Music critic Karthik Srinivasan recently had a heart attack. A communications professional has now shared his journey to health. Karthik is the founder of ItwoFS, which tracks plagiarism in Indian film music.
In his column for The Times of India, Srinivasan mentions that he experienced mild chest discomfort in 2011. But his angiogram showed no blockage.
In 2025, 14 years later, he felt chest pain again while running. He was shocked to discover two arterial blocks. He underwent an angioplasty in which two stents were inserted.
The incident affected him deeply, especially since he had always maintained a disciplined lifestyle. Running 5 km every day, sleeping early, avoiding junk food, not smoking and living with minimal stress became part of his life after he became self-employed in 2018.
His cardiologist told him to be thankful that his running habit helped catch the problem before it turned into a heart attack. Karthik considered it a second chance at life and gradually resumed running.
Karthik gave up ultra-processed food and limited eating out. She now believes that home-cooked food and mindfulness are the true luxuries of life. Meanwhile, he identified two habits that changed his life.
Deep breathing twice a day
Karthik Srinivasan shared that even though he slept early, he always struggled with poor sleep quality. Over the years, his smartwatch data showed irregular sleep patterns.
Several attempts, ranging from early dinners to soothing music and sleep apps, yielded mixed results. After the angioplasty, he started practicing deep breathing for 15 minutes twice a day. He does it once in the morning and again before bed.
The change, especially at night, has greatly improved his sleep. His smartwatch now registers a score above 85, often exceeding 90. He now feels more rested, despite having frequent dreams. He later discovered that slow breathing calms the nervous system, reduces stress and promotes deep, restorative sleep.
Here is a popular video on deep breathing exercises:
250 steps every hour
According to Karthik, long hours of sitting, even with his daily 5 km run, has made his lifestyle sedentary. He had previously ignored the smartwatch’s movement alerts, believing that his runs were enough.
After realizing the risks, he installed an app that makes him take 250 steps every hour before canceling the alert. His daily runs are now a bonus, not a substitute for regular exercise.
“I don’t want to be haunted by ‘sitting is the new smoking’ again,” he wrote.
