From Health Scare to Mind–Muscle Lifestyle: My Complete Fitness Journey

I’ve been fascinated by the connection between mind and body since 2012, practicing meditation for mental clarity while staying active whenever I could—a personal mantra I call "Mind : Muscle."

A Wake-Up Call

In 2016, a routine blood donation unexpectedly set me on a more serious health path. I was told my haemoglobin levels were low and advised to eat more iron-rich foods. That simple suggestion led me to begin regular health check-ups—monitoring sugar, cholesterol, thyroid, and more.

The first tests revealed hypothyroidism, and by 2017 my HbA1c results showed I was edging toward pre-diabetes.

Choosing Lifestyle Over Medication

It was my privilege to consult Dr. Ezhilan Naganathan, who once cared for the late Dr. M. Karunanidhi, Tamil Nadu’s five-time Chief Minister. When he reviewed my 2018 reports, he gave me two choices:

* Start medication to control blood sugar, or

* Commit to a lifestyle overhaul—eliminate rice and wheat, focus on vegetables, fruits, and lean meat, and walk daily.

I chose lifestyle change.

Radical Diet & Daily Beach Walks

From October 2018, I cut out rice and wheat for two months, eating only vegetables, fruits, and meat. Rain or shine, I walked 5 km every morning along Marina Beach.

By December, I had lost 10 kg and lowered my HbA1c by 1.2 points—a powerful proof that disciplined effort works.  Meanwhile, my hypothyroidism got better, allowing me to stop taking the medication.

Post-COVID Routine & The Gym Chapter

Even after the pandemic, I continued beach walks and mindful eating. Yet the idea of a structured gym routine lingered. On 1 May 2022, I joined Slam Gym on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, Mylapore—the day I truly became a “fitness freak.”

One funny moment still makes me smile: a fellow member at the lat machine asked, “What class today?” I innocently replied, “Morning class,” unaware of gym jargon.

Deepening My Practice: Strength & Cardio

For years I focused mainly on strength training, averaging 22–25 sessions a month, while cardio stayed irregular. But an October 2024 cholesterol test was a wake-up call.

Diving into research and scientific studies, I finally understood the distinct benefits:

* Cardio improves heart health, endurance, and longevity.

* Strength training builds muscle mass and enhances quality of life.

Since then, I’ve added structured cardio after every strength session, balancing both for optimal fitness.

A Lifelong Commitment

What began as a simple health check has grown into a passion that shapes my daily life. From meditation to strength training to cardio, my journey is proof that consistent lifestyle choices can transform health and mindset.

A night of Dhamma & the Blood Moon

 Full moon days have always carried a special meaning in Buddhism. Many of the most profound events in the life of the Buddha — from His enlightenment to the founding of the Bhikkhuni Sangha — took place under the gentle glow of the full moon.

Yesterday was one such sacred day, celebrated as International Bhikkhuni Day, honoring the birth of the first Bhikkhuni Sangha, a timeless symbol of wisdom, compassion, and equality.

What made the evening even more magical was nature’s own offering — a lunar eclipse. As the Earth’s shadow touched the moon, it slowly turned into a deep crimson blood moon, a sight that science explains beautifully, yet still fills the heart with wonder.

Our daughter, curious and full of excitement, insisted we watch it together. Around 11 p.m., we stepped out onto the terrace, the night air cool and still. As the moon shifted into its reddish glow, her eyes sparkled with amazement. She watched in complete awe, thrilled by the rare celestial dance above us.

Here are a few glimpses she captured through her lens… 📸🌙❤️

The secret ingredient of Warren's wealth the most misses out!

 Picked up the book "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel, a week before, though bought it sometime back.

Thoroughly enjoyed the 20 chapters of the book, which share lots of insights about the economic cycle, compounding, time etc...,

When it comes to money, people are not deciding upon, how they handle it with just a rational approach alone.  As human beings have emotions, emotions play crucial roles in everything they handle.  Money is also one among them.  The psychology of money explores human behaviour with the subject of money and shares some great insights on the subject.  

The Psychology of Money

One of the insights from the book is, that Warren Buffett's wealth doesn't come from only his intelligence in picking the stock but handling his emotions, in sticking with it for a long time, so that the compounding of wealth, could offer the best possible returns.  He's been in the market for about 3 quarters of a century.  

Time is an important factor, which has been neglected by many books on Warren Buffett.  But Morgan Housel has zeroed it.  

The book might not be the one, which you read once and shelve it forever, but to refer often to make the insights part and parcel of one's life.

Chasing the Monk's Shadow: A Journey in the Footsteps of Xuanzang by Mishi Saran

    It was just another day, strolling the Connemara library's Buddhist books section, and stumbled upon the title "Chasing the Monk's Shadow: A Journey in the Footsteps of Xuanzang" by Mishi Saran.  The author, though born in India, and settled in China, had a curiosity to explore the places, which has been tread by the Xuanzang during the 7th Century AD.  

    I've been attending some LIVE streams and watching some videos on YouTube about the places visited by Xuanzang but love to read a book as that would be a better way of dwelling on the content than some random browsing while accessing the content online.

Hence, this book caught my curiosity and subscribed to it for my reading, from the library.

Chasing the Monk's Shadow: A Journey in the Footsteps of Xuanzang by Mishi Saran

The book starts with Mishi Saran's preparation for the epic journey.  She's penned it like watching a Hollywood movie, shuttling between the present and the past.  Thoroughly enjoying the book so far.  

Dropped a message, googling Mishi Saran's website about the same.

Would write a detailed post, after finishing the book.

Influence of Buddhism on selected works of world literature

 It’s just another day, I’ve been eagerly going through the books under the section Buddhism, in Connemara Public Library, and found the book titled “Influence of Buddhism on Selected Works of World Literature”. As one of the oldest and most rational religions founded by the Buddha, Buddhism has a a great impact on cultures, across the globe either directly or indirectly.

Influence of Buddhism on Selected Works of World Literature

The book seems to be the work of Dr. Ram Sarup Sailani,   for his Ph. D Thesis at NIILM University.  

The book discusses 6 novels.

They are:

1)            Nixon under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction (collection of stories) by (Editor) Kate Wheeler

2)            Siddhartha (Novel) by Herman Hesse

3)            The Serpent and the Rope (Epic) by Raja Rao

4)            Dharma Bums (Novel) by Jack Kerouac

5)            Dept. of Speculation (Novel) by Jonny Offill

6)            Little Pilgrim (Novel) by Ko Un

 

I’ve been curious about fiction based on Buddhism and grabbed the book to explore the literary world. The first novel I’ve read out of this interest is “Yasodhara: A Novel” originally written in Telugu by Volga based on inspirations from the book "Old Path, White Cloud" by the Buddhist monk Tich Nhat Hanh. The book said earlier has been translated into English by P.S.V Prasad.  

 

 

 

The Playbook : an inspiring docuseries

Came to know about “The Playbook” a documentary on coaches from various sports who’ve carved out a place for themselves by helping their teams or individuals. 

The episodes have a lot to learn, for which one may need to watch them again and again. 

The first season has got Doc Rivers, Jill Ellis, Jose Mourinho, Patrick Mouratoglou, and Dawn Staley.

One of the most inspiring things I loved in the documentary series is that, apart from the great learnings, it also talked about how Doc Rivers handled the racist approach thrown upon him, Jill Ellis came out open on her homosexual relationship.

There are more rules to learn from the series, to implement in building a business for entrepreneurs.

Thanks to Netflix for such a wonderful series.

Eagerly waiting for the upcoming season too…,

World Toilet Day

 As I'm browsing to learn about important days in the month of November, to update the social media pages, came to know about "World Toilet Day".

World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official United Nations international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

Half of the world's population doesn't have a proper sanitization facility. 

Every year on 19 November, the United Nations celebrates World Toilet Day to create awareness about the 4.2 billion people, who are living without ‘safely managed sanitation’.  

Financial Literacy for Business Owners - Tie, Chennai

Financial Literacy for Business Owners by Tie, Chennai

For an entrepreneur, the skill to read balance sheets and understand financial terms is a must as a doctor should the diagnosis of his patient.  

As a first-generation entrepreneur, getting a mentor or an auditor who can spend time to educate has been not possible for me so far.  

As they say, "When the student is ready, the master will arrive", I was thinking of getting educated financially, as it's been a year now, incorporating my company as "Tathagata Infotech Private Limited" which is into online branding services.

One fine day, received an email from TiE, Chennai, introducing the program called "Financial Literacy for Business Owners" and asking to register for an introductory session of the program.

Eagerly, registered for the same, and noted that the date was around 17 June, and forget the thing, from the institute I registered for, and thought of "Headstart Network" and searched, in the mail to confirm the timing and venue. Though there is a number of emails from them in the inbox, I can't find the "FILBO" event's intimation.

So, couldn't attend the session. And my concern was missing a wonderful program, which I was seeking.

Received an email from Tie Chennai on 20th June 2019, that there is a sponsor for the event because of which, instead of Rs.7,500/- + GST, the course would be charged for Rs.1,800/- + GST.

Wow, what else do you need?

So replied to the mail inquiring about the possibility of having the invoice by our company name, so that we can claim the GST, for which got a response saying that "it is possible"

What else do you need?

Just paid the amount and attended the first session, and am just out of the session.

Really a great educative program, as far as the first program, and I believe the rest of the programs would help to have better financial literacy.

Thanks to TiE, Chennai for such an incredible program!

A talk on brand building

As Tathagata Infotech Private Limited is an institutional member in Madras Management Association, I used to attend the programs hosted by them.  Last Friday ( 17-May-2019 ) evening there was a talk delivered by Mr. Vijay Parthasarathy, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM, Ahmedabad, who's got over 35 years of global experience in Corporate Strategy and Brand Building.

The session has been an educative one with lots of insights about branding.  To provide the whole content of the speech as a nutshell, "Branding is to create a positive emotion to be built around a product or service".

Though I've been thinking of branding as a way to improve the sales, Mr. Vijay has made it clear that it's nothing to do with sales in a direct way.  

To know more, watch the video..,

Want to learn and use some Sales Management Skills?

Are you running a business?

or

Are you intend to start a business?

Then, learning about sales and managing it would be the most important skill, to be cultivated.

Selling is the bloodline of a business.  Until an entrepreneur learns something about it, he might not be able to become a successful entrepreneur.  May he has a good product or service to offer in better pricing in a better way than it's done by anyone out there in the market.

Selling can be learnt, and sales management is part of the game.  Be it as an individual salesman or a company which have a good number of sales professionals.

So, in this post, I'm going to introduce the book "Sales Management by Brian Tracy".

Brian Tracy, a professional speaker, a trainer whose work helped a lot of achievers to achieve their goals.  His "The Psychology of Selling" is one of the masterpieces, to learn sales and to become a professional sales personnel.

"The Brian Tracy Success Library: Sales Management" is a handy, ready reckoner kind of book, where he guides us with the system of managing sales. 

If you're a sales manager, entrepreneur or an individual salesman, then this book should help you in a lot better way to learn from it and to apply it.

Sales Management by Brian Tracy

It has got 21 chapters and it is an edition for sale only in the Indian subcontinent.

The 21 chapters are:

1. The Role of the Sales Manager
2. Build a Great Sales Team
3. Select Champions
4. Start Them Off Right
5. Manage by Sales Objectives
6. The Psychology of Sales Success
7. Practice the Performance Formula
8. Improve Your Leadership Style
9. Reward Sales Performance
10. Develop Winning Salespeople
11. Plan Sales Activities
12. Satisfy Salespeople's Basic Needs
13. Keep Them Focused
14. Use the CANEI Method
15. Brainstorm for Sales Improvements
16. Discipline Salespeople Effectively
17. Let Your Poor Performer Go
18. Lead by Example
19. The Control Valve on Performance
20. Four Keys to Building Salespeople
21. Courage, the Vital Quality of Success

Click here to buy the book "Sales Management by Brian Tracy"

What You Think, You Become!

My Icebreaker speech in Toastmasters.  

Wanna learn something about me, then this will help for sure.

FREE CRM for start up and small companies

When it comes to the success of a business, the system in place makes it thrive.  If you're zeroed on the system, business plan and all, the next thing you might be in need to find the software, tools to make it work.

Sales are the bloodline of every business.  For a successful sales system, one might need a Customer Relationship Management Software ( CRM ). Keeping in the track of the growth of an account into a sale from a lead brings in the cash flow.

Sales Funnel

Just to fix an appointment with a contact, you might be in need to call or reach them multiple times.  Then nurturing them and converting into a sale, need a professional approach.  For which a better tool is needed.

Startups or small companies could feel that the fund to be invested on a CRM as a "burden" ( but its actually an investment for sure ).  So, many would try XL sheets to help them out in making a tool. 

Wouldn't be better if you find a CRM as free at least for some minimum number of seats?  

Considering this, Zoho offers FREE Edition for up to 3 users.  Though it doesn't come with a full version of the tool, but it is much helpful to start with, without spending a single paise.

You could know more about the tool by checking the link >> FREE CRM for start-up and small companies

Yellow Fever Vaccination in Chennai

//Yellow fever, known historically as yellow jack, yellow plague,^[1] or bronze john,^[2] is an acute viral disease.^[3] In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains particularly in the back, and headaches.^[3] Symptoms typically improve within five days.^[3] In some people within a day of improving, the fever comes back, abdominal pain occurs, and liver damage begins causing yellow skin.^[3] If this occurs, the risk of bleeding and kidney problems is also increased.^[3] //says Wikipedia about Yellow Fever.

If you're travelling to African countries and/or to  Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, FRENCH Guinea, Guyana, Panama, Peru, SURINAME , TRIEIDAU AND TOWGO, Venezuela, it is mandatory to have Yellow Fever vaccination.

The immunity by the vaccination begins from 10 days of vaccination and lasts for 10 years. So if you're planning to travel to those countries, its advisable to have the vaccination 10 days before the travel date.

In Chennai, Kings Institute of Preventive medicine offers the vaccination and Chennai Port Trust too.

The contact number for Port Trust is 044-2522 5858.  They say that the vaccination is done from Monday to Wednesday.  But when contacted them on a Wednesday over the phone they told to "come by Wednesday" while reminding the person on the phone as "today is Wednesday", he's said to "come by next Monday" and hanged the phone. 

When comes to Kings Institute of Preventive medicine, their website said that they'd do the Vaccination on Friday, and if Friday happens to be a holiday in a particular week, then the vaccination would be done in the previous working day.

The site had the information that the vaccination charge is Rs.200/- and Passport should be provided while getting vaccination.  But the charge for the vaccination has been increased to Rs.500/-.  

They'd do the vaccination in any day as per the need, but they'd advice you to come as a pair or wait for anyone who needs to get the vaccination, if you go alone.  Or may suggest you to bear the dosage charge for the two vaccination even if you're going to vaccinate for yourself alone.  

Better solution would be call them and find that whether they'd vaccinate on the day you wish or only on Fridays.  Heard from the employees that, there'd be a huge crowd on Fridays.

CONTACT ADDRESS: 

International vaccination centre 

King Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Guindy ,Chennai –600032

Phone             :    044-22501520

Ext                  :    127, 128

Email ID          :    kipmguindy@yahoo.com

To find the location on Google Map, click here!   

URL : http://www.kipm.ac.in/