re: [silk] E.T go home :)

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 27-Aug-2014 5:49 pm, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote:

 Me too. How I wish dinners would pop up without my having to slog over
 them! How Do You Do it?

 Welcome, Charanya!


 On Wed, Aug 27, 2014 at 11:47 AM, Rajesh Mehar rajeshme...@gmail.com
 wrote:

  I'm very interested in your ideas on pop-up dinners! Welcome Charanya.
And
  let me know if y'all are meeting up to discuss food, while eating food.
 

Deepa,  I literally pop up in places :)  It could be a home,  a park,  a
defunct industrial space,  coworking houses - anything that can accommodate
12 to 15 people interested in food and getting to know each other.  Usually
I run it only with strangers around the table to make it more fun and truly
step out of our boxes.

Re: [silk] E.T go home :)

[Charanya Chidambaram]

On 27-Aug-2014 6:27 pm, Venkatesh Hariharan ven...@gmail.com wrote:

 If I was in Bangalore, I would have offered to be the factotum who chops
 the veggies :-)

 Venky

Venky, where do you live? I'll make it work :)  Anything to get someone
other than me to do it!