Wo(a)ndering thoughts!!!

It is that time of the year when we start to reflect on the past year and have a chance to up a version in the new year. During the weekend I did my usual beach stretch. While walking on those familiar paths near the beach, it reminded me of the time 18 months ago, how confused and broken I was and I used to walk this same path almost every single day for 6 months. I spent hundreds of hours listening to podcasts by Simon Sinek & Mel Robbins while walking along the beach for hundreds of kilometres. Whenever I encounter a problem, I rush to the beach to find solace; it comforts me every single time. Standing on the shores of the ocean, you realise how small you are, and your problems seem to shrink to merely a drop in the ocean.When it all started, I was lost and with every step I took, I felt I was getting the clarity I needed. But every step felt long and exhausting.  I emerged stronger and more courageous than ever before.  PC: Google images Earlier this year, the u...

Whether it's a business problem or a technology problem, the first step is to find a solution. Am I right?  I don’t need a Business degree to recognise it's not the right way to solve a problem; surprisingly, many teams follow this approach. Often a solution is reached before defining a problem. You might argue “Why would an organisation spend $$ without analysing the problem?”. I agree with the intention, but I believe getting clarity on the problem will save time and avoid complications in other business processes, time, money, and resources in the long run. I have noticed instances where businesses quickly resolve problems without knowing the downstream effects on other processes, which can lead to further issues later. In some cases, standard processes have workarounds because no one had time to go back and fix it. Here is your guide to solve problems in an ideal way, The first step is to  analyse and identify the problem  - Explore thoroughly to get to the core ...

I feel grateful for so many little things in  life and I wanted to capture that. Here it goes, In the world of concrete jungle I feel rich, 'coz I wake up to the sounds of birds   In the world of beauty standards I feel rich, 'coz my standards are on kindness and  compassion   In the world of people seeking happiness elsewhere I feel rich, 'coz I’m my happiness   In the world of material wealth I feel rich,  'coz I live around lush mountains and rivers   In the world of nastiness and fakeness I feel rich, 'coz I’m privileged enough to walk out of toxicity   In a world of millions of followers I feel rich,  'coz I have a handful of friends who root for me   In the world of monetary I’m rich,  'coz I have the time to reflect and change In the world of bash parties I feel rich, 'coz I can vibe on my own  In the world of expensive gemstones I'm rich, 'coz I can laugh at any situation In the world of insecured I'm rich, 'coz I k...

Have you ever used a media filter to show a version you want to share with your virtual world? I need a filter to use it in the real world. Not for my face or my body to appear any different. God NO!! I love myself to the fullest. It's like a filter that can be programmed to react and respond to real-world subtleties. There are intentionally no dislike buttons in the virtual world; you need to ignore the posts you don't like or disagree with. Imagine if it were that easy in the real world. This is just "my concept" - just for fun. Mute filter - This is for people like me who try to fill the silence in any conversation by oversharing. Unfortunately, there is no mute button, so I must remember to shush myself. With my brain fog, I only remember to shush after I've overshared. So, this is a super useful filter for people like me - it automatically mutes me if I overshare. You may ask how the program knows what’s oversharing. If I start talking a...

I noticed that I cannot tolerate nuisance in movies these days.  Some movies show emotional threats, manipulation and stalking - all the things that are RED flags are packaged as a family drama. Don't get me wrong, I love watching movies and drama. But I lost patience with movies that show this toxicity like it's NORMAL.  Yes, I don't have to watch them, it's a choice - I get it. But it's so normalised that you cannot avoid them in a good movie. Thank God for the skip button. I was watching a comedy movie last night. It was during the last 30 minutes of the movie, when lil A came and sat with me for a cuddle before going to bed. I remember a scene in which the hero blames his dad for not saving enough wealth to pass on to him. He mentions that he can't marry the girl he likes because of a certain financial status his dad didn't provide. I usually skip these kinds of melodramatic scenes, but I was busy on Instagram and didn't bother to skip th...

This is my first Open mic- spoken segment at the Victorian Public Sector- Women of Color Network(VPS WoCN) - 5 year anniversary celebrations. I'm honoured to present my work in a topic that is very close to my heart.  25th July 2024//Innovation centre Melbourne

I often have interesting conversations with A that would force me to think deeply and reflect on my life. Some of them are enlightening, some of them are reflections, some are lessons, some are silly, and some are stories. In my recent convo with A on the topic of nightmares <  don’t ask me how we got to this topic, it is one of the things he does before he goes to bed. Come up with questions – love his curious mind >.  I don’t know how he has time to think about these things, let alone list them in some order and give them ratings. I'm in my 40’s – I don’t think I can rate my favorite food 😊 <Mama trying to BRAG > Here it goes in his words and it is ordered by worst nightmare to least worst :)  Being chased by a 10-foot metal robot – A green pig controls the robot Time traveling to the age of dinosaurs - wasn’t an ideal dream A world with just vegetables – A world without chickens, steak, pork, or fish. What would I add to my noodles!!?? Being cha...

Recently A and I went on a surprise trip to my hometown to visit my parents. It was sudden plan that made my parents disoriented a bit. They couldn’t believe their eyes for a few minutes. I wouldn’t do it again, but it was worth it. The timing of this trip was also aligned with the annual village festival. I hadn't attended it since my last year of high school. That was a few decades ago, met family/cousins/ far relatives/childhood friends too. I didn’t remember some of them, they looked familiar and I’m sure they felt the same.   To top it off, my aged mum fell and broke her rib – that sums up the rest of the trip trying to make the house elderly-safe. My mum was not happy that me and my sister had to spend the whole week tending to her, but we were ok with it. It’s a shame she fell and had to stay in bed for a few weeks, but my mum wouldn’t sit down for a bit to chat. She would keep walking anxiously trying to make/cook something for us. This fall made her ...

My dear pre-teen,  Part of me wants you to stay young and innocent, but life gets to us all and you grow, and I have to grow as well. First, I want to thank you for putting up with me and my parental demands. You take me by surprise every single day with your patience, focus, attitude, and how you face challenges that are thrown at you. I’m so grateful to watch you grow the way you are growing with kindness, satirical sarcasm, to-the-point-arguments, your excitement to be involved in every adult conversation, and your logical and strategic thinking- you are the best ‘IDEA’ man I know in this world. Thanks for teaching me how to reach for the moon and stars.  This is going to be a big year where you are going to face your first breakups and first ‘goodbyes’ to the wonderful community of friends you grew up with. I don’t know how much you can understand that now, with some of your friends- this might be it. I hope you appreciate their presence in your life and the im...

Recently I had an interesting conversation with a friend over lunch. The conversation only got interesting when we started talking about cultural differences between the East and the West. I grew up in the East but spent all my adult life in the Western world. She on the other hand grew up in the Eastern-infused Western world. What I mean when I say Eastern-infused is when the first-generation Eastern migrants like us move to Western countries and raise their children in a mix of both worlds. For example, I pick and choose the festivals and customs I could do given time permits. Celebrating Holi and Dandiya is not part of my upbringing but is practiced now. Since these celebrations work well in connecting with my friends. I have seen some strong Eastern and European families holding on to the traditions and culture for generations after migrating to Western countries.  One of my Italian colleagues makes her tomato passata for the entire year every Feb and it’s a family event ...

Often, I have a casual conversation with A and get surprised by some of his responses which I find very profound. I don't know whether he understands the meaning of it or it's the way children brain work - stick to rudimentary thinking, we adults complicate everything unnecessarily. I have recorded so many of our conversations in my other related posts, but this one deserves a post on its own. Little things matter  be it a gesture of care or love, last night I was down (blame the hormones!!) and was lying next to Aaryan who was busy watching TV. I turned around and asked him whether he would love me forever, he asked me “ What do you want me to say amma! ”. He was genuine when he asked me what I wanted to hear so I would feel better. He knew it was a silly question that I asked, but his presence of mind to check with me when I was feeling low was true blessing. Incident from the past , this is during our recent trip to Mildura and it was a longggg drive(7 ho...

We are aware of the jet lag, you know when you travel to a place of different timezone, your body would still work in previous timezone. However no one talks about this lag that comes with Daylight savings change.  Recently we turned our clocks back an hour, I noticed I have been exhausted by 7pm and going to bed by 7.30 (and actually sleeping by 8). I thought it was just long day with work, workout and school holidays  drop off /pickup, house work and all of it. but this has happened consecutively last 3 days. That made me think, its not me its the TIME CHANGE that impacted my routine.  Now Im hungry early and want to sleep an hour early.   By the time I get used to this new time, Spring starts for 'new' new time change and it feels like a vicious cycle. Having said that adjusting to Spring time never felt this hard, I get to sleep early even Im not tired. But turning the clock back an hour is a nightmare. On the brighter note, we are now officially in the best...

Random chit-chat On one of the usual Tuesday nights with unusual discussion with my lil bud before bedtime. He finishes his day most days by saying who is the best in his life. G had to stay upside down to get the title of the day. But not today, he just said Ta is the best in the world and you are the second best mum in the world. This is the boy who thought I’m his world until yesterday and he is now in that stage where I'm his second-best mum!!! My heart just shattered ☹ Wait !!! what!! Second best mum!!! Who is his first best mum!!??? <did I miss any memo recently!!> I get curious and ask him “Who is your first best mum?!” He then goes on explaining “My first best mom is super millionaire and super-rich who buys me 100s of Legos and have a big house to keep them all!!!!” Hah!!! What the hell!! Should I be happy or cry now? Happy ‘coz he just assumed it's my job to provide him the million $$$ inheritance, not his dad by this world’s gender standards. Or Cry...

Its been a while I have done any blogging, not because Im busy or gotten other interests.. Just endless browsing reels keeps me away from doing anything productive. Well, don't judge me. I know you do too. As the saying goes "time flies" ,  its true between Jan 2020 and Jan 2024. I feel like we time travelled forward in a snap. I wish the grief and pain could vanish in a snap too.  My lil A is not little anymore, kinda entering pre-teen in few weeks. It is not challenging for me as a parent. It is challenging for him to parent me. Well, someone has to be responsible in the house.. He choose to be the one.. You will understand if you know me well!! He thinks he is a smarty pant when it comes to arguments. His come back and the counter arguments are instantaneous and they are always satired. He still hate his school camp for the food and toilets. Thank god it's done and dusted already this year. Worst thing is out of his way.  Before he boarded his camp bus, I could se...