Learnings & Experiences

  • Observing Thoughts

    Observing Thoughts

    When I first learned Vipassana at the 10 day Goenka retreat in Dhamma Paphulla in 2016, I was taught to practise watching sensations in the body exactly as it is, not as I want it to be. The idea was to watch every sensation as it came and to realise that every sensation has only…

  • Observing the Breath

    Observing the Breath

    What exactly should one observe in the Breath during meditation? That was my nagging question after the first few sittings of Aaana Paana at Dhamma Paphulla in Jan of 2016, when I went in for my first 10 day retreat. I went into the 10 day retreat with a lot of excitement and motivation. But…

  • Vipassana and Anger

    Vipassana and Anger

    I had a violent and angry outburst three days ago, the kind I had not experienced in a long time. I have been consistently practicing vipassana for close to 8 weeks. In the past 4 weeks, its been two sessions of an hour each, every single day. I know that I am making progress on…

  • An approach to getting fit

    An approach to getting fit

    Being fit has a whole lot of benefits associated with it. Getting fit, on the other hand may feel like a roller-coaster ride. The process seems to feel less than inspiring. One has to deal with making new year resolutions, only to break it just a couple of weeks later, while simultaneously noticing other people…

  • Seeing, not with eyes. Hearing, not with ears.

    Seeing, not with eyes. Hearing, not with ears.

    Eyes are not the only ones seeing, ears are not the only ones hearing. Vision is a sensation, but it is not always something that happens in the eyes.  Hearing is a sensation, but it is not always something that happens in the ears.  Pain is a sensation, but it is not always something that…

  • Waves of Sensations

    Waves of Sensations

    When one sits by the beach and watches waves in the ocean, it becomes clear that waves arise, do their thing and pass away. No wave stays put. Once arisen, they move, and ultimately pass away. Each wave is made of the same water as every other wave. No new water is created, or destroyed.…

  • Back to Vipassana

    Back to Vipassana

    My first and only vipassana retreat was in January 2016. The retreat was great and I got back with lot of enthusiasm. I did attempt to get into regular practice once I got back, but soon I realised that I was getting nowhere. So, I stopped my practice entirely in April 2016, a mere three…

  • Learning Backwards

    Watching my son and a several other kids at Aarohi Open Learning community, I have come to notice a new kind of learning – which I would like to call as “backward learning.” However, before I can actually get to describing it, I would like to first talk about something else first … Forward Learning…

  • It’s a city – we will throw dirt on each other …

    While driving in the city, I seem to constantly get irritated, worked-up, angry and even shout at other people driving on the roads. I am sure this evokes a sense of understanding and empathy from most people. However, I have recently observed something new: Other people seem to be constantly getting irritated, worked-up, angry and…

  • I can afford it, but he chooses to do jugaad!

    Highlights: … until, I realise that this is not about swimming at all. It’s about leadership and boy am I impressed! Full Story: In 2019, we buy a year long membership at a newly opened clubhouse near our gated community, primarily to use the swimming pool in it. During the time we had the membership,…

  • “You should know this stuff by now!”

    I catch myself thinking and sometimes telling to my 10 year old: “Advay, you are supposed to know this stuff by now already!! 😠” It comes up when he makes basic spelling mistakes, or when uses gone instead of went or vice-versa in a sentence, or when he takes too long to multiply two numbers,…

  • Lifestyle Changes

    Sometime in November last year, a few months after I had turned 40, I looked at myself and felt dissatisfied about my health & fitness. I had been dissatisfied for a long time, but it felt like I had reached my threshold by Nov 2021. Nutrition – Lifestyle I signed up for a 3 month…

  • Aarohi Open Learning

    My son, and by extension my wife and I, have been exploring the open-learning path. When he was very young and going to a Montessori play school, Nandini would research the various forms of “schooling”. Home Schooling, Unschooling, Road Schooling and so many other forms turned up in her study and research. Whenever Nandini shared…

  • My journey with Scrite

    This is the story of how Scrite, the free and open source multilingual screenplay writing app came to be. Sometime in December 2019, I started trying my hand at writing screenplays. For a few months, until the beginning of March 2020, I was writing something almost every single day. I finished writing 3 screenplays and…

  • Upgrading from “I love you” to “I respect you”

    14th June 2011 will be an unforgettable day for me. The mid-wife brought our newly born son outside the labour room, wrapped him in a towel and handed him over to me. As I held him for the first time, I looked at his eyes. He was winking at first. But then he looked straight…