Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible
-- St. Francis Of Assisi
-- St. Francis Of Assisi
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
"Scrum and XP from the trenches - How We Do Scrum" by Henrik Kniberg
Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Sprint Planning Meetings, Reviews, Retrospectives and Daily Scrums. Do a little search on Scrum and terms seem to topple on to each other. Yet, very few places seem to offer any advice to anyone wanting to embark on the Scrum journey for the first time in his or her life.
Henrik Kniberg's "Scrum and XP from the trenches - How We Do Scrum" is one such book that I am currently reading. You can download it from http://www.infoq.com/minibooks/scrum-xp-from-the-trenches. I am really thinking about getting a hard copy of it. The author has got an experience of going through multiple Scrum projects and experimenting with different techniques when it comes to important parts of Scrum. He has made sure that all that he has learnt is brought to the reader for his/her benefit. To give you an example of how painstaking his effort has been - he advises us not to forget to attach the post-it notes to the wall using real tape to prevent them from tumbling to the floor in a neat pile one day!
Apart from this, the book is replete with valuable practical tips - both DOs and DON'Ts - when it comes to using Scrum. It doesn't hurt that the language is very friendly - you cannot help but feel that you are talking to someone while having your mid-noon cuppa tea. And all this is wrapped up in easily digestible pieces - which won't put you to a deep sleep, take my word for it.
If I have to recommend one book to someone wanting to do their next project using Scrum, I would go for this one for sure.
Henrik Kniberg's "Scrum and XP from the trenches - How We Do Scrum" is one such book that I am currently reading. You can download it from http://www.infoq.com/minibooks/scrum-xp-from-the-trenches. I am really thinking about getting a hard copy of it. The author has got an experience of going through multiple Scrum projects and experimenting with different techniques when it comes to important parts of Scrum. He has made sure that all that he has learnt is brought to the reader for his/her benefit. To give you an example of how painstaking his effort has been - he advises us not to forget to attach the post-it notes to the wall using real tape to prevent them from tumbling to the floor in a neat pile one day!
Apart from this, the book is replete with valuable practical tips - both DOs and DON'Ts - when it comes to using Scrum. It doesn't hurt that the language is very friendly - you cannot help but feel that you are talking to someone while having your mid-noon cuppa tea. And all this is wrapped up in easily digestible pieces - which won't put you to a deep sleep, take my word for it.
If I have to recommend one book to someone wanting to do their next project using Scrum, I would go for this one for sure.
X-Files, Season 8, Episode 'Badala'
I really hated this one. Right from the way the Mumbai Airport was portrayed - I doubt that there have been any beggars moving about in droves in any Indian airport at any time in history, let alone in 2001 when this episode must have been aired - to the disgusting plot that a man endowed with special powers, a Fakir if you may, avenges deaths of innocents by entering the body of the culprits from their rear ends and then existing the body, thereby killing them. The whole episode smacked very strongly of racial bias. Absolutely unpardonable!
Having said that, as the season 8 is drawing to a close, I find myself losing patience with Agent Scully. She seems to be walking about with a perpetual air of superiority over Agent John Doggett. Granted that she is more experienced in matters that are sort of 'out there' but her transformation from a healthy skeptic and a doctor who doesn't believe in anything that the medical science cannot prove to an agent who admonishes John for not having an open mind when he displays the same kind of skepticism is rather sudden. I am also growing tired of Fox Mulder's abduction. I think it is time to bring his story to a logical conclusion the way his sister Samantha's was. Now that he is found dead, please let him stay dead.
With a couple of more episodes to go before the Season Finale, I hope it is at the end of this season rather than at the end of the last.
Having said that, as the season 8 is drawing to a close, I find myself losing patience with Agent Scully. She seems to be walking about with a perpetual air of superiority over Agent John Doggett. Granted that she is more experienced in matters that are sort of 'out there' but her transformation from a healthy skeptic and a doctor who doesn't believe in anything that the medical science cannot prove to an agent who admonishes John for not having an open mind when he displays the same kind of skepticism is rather sudden. I am also growing tired of Fox Mulder's abduction. I think it is time to bring his story to a logical conclusion the way his sister Samantha's was. Now that he is found dead, please let him stay dead.
With a couple of more episodes to go before the Season Finale, I hope it is at the end of this season rather than at the end of the last.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Books on WW1
The War That Ended Peace - Margaret MacMillan
Catastrophe 1914 - Max Hastings
The Sleepwalkers - Christopher Clark
Catastrophe 1914 - Max Hastings
The Sleepwalkers - Christopher Clark
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Bhagavad Gita As It Is - Adhyaya 8
The commentary at the end of this chapter says that 'the first and the last six chapters are like coverings for the middle six chapters, which are especially protected by the Lord.' It also recommends that the middle six chapters be listened to in the association of devotees. The moment I read that I had a vision of rows and rows of people sitting - the men on one side, the women on the other - singing, chanting, crying. That's a sight I had witnessed years ago in the Iscon temple during my one and only visit there. I was okay with singing and chanting, at least to a certain extent. But the crying alarmed me. Somehow all the 3 activities made me think that I was part of some cult activity. And that scared the hell out of me. Since then I have consciously stayed away from any kind of organized religious activity. I suspect that there is a lot there that needs to be taken on faith and not much is explained in great detail. If that is the case, then I am better off being on a one-to-one relationship with my God. So here I am - reading the Gita and trying to make sense of it as best as I can. This may not be the best of the approaches but it's the one that I am comfortable with - at least for now.
So, now about the takeaways from this Adhyaya - there are 2 of them - Text 6 and Text 7.
Text 6
यं यं वापि स्मरन भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरं
तं तमेवैती कौन्तेय सदा तदभावभावित:
Translation:
Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.
I must confess that this verse worries me. If remembering Krishna constantly in the course of our daily lives is difficult, making sure that we remember Him at the time of death seems well nigh impossible. What if I slip into a coma and and die without ever gaining consciousness? What if I die so suddenly that I don't get any time to think about anything - leave alone Krishna? What if I go senile (shudder!) and don't remember my own name at the time of death? Even if I consider the best case scenario where I will die in ripe old age comfortably in my own bed with all my faculties intact while chanting the Holy name, who is to know what I may or may not remember just in between 2 chants? The possibility that my next life (if at all there is ever one!) totally hinges on what I think during the split second of my death is rather unfair! :-(
Of course, the scripture suggests that if we make it a point to always remember Krishna during our lifetime, we don't have to worry about not remembering Him at the time of death. That brings us to the next verse.
Text 7
तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धीर्मामेवैषयस्यासंशय:
Translation:
Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.
It is stated in previous verses that Krishna tells Arjuna that he is not expected to renounce his worldly duties in order to walk on the path that leads to Krishna and that he can remember Him while performing his duties. Now, there are some activities where you may be able to achieve this by chanting as you do the activities e.g. cooking or cleaning. But if you are driving a car in the evening rush hour traffic or trying to cross a road (God Forbid!) at a busy intersection (where you wish you had 10 heads like Ravana instead of just one!) or trying to manage a project or performing a difficult operation, how can you remember Him? Our mind is capable of concentrating on only one thing at a time. I am not saying this lightheartedly. I am genuinely puzzled and wish to know how this can be done because right now the only times that I can remember God is while doing my morning Puja and while saying my prayers just before turning in at night. Oh, and when things don't go as planned (which is more often than not!).
What, then is the way out?
So, now about the takeaways from this Adhyaya - there are 2 of them - Text 6 and Text 7.
Text 6
यं यं वापि स्मरन भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरं
तं तमेवैती कौन्तेय सदा तदभावभावित:
Translation:
Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.
I must confess that this verse worries me. If remembering Krishna constantly in the course of our daily lives is difficult, making sure that we remember Him at the time of death seems well nigh impossible. What if I slip into a coma and and die without ever gaining consciousness? What if I die so suddenly that I don't get any time to think about anything - leave alone Krishna? What if I go senile (shudder!) and don't remember my own name at the time of death? Even if I consider the best case scenario where I will die in ripe old age comfortably in my own bed with all my faculties intact while chanting the Holy name, who is to know what I may or may not remember just in between 2 chants? The possibility that my next life (if at all there is ever one!) totally hinges on what I think during the split second of my death is rather unfair! :-(
Of course, the scripture suggests that if we make it a point to always remember Krishna during our lifetime, we don't have to worry about not remembering Him at the time of death. That brings us to the next verse.
Text 7
तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धीर्मामेवैषयस्यासंशय:
Translation:
Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.
It is stated in previous verses that Krishna tells Arjuna that he is not expected to renounce his worldly duties in order to walk on the path that leads to Krishna and that he can remember Him while performing his duties. Now, there are some activities where you may be able to achieve this by chanting as you do the activities e.g. cooking or cleaning. But if you are driving a car in the evening rush hour traffic or trying to cross a road (God Forbid!) at a busy intersection (where you wish you had 10 heads like Ravana instead of just one!) or trying to manage a project or performing a difficult operation, how can you remember Him? Our mind is capable of concentrating on only one thing at a time. I am not saying this lightheartedly. I am genuinely puzzled and wish to know how this can be done because right now the only times that I can remember God is while doing my morning Puja and while saying my prayers just before turning in at night. Oh, and when things don't go as planned (which is more often than not!).
What, then is the way out?
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