Highlights
- Chinese businesswoman Sarah Jane Ho says the Hanuman Chalisa calms her four-month-old son within five seconds.
- Ho said she discovered the Hindu devotional prayer through Indian friends she met at Burning Man.
- She now plays it regularly for her baby, along with Brahms’ lullaby.
- Ho stressed that some of her parenting choices are based on personal intuition rather than established scientific evidence.
Chinese businesswoman Sarah Jane Ho has shared an unusual detail about her parenting routine, saying the Hanuman Chalisa has become one of her go-to ways of calming her four-month-old son, Baby J.
Ho said she discovered the devotional prayer through Indian friends she met at Burning Man. According to her Instagram post, she plays it when her baby becomes fussy and claims he settles within seconds.
“When baby is fussy or melting down, playing the Indian song Hanuman Chalisa calms him within 5 seconds and puts him to sleep in 2 minutes,” she wrote.
She also said she now plays the prayer on a loop every morning.
Why does Sarah Jane Ho play the Hanuman Chalisa?
Ho’s use of the Hanuman Chalisa has attracted attention because of the unexpected connection between the Chinese businesswoman and the Hindu devotional text.
The Hanuman Chalisa is a sacred Hindu devotional prayer dedicated to Lord Hanuman. In her post, Ho referred to it as an “Indian song”, although commenters pointed out that it is more accurately described as a devotional text.
Ho said the prayer was introduced to her by Indian friends she met at Burning Man, and it has since become part of her daily routine with Baby J.
She also revealed that she does not follow a “cry it out” approach. Ho said she immediately picks up her baby when he cries, explaining that she believes a baby does not understand that he is a separate entity during the first nine months.
From Hanuman Chalisa to Brahms
The Hanuman Chalisa is not the only music Ho has incorporated into her baby's routine. She said she plays Brahms’ lullaby for eight minutes every day, citing information she believes suggests it could support a baby's brain development.
Ho also described several other choices she has made while raising Baby J, while acknowledging that some are based on her own intuition rather than established evidence.
She said she sends peanuts and soy milk to the surrogate who provides pumped breast milk for Baby J, hoping early exposure could help prevent allergies later. Ho openly acknowledged that she does not know whether the approach is scientifically proven.
She has also been deliberately exposing her baby to friends’ and neighbors’ dogs because she hopes early contact with pets could reduce the possibility of allergies.
Ho’s approach to motherhood
Another part of Ho’s routine involves allowing Baby J’s bare feet to touch surfaces such as stone, grass and dirt in the garden. She described the practice as “grounding” and said she believes it could support neurological and physical development.
These practices reflect Ho’s personal approach to parenting rather than established medical guidance.
At the end of her post, Ho invited other parents to share their own suggestions for her four-month-old son.
“Any more tips you can share with me that I can try out with baby J?” she asked.
While her wider parenting routine has sparked discussion online, it was her claim about the Hanuman Chalisa calming Baby J within five seconds that particularly caught attention among Indian users.
For Ho, the prayer appears to have become a small but regular part of her first experience of motherhood, giving Baby J's daily routine an unexpected Indian connection.
