Imagine that everyone in the world got $1000 to spend. It would be used to do a variety of things. Some would chose to go out and party all night. Some might just deposit it in their bank and forget about it. Some might invest it on a child’s future while others might decide to donate it to a worthwhile charity. Some might repay a portion of a loan while some might finally afford basic necessities or have a proper meal.

We label some actions as good, some as wasteful and perhaps some as bad based on an elaborate value system devised over time. However, the essence is that everyone got the same $1000. Most of our time above was spent looking at actions, rather than the basic fact that everyone got some money. Even focusing on the amount of money, or money itself distracts from the essence that everyone got something.

We all really have only one currency and that is time. People do all sorts of things with their time – they serve or laze, entertain or bore, create or steal. Debating about how a person uses his time again drifts from this essence. Everyone just spends time being and doing.

What people do with their time has been the basis of all judgments. It has been ruminated on for centuries. All laws, rules, values, morals and ethics are based on what people should do with their time. There is already enough attention and awareness towards this concept.

For a few minutes though, experience this essence instead – the basis of all existence, this absolute time, free from all judgments.

That is Shiva and experiencing it is meditation.

Here’s a recent quote from His Holiness, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation.

“Light doesn’t fight with darkness. Darkness has no existence, it is just the absence of Light. Even if a room has been dark for 20 years, it doesn’t take Light 20 years to get rid of the darkness… Light comes and Darkness is defeated just like that.”

We tend to give the negatives of life too much importance and power over us. It is easy to get caught up with this negativity, and fall prey to inaction and apathy. It is a common tendency of the mind to see a glass as half empty, but inaction is a really heavy price to pay.

With wisdom and commitment, we can shift our perception to the reality – that every negative is simply the absence of a corresponding positive. With this attitude, strength and confidence, it is possible to make a genuine difference in the world.

Once we do set our eyes on such a goal, we need a strong foundation in order to face such apparent negativity. It is crucial to empower ourselves with tools and methods to manage our bodies, minds and spirits and navigate the challenges of life.

One of the simplest and yet most profound lessons I’ve learnt in life is to “Just Show Up”. Many times, I have heard the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar say that if we take one step towards some goal or opportunity, nature takes 10 steps towards supporting us. The funny thing is that showing up really doesn’t ask for too much at all.

Whenever we encounter an opportunity of any kind, we tend to get completely entangled in planning the doing of things and wondering about the results. Even before a single step is taken, we end up with grandiose opinions on how things could be done and where they might end up. For whatever reason, if we believe that this fantasy is beyond our comfort zone, we decide to not even show up. This pattern leads to countless lost opportunities and retrospective regrets.

The smartest thing to do is to just show up – before too many opinions and biases taint us. We don’t even have to think about doing anything. There are no commitments when we just show up, we can always leave. But this approach gives the opportunity a fair chance of materializing, at least when compared to not showing up at all which essentially equates to zero.

Over time, just being present translates into doing. The only requirement is to give our 100% at showing up and being present. This is when nature comes in to support us. Notice the key word “being” in “being lucky” or “being at the right place at the right time”. Luck or chance can only manifest when we show up. We can only win the lottery when we buy a lottery ticket – a trivial but true example. Going further, we can only progress when we show up with a willing mind. We can only learn if we show up at school with a blank slate. Our careers will only flourish if we show up for unknown challenges with eagerness. Our relationships will only grow if we show up for our families and friends from a space free of past prejudices. Anything that gets our committed attention only grows, and the first step is to show up with an open mind.

We do commit to many things in life, but inevitably with tons of baggage – opinions, judgments, experiences. Are we genuinely growing or are we just stuck in a beaten circle ploughed by our past experiences? How fruitful have our choices really been? Are we really showing up for ourselves?

Our lives are like beautiful story books – full of potential on the cover and in the first few chapters. Our inexperienced mistakes make for great entertainment but also cause great suffering. Meanwhile, our experiences only lead to calculated routines and immaculate boredom. The climax concludes with a story about nothing. Avoiding this flop of a story book is the essence of spirituality.

The reality is that 90% of effort is in showing up with a mind free of rigid opinions. Once that hurdle is crossed, we can resist participating only so long. And the universe conspires for the success of those who are present and willing.

It is said that logic has no loyalty. Any kind of logic can be concocted to be for or against an issue. Remember those debating contests in school? Pick a topic and tell one person to debate for that topic and the other to debate against it. True wisdom is beyond such logic.

There is no shortage of such controversial topics – in fact, it is the easiest way to divide a group. The topic could be something as simple as the humble apple or as complex as off-shore drilling. It is impossible to know everything and by that metric, any opinion is at best a guess. When our own position is a guess, what are the odds of comprehending another person’s point of view?

Nature reflects this wisdom. There isn’t only one type of apple, there’s hundreds of varieties. There isn’t even just one type of fruit, or even one category of food. Nature is comfortable with millions of opinions on everything – birds, leaves, stones and seas. And that is the wisdom beyond arguments. It’s all already there to see, no arguments can change that.

Once that wisdom dawns, there are no winners or losers anymore, just the universal truth.

I’ve been with the Art of Living Foundation for a while. In that time, I’ve attended who knows how many satsangs, from the intimate 2 person ones to ones that have filled stadiums and air fields. I’ve seen many super ordinary as well as super fantastic singers and performers both dazzle and fizzle. Satsangs with the Guru, satsangs *with* the Guru, and satsangs. It has been quite a trip.

Recently, Swami Suryapada visited Austin for one evening of satsang. It was raining rivers and the atmosphere was intense. Regardless, our center was full of people, and not just the usual suspects. A variety of people were present, many who I’d never even seen before. The room was choke full and the mood was suspect.

Swamiji breezed in and sat down. In the matter of a few seconds, He blew our minds off. I’ve never seen someone take such glorious charge of a venue with music. Here was someone who could do what the Guru does.

There were no concepts, He shattered them all. He was totally down to earth, rendered complicated bhajans with flair and the group couldn’t but participate 100%. There were no limitations, no eastern/western bridges to build, no people to convince or impress, no need for complicated knowledge, people just experienced the moment. It was pure bliss.

In my earlier days, I put a lot of effort into satsang and I saw some of them go nowhere despite my contribution. I concluded that the group intention wasn’t there and that it was impossible for me to overcome that. Here was someone who did completely the opposite. It was irrelevant what the group intention was. His intention was so potent and laser focused that the group became Him. And He became the group. So lovely, no limitations, no concepts, no barriers, total freedom.

It was a powerful lesson for me to do my 100% and not worry, nature cannot but support such intention. In fact, such intention becomes nature’s intention, there is no difference, no separation.

He was the epitome of being in the moment, so much so that everyone else ended up there too. That night was wild and the memories still give me shivers. I’ve been with the Art of Living Foundation for a while and I’m still surprised by the possibilities. What a life!

Despite all attempts to get it fixed, including spending hours with technicians and a lot of money on replacement screens and whatnot, it never worked properly again. It finally croaked a few months later.

Source: flickr.com

Ya, totally my mistake. Ever since that incident, I have been super careful with my phones. I recently got the iPhone 4 and have always been on full alert. I have a delicate darling in my pocket.

Having these toys is like having a new born baby that never grows up. You have to care for it every moment – when you pull it out of your pocket, place it on the table, operate it, constantly keeping it out of reach from naughty kids. God forbid it ever slip out of my hands and crash on the floor.

Source: flickr.com

Cell phones started out pretty dumb. You could make calls, and that’s it. Over the years, they have incorporated an amazing amount of function. My iPhone is my lifeline, always keeping me connected to the world. The amount of time I use it through the day is significant. There was a time when I always chose a dumb phone simply because there was little to do being connected 24/7. Those days seem like a blur – its been four years now.

For something that ends up being used as much as they do, cell phones are getting notoriously delicate. You got to literally worship them so that they don’t break into tiny pieces. Replacing a carrier subsidised phone at full price, simply because it slipped from your fingers is agonizing.

Source: flickr.com

As a man, I have a place to keep my phone all the time – my pocket. It is a safe, soft place with easy access. Of course, I have to be careful not to bump into anything hard, lest I squash my phone on some wall. Delicate darling after all.

My wife is struggling though. Between chasing two babies all day and carrying half the house in her giant purse, filled with diapers, sippy cups and baby clothes, she has to worry about her iPhone. In two months, it has several scratches and now a crack, despite having a soft case. So my wife’s iPhone now needs more care and attention than our kids, like that needs to be her highest priority.

Source: flickr.com

And this is across the board, with all the emphasis on delicate, gorgeous, super thin and sleek design, practicality goes out the window. It’s the customer’s problem though, he should be more careful – like we need more things to worry about. So much for making life easier.

This is what it has come to, us having to care for these gadgets more and more, losing focus on the more important things. They are getting more useful and yet expensive to replace. What a life – can’t live with them, can’t live without. Delicate darlings indeed.

I was recently thinking about the primary pillars of the Art of Living – namely Seva, Satsang and Sadhana, also, the implicit ones – Silence, Smile and Sadguru. I like to compare these aspects of life to a tree.

Sadhana is the practice – the root of the tree – grounding it firmly and providing the essential nutrients of life. It provides a strong foundation on which anything can be achieved. Without strong roots, life easily takes us for a ride.

Satsang is the group – the trunk of the tree – providing the infrastructure to grow. It is the support system that we need when life does take us for a ride. Sometimes, life’s too smart for us. It is a life jacket which protects us from drowning.

Silence is forbearance – the endurance of a tree – standing through all challenges and changes, unflinchingly. Life’s challenges can only be faced unscathed if we can listen to our soul. Without that discipline, we can easily become part of the noise.

Smile is the attitude – the appearance of the tree – magnificent, colorful and real, adding beauty to the surroundings. An authentic and generous smile can make a big impact and a lasting impression.

Seva is the expression – the flowers and fruits of the tree – sharing their best with the world, bringing new life with love. It is the ultimate expression of joy, being useful to everyone in every way possible. The effects of unconditional seva only multiply.

Sadguru is the divine – providing the ultimate purpose for the tree – to grow. It is the guiding force that brings the means and the end in focus.

These pillars seem to form a sequence, just like the tree. The root and trunk are the physical aspects, forbearance and attitude are the mental aspects. Together they bear fruits that propagate the spirit. And the essential undercurrent is the divine, supporting this entire dance.

Different people tend to identify with different aspects. Some get completely absorbed in one, a few are able to go beyond preferences. The luckiest few end up dancing without even trying.

Fred Brooks wrote The Mythical Man Month over 35 years ago where he spoke about the problems associated with large scale software development. A decade later, he wrote an essay (which later became a chapter in the book) about how there’s No Silver Bullet that will cure an essential subset of that pain because of software’s inherent complexity. The book is awesome and per Brooks himself, “everybody quotes it, some people read it, and a few people go by it.“

Source: wikipedia.org

So it has been almost four decades since his book came out, let alone contributions from several others, and we have nothing real to show for it.

No cure

The cold has obviously been around since the beginning of time yet, there is no real cure. Man has surely had enough time and discomfort to figure out a cure but the fact is that when you feel that first itch in your nose or your throat, you know what you’re in for. And while no one has claimed that there’s no cure possible, at least there’s reasonable justification for lack of progress. There are also those who claim cures, surely I should try them out before making any snide remarks. Even flu vaccines are touch and go, the viruses are just too smart for their size.

Source: flickr.com

Compare that with software: the pain has been around since the beginning and there’s no avoiding it. It has become an acceptable part of the industry and has only been increasing with our ambitions. At least Fred had the guts to claim there’s no cure so we’d stop hoping for one and get back to work.

No shortage of remedies

This is my pet peeve. Go to the cold aisle in any pharmacy and you will find a huge selection of “over the counter” remedies for your flu symptoms. Search on Google, there’s no shortage of home remedies either. Fact is that none of it works. You can pop your favorite pills, the cold will inevitably take the same amount of time to go. You have to put in the time, go through the pain. Best part is this huge industry is magically still in business selling everything but a cure. Expect nothing from that expectorant, that cough suppressant will only suppress your enthusiasm. If this stuff really works though, I’m the unfortunate exception.

Source: jaymunro.net

Compare that with software: the lists of programming languages, software libraries, IDEs, design paradigms, development techniques, project management methods, etc. etc. are also limitless. All of them (cl)aim to make the development process easier, faster, fool proof, scalable, etc. All of them have their believers and ardent followers. Fact is that none of it really avoids the pain. You have to put in the time, the hours, the sweat. Per Fred, we are the biggest bug, and there’s no p(f)un in that.

No compassion

If you have a cold, no one is going to sympathize with you. No one is going to shed a tear. They will laugh that you are complaining about such a trivial thing. Millions get the cold every day, what’s the big deal! Think of those with real diseases, suffering and dying every day. What’s so bad about your life? What do you have to complain about?

Source: flickr.com

Compare that with software: it is your job to design it perfectly, churn out immaculate code, squash all bugs, wow your customers – no matter what it takes. Quit complaining, you get to sit in a chair in an air conditioned room all day and get paid well. Try mowing 8 lawns a day in 40°C weather. Or perhaps police the road in 40°F weather. Folks have real problems, stop glorifying your petty issues of Foo() and Bar().

No real interest

Considering no one (who doesn’t currently have the cold) cares per the previous point, would you want this to be your life’s work? Haah, he cured the cold while people still have real suffering due to real diseases. Big contribution indeed. But there’s a truckload of drugs on the market to alleviate the symptoms. The perfect cash cow – don’t cure it, just let people get sick and pay for an illusion of relief. Too bad for those academics and researchers slogging away in their labs while others get rich selling 3 hours of (apparent) relief at a time.

Source: flickr.com

Compare that with software: would you invest years of your life trying to make life easier for your colleagues or creating the next Facebook or Google? Where’s the money and fame? Fred Brooks took the time to write a book and it became a life contribution. But per his own words, nothing has really changed. Even the avoidable problems are still around. Perhaps those who make software that can not afford to fail - like a life support system or the next rocket to Mars - might care. The PHP junkie next door doesn’t care. Most people don’t care and they probably don’t even need to.

No account of real impact

Quoting Wikipedia’s Common Cold entry, “An estimated 22 to 189 million school days are missed annually due to a cold. As a result, parents missed 126 million workdays to stay home to care for their children. When added to the 150 million workdays missed by employees suffering from a cold, the total economic impact of cold-related work loss exceeds $20 billion per year.^[9][48][59] This accounts for 40% of time lost from work.^[60]“. No joke, at least the economic impact of the cold is being investigated.

Source: flickr.com

Compare that with software, unlimited time and money, and physical and mental well-being is being lost due to issues in Software Engineering. Bugs can cause major disasters or put someone out of business. The more benign ones can cause millions of hours of lost time waiting, rebooting, working around and complaining.

No one dies of the pain

Or do they? I don’t know how many people lose their lives to a cold, but considering how ubiquitous it is, I do wonder. For the most part though, no one is hosting fundraisers to cure the cold. The world tends to be this way. Texting and driving is effectively the same as drunk driving, yet getting caught doing the latter leaves a lifelong record.

Source: blogspot.com

Same story with software. There are instances where people have lost their lives due to faulty software, but for the most part, the cost of faulty software is not paid in lives. And I’m sure, even if it was, we would still be debating Vim vs Emacs. I’m for Vim by the way…

I’m dazzled by your speckless slate,
That makes the plainest burst in bloom,
Marvel in the most mundane,
From the noisy spoon to a lazy noon,
My second lesson is to live life such,
That every thing is a priceless boon.

Undoubtedly, your freedom from,
All concepts bares all bonds of age,
To make sheer fun of this you play,
With toys of us stuck in a cage,
My third lesson is to remember this,
When I’m unable to disengage.

Your love is like the ocean vast,
Where ripples make the journey fair,
Regardless of all reprimands,
You never taint your love or care,
My fourth lesson is to be rooted thus,
No matter what life may with me share.

You are exactly in when and where,
Not lost in time and space elsewhere,
Every moment you are reborn,
Releasing past and all prepare,
My fifth lesson is to behold the now,
What else deserves a bigger care.

Not losing time in planning goals,
You heartily rejoice this patient road,
There’s more between than at the ends,
Planted seeds are inevitably sowed,
My sixth lesson is to sweat and be,
Not haste towards some final abode.

Unbelievable is your eagerness,
To pick up things anew each day,
Filled with humility, brisk in pace,
Growing in every single way,
My seventh lesson is to seek a lesson each day,
And to learn from you, and you and You.

Figuring out what is available out there is a time consuming affair. Making a list of all criteria and collecting data is boring. I spent most of my time in this department. ”What exactly do I need from a smartphone?” is the question I should have been asking myself all along. In the end, focusing on this question made the decision more palpable.

Our Usage

I use my smartphone a lot. But barely for calls. I do not use text messages at all. I read a lot of stuff via Twitter, keep up on emails and chat on Google Talk. No interest in features like MMS, tethering, etc. My wife has similar usage patterns though she does not surf as much as me. She is at home for now and prefers her laptop most of the time. She may use her phone more when she gets back to work.

We have small kids so taking photos and videos and sharing them needs to be quick and easy. Good quality is also important, these are special memories. We are big Netflix junkies so getting that on our phone would be nice, though trusting Netflix, they will get streaming working on every phone anyway. We are not too big into music but it needs to be simple when needed. Off and on, we stream music in the car.

Service Providers

Verizon has the best coverage, Sprint is good too plus with 4G. AT&T performance is livable and T-Mobile is decent.

Verizon has the Droids, Sprint has the Evo, AT&T has the iPhone. T-Mobile does not have anything worth mention. Blackberrys are available across the board.

Verizon is the most expensive by feature, Sprint is the all-or-nothing cheapest, AT&T has cheaper data albeit with limits. T-Mobile has the no contract option.

Sprint’s 4G offers a next gen speed improvement but totally kills the Evo battery. Also, it is not that much faster than 3G in my experience and its future is questionable. Verizon’s and AT&T’s 4G plans seem to have more widespread backing. I have also read good things about T-Mobile’s 4G capable network. I guess we gotta wait another year before this is debatable.

Considering everything, I picked AT&T. Verizon was too expensive to justify the cost. Sprint was a great deal but unlimited everything is of no use given our usage patterns. T-Mobile had no phone I desired.

Yes, the AT&T network struggles but it mostly works. And the limited data plans seem adequate. We end up saving $20 per month because of this flexibility that others don’t offer.

Devices

The new breed of smartphones offer a lot of choice, much like the toothpaste aisle, measurable in a variety of ways – screen size and resolution, physical  keyboard, network capabilities, megapixels, etc.

The iPhone takes the best photos and videos. The iPod functionality is also the industry standard. No contest there. Not that the other devices were terrible in these departments so this was not a huge factor.

The large screen on the Evo and Droid X make surfing and reading a complete pleasure. My eyes are not too picky about the resolution so the 4.3″ devices won hands down. Although you can surf just fine on a 3.5″ device too. Not so game changing.

The larger screens did offer a better portrait keyboard experience, though in landscape mode, even my large hands felt stretched. The iPhone keyboard is pretty good too – I typed this entire post on it. Again not game changing. I am not much of a physical keyboard lover, so that was not really considered.

Battery life is another line item. I do not travel much and usually have a power outlet or laptop nearby, but constantly having to worry about juice is not acceptable. The Evo has many battery horror stories. I had it for a few weeks and it performed quite well mainly because I never kept 4G turned on. On the iPhone 4, the battery lasts 1.5 times longer than the Evo does (without 4G). Not sure how the Droids perform but they are probably comparable to the Evo (without 4G). iPhone won this one, I could go to work with 40% charge and not worry.

One factor I did not consider originally was the front facing camera and FaceTime. The integration is just fantastic on the iPhone and I have used it for literally hours thanks to a trip away from my kids. Qik on the Evo would have worked too, but the integration is poor. Apple really got this right, though AT&T needs to get its act together to support calls over their network. Once that happens though, unlimited data will become desirable again. Or perhaps FaceTime data would need to have a different quota, or AT&T to AT&T calls free or something.

And antenna gate? Yes it is an issue and I have had some dropped calls. But I call back, and *hold* the phone differently, until my case arrives, after perhaps 2-3 months! A big compromise but I am okay with it, and apparently, so are the other millions who kept their iPhones regardless.

Overall, all devices are almost made equal. In my case, the biggest contenders were the Evo and the iPhone. And the iPhone won because AT&T won in the service provider department. Paying $30 extra per month for stuff I would not end up using just does not make sense.

A short blurb on the other contenders. I am not a business user, not that big into email or corporate integration. These are perhaps Blackberry’s strengths. If it is a question of surfing the Internet, the Blackberry offers no contest as of today. Being number one may change that soon but not today. Same story for the other contenders, just no contest.

Operating Systems

iOS is just plain intuitive. My daughter was comfortable on the iPhone when she was barely two. My wife loves it too. Lots of restrictions bug me, but they are getting better over time, some perhaps worse.

Android is very cool too, I am very attracted to the freedom. But I notice how my wife uses her iPhone 2-3 times more often than when she had an Evo. Something about the Android interface is just amiss. Just look at the settings app and it becomes evident. More isn’t always better. Google is luckily investing in improving it.

Blackberry, I already covered before, it is too clunky once you have a touch bias. It reminds me of my WinMo phone from yesteryears, just pure torture. RIM is also reacting and coming out with newer stuff. Until a real product success, they will have to coast on their entrenched user base. Something like Windows XP. Hope they don’t create a Vista.

The Windows 7 phone – have not looked at this at all, still on the drawing board with some YouTube videos thrown in. Microsoft is struggling though and desperately need a major hit.

iOS and Android are very comparable. But Android still needs lots of work to get to a two year old’s comfort level. Of course, being adults, we could manage with both.

Again, iOS won because AT&T won earlier. And once you pick a service provider who does provide an iPhone, why would you pick Android?

In retrospect, given how things are in the US, service providers seem to be the biggest deciding factor. If both me and my wife were heavy service users, Sprint is the most affordable. AT&T provides more flexibility and the Apple experience. Verizon is for those who need a highly reliable service. T-Mobile needs to figure out their niche. I feel their no contract plan might just be it but not sure if America cares.

It seems to me that focusing on the device may not be the best way to decide unless you do not care for the service or have deep pockets. Either way, there is choice and that is finally what matters.