Birthday celebrations of Lord Krishna

Sri Krishna Janmaashtami also known as Gokulaashtami is one of the most widely celebrated Avatar days in Sanaatanic vedic traditions.

This year Gokulashtami (Krishna Janmaashtami) falls on August 23, 2008 for the whole world except New Zealand and Fiji (These countries would celebrate Janmaashtami on August 24, 2008).

Sri Jayanthi falls on August 25, 2008 for all Eastern longitude countries, while it would be celebrated on August 24, 2008 in USA, Canada, etc.

It is a day to rejoice, to pray to the almighty for the wellness. On the auspicious day devotees observe fast and keep vigil till midnight.

Most of the people visit the nearby temples of Lord Krishna and offer prayers in large crowds. The prayers and worship starts in the evening and continues till midnight and the devotees offer fruits and specially prepared food to Bal Krishna.

The festival is celebrated for the birth of Lord Krishna with lot of splendor & joy.
The popular ceremony known as 'Dahi Handi' takes place where the matka (pot) containing curd, milk and other ingredients is tied up in clay pots as high as they can. Youths will then form human pyramids to try to break them open. People enjoy going from lane to lane, to watch the Govindas break the dahi-handi.

During the puja (prayer) the image of infant bala Krishna is bathed with Panchamrit and than decorated with new costumes and other makeup.

During the midnight the aarti is performed by blowing conch and ringing of bells.

Devotees house would be decorated with rangoli.
Tiny feet of the Lord were drawn leading into the house, guiding Him to come in and partake of the offerings.

Lord Krishna's avatar leelas are a live example of a karma yogic path - complete detachment from the results and perfect performance of one's duties as per one's station in life. Remembrance of how he playfully enacted various leelas and in the process decimated demonaic forces in various garbs is sure to inspire us to achieve great things in life. He taught us the efficacy of "effortless perfection". His Bhagavad Geeta is a magnum opus that can be a friend, philosopher, guide, counsellor, all rolled into one - it carries the essence of the whole Upanishadic Wisdom.

This festival of Janmashtami brings good luck and prosperity in every one's home & creates an ambiance of devotion and happiness among the devotees.

Great T.E.A.M L.E.A.D.E.R Essentials

There is no I or Me in a team. There is only the team. But team needs a leader. It’s a well known fact, human psychology, we need leaders. It is something we might not admit to or not even know about it. We will look up at a guide or a inspiration that will lead our work, correct our mistakes or give advice.

Sometimes team leaders are developing during the process of team formatting (beginning of the team) as a natural process, sometimes they are being assigned to do the job.

After few years of IT experience, I can say that I have worked with few good and few bad team leaders.

What makes a good team/technical leader then? Whatever makes a good leader plus strong technical capabilities.

Good listening skills.
It means that you will be listened and your opinion will be taken seriously. I have worked on few occasions with people who just couldn’t listen to any proposition and everything had to be done their way. It ended up usually in waste of time and slide in project delivery. I do have to admit that some of them took all the blame and did extra hours to work out the problem.

Flexibility and openness.
This one is a brother to good listening skills. I have worked with a tech lead whose openness and flexibility lead to many great technical discussion with entire team and brilliant ideas.

Ability to make a decisions in difficult moments and change any decision if necessary.
As much as flexible and opened team leader can be, she/he always needs to make a decisions when it’s necessary. All the discussion we had as a team about technical and non technical issues on a project will never end if someone did not put his feet down at some point.

Point out mistakes and appreciate good job in person.
When talking to a bigger forum or entire team should not discuss individual success or mistakes. Taping someone in a back in front of the entire team will only tell others that they have not worked hard enough to deserve it. Same with criticising anyone, will make everybody else on a team feel better then the one poor geek that got earfuls. All that destroys team spirit and integrity.

Be good motivator.
People need motivation. I do. If there is no other driver in the team at least team leader should inspire and motivate.

Have vision and approach things with passion.
Passion works like a motivation sling. It gives extra boost to entire team if there is at least one person that is so passionate about the tasks that team is facing. I’m damn convinced that at least team lead should be that person.

Presence and appearance.
Being present and appear when needed is most essential.

Technical skills.
Last on this list but equally important. I was working with team leaders that were making good decisions because they had expertised technical skills.

I’m sure this is not the complete set & The list is not in any specific order. I believe all the points are very important and you can’t have great team leader without all the skills. I am also aware that in real life this will be far away from true. Even great leaders in the world history had their flaws. After all we’re all humans !

Toppers in Olympics 2008

The others should give up dreaming of landing at the top two in this 2008 Beijing Olympics. It's now US vs China. Currently, statistics as of Aug 21st - China is on the lead with 35-25-21(total 81), Gold-silver-bronze medals. US is in far second at 27-28-28(total 83), but still leads in medal total. In determining the winner, we all know that it's the number of gold that counts.

But there are so many who complained about the judging and all sorts of accusations. Here are some of them:

1. Obscure tie-break system in judging particularly in the gymnastics
2. Titanium robots as divers
3. Underage gymnasts looks like the chinese are really underaged. Or they are just cute.

There was even one medal count table which displays the rankings based on the number of medals won. Of course, it's the US on top. But it won't be for long. And when you browse on some sites and blogs that features the Olympics, it's mostly the US athletes on the front page. Michael Phelps won 8 golds alright. And it can't be disputed. But there are really sour-graping posts.

As to the judging, it is a fact that judges are prone to errors. But they are the best people for the job. In boxing, the best way to avoid biased judging is to knock out the opponent. But I don't know how they do it in gymnastics, diving, and other sports which are won by judges scores.

US & China are the two world superpower in sports. Their rivalry is fun to follow. I hope the politicians will not involve theirselves here.