The 22 Alphonso Street

 Who remembers that high pitched buzzing sound in the yards back in 2021 summer?  I can't forget it for sure! For some reason I never heard of Cicadas till 2021. But when that noise started I looked them up immediately. Apparently those were the male Cicadas using their highest ability to make some noise to attract the females for mating. Uggh!  In 3-4 weeks I started to see some dead cicadas in my yard and I wondered why? They were everywhere. So what are Cicadas and where the heck do they come from out of like literally no where and that too in so many numbers at same time? I started to research and you can look up the information all over the web just like me! But I found some fun facts and I am sharing them here. 1. Cicadas do not bite or sting. So kids if you see one, don't panic and just let them be. 2. People eat Cicadas, not sure how they are cooked but I read they taste like popcorn. But who would want to eat something that has been underground for more than a de...

Are you trying to find authentic South Indian Food in Ohio?  I tried Dosa corner recently and it's the best place !!! Authentic South Indian food and reasonable rates is all I can say.  This place is 100% vegetarian. The place has a homely vibe, nothing fancy.  This place is owned and run by Girija Narahari and H. Narahari established in 2000.  Me and my husband visited this place on a weekday afternoon. I made a phone call to reserve a table ahead of time as I read that this place could be very crowded. When we were there, I saw at least a few Americans dining as well. I ordered the south Indian combo #2 and my husband ordered the thali. Both plates were filled with freshly prepared food served hot. The dosa I ordered was a bit oily for my taste but not over oily. The best part of the plate was idlis and the medu vadas served with chutney, sambar. It was just yummy and comforting food for me. I also ordered the filter coffee which was authentically made, loved it !...

Do you feel incomplete without your mobile phone around you? Do you sleep with your mobile phone? If your are among the the 60% Americans who sleep with their phones , most likely your answer is Yes    As per  reviews.org  below are some mind boggling statistics : Americans check their phones 144 times per day. 89% of Americans say they check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up. 75% of Americans feel uneasy leaving their phone at home. 75% of Americans check their phones within five minutes of receiving a notification. 75% use their phone on the toilet. 69% have texted someone in the same room as them before. 60% sleep with their phone at night 57% consider themselves “addicted” to their phones 55% say that they have never gone longer than 24 hours without their cell phone. 47% of people say they feel a sense of panic or anxiety when their cell phone battery goes below 20%. 46% use or look at their phone while on a date. 27% use or look at...

 I have been a huge book lover all my life. I am a fast reader and I love the feeling of having a physical book in my hand. May be a bit old school but there is nothing like being engrossed in a book sipping chai on a rainy day. Those were all good old days. I still keep a book with me all time but I hardly get any time to read with the fast moving pace of life.  I moved to Audible a few years ago. The whole idea of listening to audio books was a bit of mind set change. Listening to someone narrating a book is way different than reading a book with that inner voice talking to me as I processed the information coming in from the books. It took me time to get used to it. But then the plus was I could listen while cooking, working or while exercising. I am a big music lover too. Now with audible that required a separate app. Music is simply not an option on Audible. Spotify gives me that option. I got sold on books and music in one app idea and moved to Spotify. There are some dr...

Visiting Columbus, OHIO. I love trying out new Cafe's and when I saw this cafe I had to try it out. QAMARIA YEMENI CAFE in Lewis center OHIO!! I looked up this cafe online and looks like there aren't many cafe's from this chain yet, so I was excited to experience this. My visit to this cafe was in afternoon hours on a weekday. The moment I walked in I was greeted with this beautiful, cute and cozy seating area. I absolutely loved this red vibrant design fabric on the Arabic floor seating. The coffeepots were stunning. My research says those coffee pots are called Dallah.  Overall the ambience of the cafe was open, inviting and cozy with light Arabic music playing. Out of the many options to choose from, me and my husband ordered a Mufawaar coffee and Adeni tea. The coffee was perfect with earthy tones boiled with cardamom. Adeni tea was perfect with cream and cardamom. LOVED the serving style. The customer service was also great, the cashier helped me well by answering all ...

 Yoga has fascinated me from my childhood but as I reached my 40's I realized how important it is to breathe and be in the present. Being present is gift, that we can easily forget to open as we are constantly worrying about our future. So while I am practicing yoga in group exercise classes, relaxing and restoring myself to the present, one fine evening I decided to spread the joy and become a yoga teacher. My very first stop of course: Google. I did a lot of research online and with folks who practice yoga. I would like to share my findings with all of you so that you can save some time on research. So far I have completed 100 hours of yoga teacher training. Next 100 coming up in summer. 1.Is there a certification for Yoga? Yes! Yoga Alliance  https://www.yogaalliance.org/  offers Registered Yoga teacher (RYT) 200, RYT 500 membership to the alliance for teachers. You can choose any of the registered schools to get your first 200 hours training. 2.Are there online traini...

 What is a Scrum Master? During your office walks, if you encounter a wall full of stickies grouped in three categories ToDo, InProgress and Done, please know you have a scrum master around and may be an agile team on that floor. If you ever encounter a team standing in circle and updating each other with "what I did yesterday", "what I will do today" and "I have a blocker", know you have a scrum master around. So what the heck does a scrum master do? Scrum masters are force multipliers of any given organization.  Scrum masters are servant leaders, they enforce scrum framework thereby injecting agility in organizations. They are coaches, enablers, mentors, leaders at the same time. They maximize the product value while working with product owners and team. How does a day in life of scrum master look like? Well that totally depends on the organization ! There are thousands of anti-pattern blogs out there to read about it. This is how a scrum master work wee...

Does your day look like all meetings and no work done?  Here are some tips to boost your productivity    Its 4 pm and you just got out of the last meeting of the day. You take a 5-minute break, grab that last coffee of the day! Just when you think you are about to be done for the day, you look at the to-do list, unanswered emails and due deliverables to realize you need another 8 hours to complete that work. What did I do for the entire day?  Let me answer that for you: “Effort to collaborate via meetings “ And what did you achieve through those endless meetings? : “nothing” If you are going through one of these situations at work, keep reading. You own your time, Reserve time for your work. Easier said that done. First step is to find the hours where you are productive. For example: I find myself more productive in mornings as I am a morning person, so my brain is attentive, and I solve problems effortlessly in morning. When you find your productive hours, book them...