What’s the first thing you do when you get off work/out of school?

 

We usually hear people say that if I were doing some ‘X’ thing probably I would have been getting this or if I had gotten some leisure time then I would have done the most of what I really wanted to. Talking about this tendency of pondering about something that we do not have currently, we tend to constantly resonate wishful vibrations. I usually come across folks who speak loud about what they do when they are done for the day’s work or back from school. So here are some of the coolest things people voiced out to be as their first things to do when they get off work.

 

• Change the sweaty and soiled clothes and get into a comfortable home wear

 

• Hug my best friend, my dog-Boozo and after getting completely pampered by his licks give him his treat of biscuits. He relaxes me thoroughly.

 

• Close the bedroom door and lie down quietly on the bed with eyes closed

 

• I just put my bag down on the table and enter the kitchen and start cooking. Cooking is a nice relaxation therapy.

 

• My kids are my biggest motivators and first thing I want when I reach home is to see where they are and what they are doing and how much I missed them the whole day

 

• I am very used to seeing everyone at home since my school days. I am working now and still the first thing I do when I reach home is ask Where is everyone?

 

• I freshen up with a cup of tea and some delightful snacks after which I stand in my home balcony just blank..it feels quite rejuvenated

 

• Since I’m a music lover, I have got a good collection of music CDs which are really very relaxing. I usually put the music on extremely low sound and in dim light enjoy my cuppa coffee seated on my rocking chair

 

• After school, I reach home and literally throw my bag and shoes and call all my friends and start playing cricket

 

• After a long day’s work, I reach home and get myself a nice hot brimming cup of tea after which I start watering my garden trees and plants for half an hour or so in my deep connection with them

 

• I reach home & narrate the entire day to my spouse who listens very patiently to all the small details J

 

• I close my room door and since I’m an avid reader I start reading my novels

 

• I love watching comic serials so I spend some time watching television

 

• Go out for a stroll in the park and watch children play

 

• Go to sleep for an hour and after waking up read some stuff

 

 

Sweet memory lane!

As a child I was quite choosy about every small bit that was being offered or going around me…be it the company I share, the environment or even the way my mom tied up my hair. I guess that’s one of the reasons I indulged into doing things on my own like plating my hair, wearing my dress, shoes, packing my bag, and setting all things in place. Obviously there were imperfections attached to it but then it gave me a sense of being in control. My parents did their very best in stepping me up at various activities like dancing, skating, cycling, driving, swimming, mehendi, rangoli etc. which I thoroughly enjoyed and it became more of routine. Sundays was the time with dad and we used to ask him to take us out for ice cream or a long drive..they were amazing. Birthdays was another event which made me feel very special. Parties were arranged by my parents for my tiny miny friends with lots of games, cakes and chocolates and halla-gulla, all kids running around the house and laughing and playing pranks. I remember the first frilled polka dots frock that my parents gifted me on my fifth birthday. In the dress store, my dad shortlisted two frocks out of them, I really liked the one which had a satin lace and frills to it and was slightly expensive and the other was comparatively less charming but affordable. I heard some conversation between my parents about the price and that was the time I realized how hard my dad works for all of us and so I immediately chose the frilled frock and was extremely happy so much so that I wore that frock for almost five years till it tore! My parents gave me a sense of belonging and nurtured me with utmost love and care. I owe my parents lots of happiness and peace! Love ya

Saibaba’s epitome of grace at Shirgaon!

This weekend I was gratified by the company of my cousins and family and since we were not too keen in travelling far we arranged a small trip to Shirgaon Sai temple, popularly known as Prati Shirdi (since it is built much akin to Shirdi Sai Baba’s authentic spiritually enlightened place-Shirdi).
We chose to travel by public transport and started figuring out the options of reaching there in cheapest and convenient way. We queried various bus depots like Vallabhnagar ST bus depot, PCMC bus depot regarding direct bus till Shirgaon but we were only being rerouted so we gave up on road travel. We didn’t want to ruffle our brains anymore and as any good IT techie does… we hit on the Google Map  helpful as ever that traced the closest landmark to Shirgaon, Somatane Phata for us which is midway of Dehu Road and Talegaon.
Now there were two ways to reach Somatane Phata- one was via road i.e. take the bus to Talegaon or Kamshet which starts from Chinchwad and the second one was via take the local train. The clock was striking 11am and we wanted to make our trip more exciting so we rushed to Kasarwadi station for the 11:20am local train. Quite unsure whether the train is left, wobbling and gobbling we went to the ticket counter and were glad to hear the ticket distributor say the words,’paanch min mein train ayegi’ …that’s when we knew ki ‘Aaj toh Sai baba ka bulawa aya hai’! Being a holiday, the train was pretty airy and spacious and we bagged window seats bindaas.
While in the train while chit chatting with other passengers, we got to know that alighting at Begdewadi (station after Dehu Road) is a better option rather than going all the way to Talegaon since Somatane phata is hardly 5min by TumTum from there. We were extremely pleased with the information provided by them and thanking them we walked down the railway platform to find a direct TumTum to Shirgaon!We were quite zapped to see how well planned our actually unplanned trip was going! In our hearts we thanked dear Sai.
We reached Shirgaon in about 15min by TumTum whose charges were decent Rs.15/- only. After reaching Shirgaon we beheld the mystic pleasure of Sai in his Moorti, Gabhara, Dwarkamai (place where Saibaba used to stay) and Chawdi(place where Saibaba used to meditate). We enjoyed every bit. The trustees have also built Annachatra(at nominal charge of Rs. 20/-) for devotees which is as good as a nice restaurant with good seating arrangements, lightings and the most happening thing, Prasad was more than awesome…we all kept licking our fingers.
After filling our tummies with tasty food and filling our hearts with Saibaba’s love we headed back home.

Reality Check

Getting closer to the REAL
Come on…runnnn….run faster…I need to gather all my strength and run fast…I’m so tired and scared…ohhh..yuhhh…help me God…I turned around he was huge, ferocious, and raging towards me…well…he is going to get me….i had never seen a lion so close…mummyyyy…he is almost going to eat me up…Gosh! J-E-R-K…wake up! Whoa! It was only a dream…what a relief. Wiping my sweat on my brow I burst out in laughter realizing that I was only scared of my figment!
Life keeps bestowing us with situations, things, people, news, events, relations that actually are our own manifestations and we get pulled into them as we see, touch, hear, smell and taste them and believe with our entirety that they are real. We drill ourselves ruthlessly questioning a thousand times about the why’s and how’s and still not getting an answer to the them. In those unsaid answers lies a small message that even Nature keeps giving us- the message of surrendering and waking up to Reality. When we do pranayama, yoga or sadhana, or experience the presence of an Enlightened Soul we tend to go beyond the five senses and realize that there is something within us that is unshakable, has its existence forever and which is actually seeking for its Reality to be manifested.
“Reality” or “Truth” as defined by a spiritual leader -“That which does not change.”
If you look at yourself now in the mirror you see that you have changed. You pull out your snap clicked 5 years ago and you are zapped to see the change. Likewise, absolutely everything is changing. But, it is changing so slowly that we feel there is no change, we feel everything is the same.  The point is that we don’t notice the change. It is very subtle and very slow. And anything that changes is illusion. Illusion doesn’t mean that it is not there. It is there, but it changes. It’s not Real and it is not the Truth.
Now coming to most logical part-When we realize that everything is indeed changing, then we also realize that there is some part within each one of us that is not changing at all that which is experiencing or observing all these changes-one stable point that witnesses all this.
It’s only when we can connect to the non changing aspect of ourself, that we actually perceive the change. Sadhana connects us to that non-changing, eternal Reality residing within us. It gives a glimpse, a hint, a whisper of infinity while we are still in our very finite body.
An actor acting out a role as Ranjha in a play is aware that he is playing a role. Once the play is over and curtains are dropped what if he still stays in character and refuses to accept that he is not hero and keeps wanting his Heer? What can you say to that person? How can you convince him that he is actually not Ranjha, he was simply playing the part of Ranjha in a play.
We too are like that. So caught up with the illusion of the world and the illusion of who we think we are, that we refuse to accept the Truth about Ourself. We cannot see ourself as pure Bliss, radiating love, peace and joy. We have become an actor who cannot stop acting.
Sadhana, Knowledge and the Grace of the Guru rises us up from this Grand Illusion. They make us notice how many roles we have already played and are still playing. They bring to our notice how there is something eternal, beyond all these roles that simply doesn’t change within us, regardless of which roles we have played, are now playing or will play in the future.
It’s time to check our role and wake up to Reality.
Awaken. Be Love, Peace, Joy and Radiate your True Inner Self.

Way of life

With the announcement of the statement for live-in relationships in India defined as ‘Right to life’, there seems to be a social impetus which makes me pen down my flowing thoughts about the changing times. You are free to share your ideas and feelings about this arrangement and give wings to this budding dimension.

It was a peppy Sunday morning and as I was browsing through the newspaper I came across a news snippet at the center bottom that got me catching up with a cheerful bubbly couple ‘Sai and Rahul’ who well were living together but not in a so-called much accepted traditional pattern. I had my own perceptions towards live-in couples and this couple enchanted me totally…it reminded me of the verse ‘Rakh loon banaa ke kahin ghar mei tujhe saath tere main hi rahoon’.

It was exciting to hear Sai and Rahul share about how they actually got together and the way in which their relation grew each day with a sense of responsibility, care, respect, and achieving clarity where they wanted to take their relation, most importantly securing each other’s individuality without getting poked by unnecessary issues. He seemed to be focused, determined and courageous and she was rational, grounded and realistic. Even though what was seen was a harmonious picture, there were certain loops that were discussed related to habits, beliefs, reactions, being committed from multiple dating partners to choosing a wider range of locations, sharing the expenses etc.

I wondered over the whole concept of a live-in relation that revolves around the fact that a man and a woman accept openly the presence of the other person in their life and at the same time they are ready to commit to a relationship even though there are no legal and social angles to it. If marriage is all about the future then live in relationship is about the present. In today’s world most people live far away from their families to pursue their profession and they invariably tend to give priority to their professional aspirations as compared to any personal commitments which leads to finding a partner who also is treading the same path and then they decide to move in together without jumping on any future commitments. What am coming to is that any relation you have, be it a marriage or live-in requires continuous nurturing and the purpose of coming together needs to be sustained beyond materialistic gains…Identifying and acknowledging the reason for staying together -as only being with each other…sounds too cliché? It is true in some cases a live in relation may be a precursor to marriage but that may not always be the case. Couples during these changing times can sustain their relationship if they are able to meet their relationship strengths and surpass their relationship hurdles and make their chosen way of life more meaningful and happening rather than ‘only living’ due to social or legal obligations.

-Niv

Check your glasses!

Carrying my inspector persona as per my schedule I went for the meeting which I had with one my teams. As I was walking towards my destination..suddenly I started seeing duplicates of things around me, dancing trees, the ground seemed to be moving.. no! before you make any guesses..it was not an earthquake..it was my specs glass that was moving and struggling to hang on with support of a single screw..somehow i fixed it and prayed that the glass should stick on till my meeting gets over. But as soon as I reached the meeting room, the screw flung out and my glass fell down before I could realize… only when I tried looking at the screen I realized something is wrong..Oh my God..why cant I see…I felt my specs…my glass..oh no its not there..i looked around and requested the gentleman near me to help me locate my glass.
My panic got onto him and seeing me on with one glass in the frame….he posed 10,000 questions in those few milliseconds…can you seee??? i said no i cant see ..Can you see with one eye? my thoughts were already bombarding me ..what do I do..i cant see & this man is scaring me even more…I had already started planning how will I be able to go back home.
We both were digging through the entire meeting room and then Hurray.. as if a gold mine was struck…he found it…my heart was full of gratitude even though his questions had made me nervous.
Sometimes the smallest things can be hilarious!

Shadows of Love

It’s about a breaking up couple who lost in space all they had…trust, love, hope, life and never gave a second chance for love.
It was evening time and as routine after office hours she called him only to receive a cold reply. This series continued for a quarter…he had suddenly started avoiding her …she was wondering what’s up with him?
When asked the reason for this notorious behavior he said go ahead, just leave…!
She said what did I do? Only gave love to you, I’m confused as I stand here and wait for my answers.

He said you think I don’t know..I ended up finding all of this from your private mails; I spent so much on you…gave you your dreams,
And you say you ain’t so? You already know I can’t stand deception.
How could he blame…how could he suspect? How could he think ill about his sweetheart.
She said go ahead keep the money… that’s not what I need from you,
You think that you know but you made yourself distant…(boy@..oh yeah)…I read that you didn’t want to spend your life with me…you didn’t bother to feel the pain I was going through …you got the situation over me… I’m your girl but you’re out of control.
How could you let go…Don’t you know I can’t stand deception?
You think material’s the reason I came, you can take all that is yours…I loved you ’cause you meant the world.. can’t hold you, you’re free, you take all these things, if they mean so much to you… so all this love, I gave you take it away !
-Niv

Agile overview

Agile is the latest buzzword in the world of Software Development and there is widespread recognition of the value of Agile methodologies and increase in demand for its practice in outsourced project delivery. This post attempts to help us understand Agile through its interesting journey in our own “Wonderland” – better known to us as IT.
Talking about methodologies, waterfall model of software development is the most used, known and monopolized model of the times and is based on Traditional Work breakdown structure.
Traditional Work breakdown structure usually starts with high level requirements that radically shift for a while and then are broken down into tasks in the project plan. Tasks are estimated and these estimates are balanced against schedule to account for dependencies. Thus time is measurement of the cost. Owing to its structure the waterfall model encounters failures such as exceeding budgets, missing deadlines, lack of user involvement and top-management commitment…etc.
Hence due to increasing demand for delivering quality software swiftly, preventing bottlenecks to business initiatives due to slow pace of software development and providing quicker response to all requirements led to the Agile manifesto that took shape in several forms- Extreme Programming, Scrum, Feature Driven Development, Crystal Clear, Adaptive Software Development to name a few. Agile was thus a means for organizations to provide the impetus for clients to derive maximum value out of any engagement.
Agile manifests itself in ways below-
• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to changeover following a plan
So if you see the practices in Agile comprise of –
 Focus on constant communication
 Lean tool-based documentation – User stories, design tools, documenting code, TDD
 Avoid wasteful efforts on documentation – just to ‘comply’, ‘outdated’ documents
 ‘elaborate as you go along’ / ‘document as needed’
 Agile methodologies do satisfy different CMMI Process Areas (PM and Engg). Scrum ensures that processes are implemented efficiently while embracing change.
 Different models – All members of a Scrum teams are co-located, Project can have several Scrum teams distributed across locations
 Feature-driven Scrum teams
Agile thus has drivers that include Welcome changing requirements, Reducing Time to Market, Increase customer visibility, timely mitigation of risks.
Organizations combine various forms of Agile and follow the methodology to best suit their implementation and bring out the best in terms of deliverables.
Now that an overview of Agile Methodology has been floated, please feel free to voice your thoughts and also share your agile experiences/best practices.