Be willing to change because life won’t stay the same.. Happy New Year 2021

 

As the new year is unfolding, a retrospective of this year definitely makes sense to me. 

At work many times, Engineering is heading to deliver and hence to pause after each sprint to have a retrospective is often ignored or passed on for next time. And often we forget the value that it adds to each one in the team.

"It is fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure" ~ Bill Gates

I believe its always good to have a retrospective which can always enlighten us because we often don't think much when we are doing something and it often shows how dynamically we work under high-pressure. Similarly year 2020 was a roller coaster ride for everyone around the world.

I am sure like every year, this year also analysts will have their retrospective but how are we individuals looking at it?

One thing I was happy that this year beginning I was with my loved ones and my parents hence could spend some quality time with everyone. It was the beginning of corona year, by the time I reached home in California.

The way we say it was in the air and so was in the news but were we scared or prepared? No!

By the time I came from India and rejoined with my team at work, stay at home was induced and we all were planning to work from home.

I was prepared but I always thought it would be a short period of time and then we all will be back to normal. This is how it is taught in the Defense, one may be on vacation but be ready to go to the war whenever there's a call from your unit and that can be anytime.

"Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change." ~ Richard Branson

And I was so confident about this going back to normal, that everyday I woke up and dressed up as if I am going to work and got into my usual calls and meetings. 

I was never worried about a bad hair or bad dressing day as I was always ready for anytime video calls because I am at work and so I should be ready - isn't it?

The weeks turned into months and I figured that my movements are getting restricted because of my work, and my schedules. Well, a routine is a must and hence my daily walks kicked-in, and after my meeting whenever I got a chance I came to my backyard spent time looking at the mountains, the orange tree, the guava tree, the oak and the chirping birds would grab my attention as they would jump on the roof to grab the worms.

During this time, lot of things happened while many were dying due to corona virus. I developed new hobbies such as bird watching and learning about them and taking care of them in my backyard. 

Everyday after my breakfast I change their water and make sure the feeder is filled with seeds and they all recognize me today when I do that. Its a friendly relation with nature which I always built no matter which part of the world I lived in.

"The great solution to all human problems is individual inner transformation." ~ Vernon Howard

Healthy eating and exercising is my way of living and hence that continued but one blessing in disguise that happened was I got to stay at home and enjoy my home which never happened before. Because I am always at work and weekends mostly we would travel out locally or long trips during long weekends. 

This pandemic gave me the opportunity to look and feel each corner of my house and mainly not inside but outside of my home. Nature has so much to offer I was able to share it with my family too.

The Birthdays, Festivals, Thanksgiving, Team celebrations and lunches, Christmas celebrations you name it, everything was celebrated well with food, drinks and dessert and most of them were cooked at home with family being together in the kitchen. How fun is that!!! 

Life is what we can give and life in return rejoices us. 

Giving and taking care is what I have learned always and this year was nothing new, rather it enforced everyone to think through and follow the norms.

This year many life perished due to pandemic and or due to many other reasons. Some close ones and known ones have died and it has only made me worry more for my loved ones that are alive.

There is only one life and if we live selflessly and care and share what we have with others it will only multiply the happiness and friends.

I wish we all don't miss any learnings from this year 2020 and carry those into 2021 with more gratitude, empathy and consistent in keeping everyone safe and healthy by wearing mask and social distancing!!!

"A man should be never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying ... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday." ~ Alexander Pope

Happy New Year 2021!!! 

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings ! 

~ Dawn

Society or culture or whatever you might want to call it, has created us all solely and wholly for the purpose of maintaining its continuity and status quo...!

 

Recently I had the opportunity to watch this movie on Netflix -What will people say! This is a 2017 internationally co-produced, directed and written by Iram Haq. This film's scene set in Pakistan were, all shot in Rajasthan, India.

To my surprise this film had its world premier at 42nd Toronto International Film Festival. This was selected as the Norwegian entry for the best foreign language film at the 91st Academy Awards - but it was not nominated.

My main reason to watch this film was Adil Hussain - an amazing actor and human being. 

As the story started unfolding, it started reminding me of some of the stories that I have seen in Canada. It's not only for India or Pakistan but you can see similar stories from families migrating from Iran, or any other country where the culture is different and women are not given much freedom in the name of family dignity, society pressure and what not. 

"Expectations were like a pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack" ~ Brandon Sanderson

This movie is a must watch for everyone of all gender and race. This talks about equality and equal opportunity for everyone. 

The movie brings an amazing emotions of relationship between the family and siblings. The father, who loves his daughter and understands what is best for her yet, gets drowned in the societal and community cadence where he fears for his family's respect, his business overall trying to look good in front of his people and yet want the best for his daughter.

At the end the daughter makes the choice for herself and Father kind of supports that by not coming in her way!

A very important movie and message for the time where we still differentiate between the genders and defines the boundaries for a girl child and it's not limited to the child but until she dies she is supposed to be living by the rules and live in a box that someone else created for her or her gender.

"A gender-equal society would be one where the word 'gender' does not exists: where everyone can be themselves" ~ Gloria Steinem 

If you're a free thinker and watch this movie it will suffocate you when you see how the girl is taken back to Pakistan and left her there to live with her relatives. It's something that one cannot foresee ourselves to be in that situation imagine the ones who go through how tough it could be?

This movie at least should help open everyone's mind and heart.

"Culture is not made up but something that evolves which is human" ~ Edward T. Hall

~ Dawn