uLaaR
Four years of Ekadasi fasting

Four years of Ekadasi fasting

December 08, 20233 mins

My mother fasts and prays. My sister meditates. I run. 11 years ago, I began a post with this preamble. With a slight trepidation I can now update the 3rd sentence to “I run and fast.” Although my…

A slice of uLaaR

A slice of uLaaR

September 24, 20203 mins

The blog turned 12 in Feb this year. Originally setup as ulaar.wordpress.com, I migrated to Wordpress-powered self-hosting on Dreamhost in 2010. A few premium Wordpress theme changes kept things…

At the left hand of God

At the left hand of God

July 09, 20202 mins

But everyone can make a beginning. Things to do in the morning: 1) First, I remember that I’m going to die. This gives urgency to the way I will live that day. 2) Second, I spend 5 minutes in…

Tiny Habits, as explained by Goscinny & Uderzo

Tiny Habits, as explained by Goscinny & Uderzo

May 31, 20201 mins

If you’ve not heard about Dr. BJ Fogg or Tiny Habits, let me suggest this 800-word primer on the habit guru’s key principles. If you are struggling with an unambiguous definition of tiny, the masters…

Chipping away at FOMO

Chipping away at FOMO

January 20, 20201 mins

To add is human, to subtract divine. – Anonymous This weekend, I had two reasons to raise a celebratory toast. All my running friends were running Mumbai Marathon. When registrations opened 6 months…

When does a streak become a habit?

When does a streak become a habit?

January 06, 20201 mins

A conversation with a colleague years ago in Chicago. He: “Heard you started doing meditation?” Me (feeling rather smug): “Yeah. I took this class at Himalayan Institute 4 months ago and I continued…

Digital Visarjan

Digital Visarjan

January 04, 20201 mins

Garmin Forerunner 310 with data being logged religiously on RunningAHEAD, chosen for their non-social DNA Plain-old digital watch (borrowed Garmin for occasional races) Nike Running Club (NRC) app on…

Can you survive on 5 tabs?

Can you survive on 5 tabs?

December 22, 20192 mins

Years ago I took a course on Effective Time Management. There were quite a few productivity hacks that I adopted (some permanently). However, his most controversial hack was to declare war on post-its…

Getting healthy.. the slow way

Getting healthy.. the slow way

December 15, 20193 mins

“Nobody wants to become rich slowly.” – Warren Buffet Replace “rich” with “healthy” and the quote will still ring true. In late 2008, after 1.5 decades of asthma-free bliss, my top worry as I settled…

Quitting in the age of vaping

Quitting in the age of vaping

July 18, 20194 mins

If vaping was a thing back in the early ’90’s, I seriously doubt I’d have quit smoking when I did. Not that it was easy. It took a year of umpteen failed attempts with quit streaks ranging from days…