DEV Community: Lavkesh Dwivedi

The Calendar Audit Every Engineering Manager Avoids

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 19:32:37 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Forty hours in a week, and fourteen of them belonged to one recurring meeting. I counted, calendar block by calendar block, for the whole quarter, and the number held steady week after week. A Tuesday status sync with eleven people on the invite, most of whom sat through the full hour and said nothing.

That meeting existed for a reason once. Eighteen months earlier, a deployment slipped through three teams without anyone flagging a broken dependency until it hit production, and the postmortem's one durable output was a standing sync meant to catch exactly that kind of gap before it shipped.

It caught almost nothing after the first two months. The actual blockers surfaced in Slack threads and one-on-ones hours before the meeting ever happened, and the sync itself became a status report read aloud to people who had already read the same update in a different channel that morning.

Three other directors ran the same calendar count when I mentioned mine in a leadership sync of our own. Two of them found a nearly identical pattern, a recurring meeting born out of a real incident that had outlived the problem it was built to solve by well over a year.

None of us had noticed, because nobody schedules an hour to check whether last year's fix is still earning its slot on the calendar. A one-on-one that gets cancelled draws a complaint within the day. A standing meeting that stops mattering can run for quarters before anyone questions why it is still there.

I cut the invite list from eleven to four and replaced the live status round with a written update posted the night before. The call itself became fifteen minutes, reserved only for the one blocker that could not wait for async. Nobody on the smaller list has asked for the old format back.

One senior engineer did push back, and the pushback was fair. The old meeting had one working part. It forced two teams that rarely spoke outside of it to say something out loud in front of each other once a week, and a written update does not replicate that particular kind of friction.

So the fifteen minutes stayed. The written update was never meant to replace it; it sits alongside it, doing a smaller and more honest job than the hour used to.

Every manager on the team now blocks one hour a quarter to run the same count on their own calendar. The number is not always big. Some quarters it turns up nothing worth cutting. It remains the only exercise that catches a meeting nobody remembers agreeing to.

Spend Discipline in the Cloud

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:07:32 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Monthly SIP inflows in India crossed 26,000 crore in March 2026, a fresh all-time high. This milestone is not just a testament to the growing popularity of systematic investment plans, but also a reflection of the power of automation and discipline in personal finance. However, the same principles that drive SIP success can also be applied to cloud cost management, where the lack of spend discipline can lead to bills that spiral out of control.

The key to successful SIP investing is regular contributions and a long-term perspective. Similarly, in cloud cost management, setting a budget alert is just the first step. It is essential to regularly review and adjust cloud resources to ensure they are aligned with changing business needs. This is where rightsizing comes in - the process of ensuring that cloud resources are optimized for current workloads, rather than being based on initial estimates or forecasts.

I recall a conversation with a colleague who was struggling to manage cloud costs for a Kubernetes cluster. The team had set up a budget alert at 20% over forecast, but nobody had revisited the numbers in months. As a result, the cloud bill had ballooned to an all-time high, with resources that were no longer needed or optimized. This experience highlights the importance of regular reviews and adjustments in cloud cost management.

The concept of rightsizing is not new, but it is often overlooked in the rush to deploy cloud resources. By regularly reviewing and adjusting cloud resources, teams can ensure that they are only paying for what they need, rather than being locked into unnecessary commitments. This approach requires discipline and a willingness to revisit assumptions, much like the discipline required to stick to a SIP investment plan.

In conclusion, the principles that drive SIP success can also be applied to cloud cost management. By setting budget alerts, regularly reviewing and adjusting cloud resources, and practicing rightsizing, teams can ensure that their cloud spend is aligned with their business needs. This approach requires a combination of automation, discipline, and regular reviews, but it can help to prevent cloud bills from spiraling out of control.

The next time you set up a budget alert for your cloud resources, remember that it is just the first step. Regular reviews and adjustments are essential to ensuring that your cloud spend is optimized and aligned with your business needs. By applying the principles of SIP investing to cloud cost management, you can avoid the pitfalls of unnecessary spend and ensure that your cloud resources are working for you, rather than against you.

As the cloud landscape continues to evolve, it is essential to stay vigilant and adapt to changing needs. By prioritizing spend discipline and rightsizing, teams can ensure that their cloud resources are optimized for performance and cost. This requires a mindset shift, from focusing solely on deployment and scalability, to prioritizing cost management and optimization.

The benefits of this approach are clear: reduced cloud spend, improved resource utilization, and increased agility. By applying the principles of SIP investing to cloud cost management, teams can achieve a better balance between deployment and optimization, and ensure that their cloud resources are working for them, rather than against them.

In the world of cloud cost management, discipline and regular reviews are essential. By prioritizing spend discipline and rightsizing, teams can ensure that their cloud resources are optimized for performance and cost. This approach requires a combination of automation, discipline, and regular reviews, but it can help to prevent cloud bills from spiraling out of control.

As teams continue to navigate the complexities of cloud cost management, it is essential to remember that budget alerts are just the first step. Regular reviews and adjustments are essential to ensuring that cloud spend is aligned with business needs. By applying the principles of SIP investing to cloud cost management, teams can achieve a better balance between deployment and optimization, and ensure that their cloud resources are working for them, rather than against them.

Cloud Cost Governance Needs SIP Discipline

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:49:42 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Monthly SIP inflows in India crossed 26,000 crore in March 2026, a fresh all-time high. According to AMFI monthly data, this number is not just a testament to the growing financial discipline of Indians, but also a reminder of the importance of regularity in achieving long-term goals. I often wonder what if we applied the same discipline to cloud cost governance as we do to SIP contributions, considering SIP contributions have more than doubled in three years, with first-time investors now averaging 27 years old, down from 34 a decade ago.

The concept of SIP, or Systematic Investment Plan, is straightforward: invest a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, regardless of the market's performance. This approach helps investors ride out market fluctuations and avoid making emotional decisions based on short-term market volatility. But in contrast, cloud cost governance is often treated as an afterthought, with engineers focusing on deploying and managing applications without a clear understanding of the costs involved, which can lead to significant cost overruns, especially in complex environments like Kubernetes.

One of the primary challenges in applying SIP discipline to cloud cost governance is the lack of visibility into cloud spend. Unlike SIP contributions, which are typically fixed and regular, cloud costs can be variable and unpredictable, making it difficult to budget and plan for them. But this is where engineering leadership can play a crucial role in establishing a culture of cost governance by setting clear budgets and cost targets, and regularly reviewing and adjusting them.

The financial analogy between SIP and cloud cost governance can be taken further. Just as SIP investors benefit from the power of compounding, where small, regular investments can add up to significant returns over time, cloud engineers can benefit from the power of continuous cost optimization by regularly reviewing and optimizing cloud resources, which can help avoid cost overruns and ensure that cloud spend is aligned with business objectives. Requiring a mindset shift from treating cloud cost as an afterthought to making it a core part of the engineering workflow.

To apply SIP discipline to cloud cost governance, engineers need to establish clear budgets and cost targets, and regularly review and adjust them. This requires a deep understanding of cloud costs, including the costs of resources like compute, storage, and networking, and implementing cost governance tools and processes, such as cloud cost monitoring and optimization platforms, to track and optimize cloud spend, as well as establishing a culture of cost discipline, where cloud cost is treated as a key metric, alongside other engineering metrics like latency and throughput.

The benefits of applying SIP discipline to cloud cost governance are clear: by establishing a culture of cost discipline, engineers can avoid cost overruns, optimize cloud spend, and ensure that cloud resources are aligned with business objectives. Requiring a mindset shift from treating cloud cost as an afterthought to making it a core part of the engineering workflow. And as the Indian mutual fund industry continues to grow, with SIP contributions reaching new heights, it's time for cloud engineers to take a page out of the SIP book and apply the same discipline to cloud cost governance.

The discipline behind SIP contributions mirrors what most cloud budgets lack. By applying the principles of SIP to cloud cost governance, engineers can establish a culture of cost discipline, optimize cloud spend, and ensure that cloud resources are aligned with business objectives. Requiring a deep understanding of cloud costs, a mindset shift, and the implementation of cost governance tools and processes, which can help avoid cost overruns and ensure that cloud resources are optimized for maximum ROI.

Considering the state of cloud cost governance highlights how regularity and discipline support long-term goals. Whether it's SIP contributions or cloud cost governance, the principles are the same: establish clear targets, regularly review and adjust, and optimize for maximum ROI. And by applying these principles to cloud cost governance, engineers can ensure that cloud spend is aligned with business objectives and that costs are optimized for maximum ROI, which is essential for the growth and success of any organization.

The implications of this approach are significant. By treating cloud cost as a key metric, alongside other engineering metrics like latency and throughput, engineers can ensure that cloud resources are optimized for maximum ROI. Requiring a cultural shift from treating cloud cost as an afterthought to making it a core part of the engineering workflow. And as the cloud continues to grow in importance, it's time for engineers to take a proactive approach to cloud cost governance, using the principles of SIP as a guide, which can help them make informed decisions about cloud resource allocation and utilization.

Overall, applying SIP discipline to cloud cost governance is not just about optimizing cloud spend, but about establishing a culture of cost discipline that can benefit the entire organization. By taking a proactive approach to cloud cost governance, engineers can ensure that cloud resources are aligned with business objectives, and that costs are optimized for maximum ROI. Requiring a mindset shift, a deep understanding of cloud costs, and the implementation of cost governance tools and processes, which can help them achieve long-term success and growth in the cloud.

Cloud Bills Like SIPs

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:13:46 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Monthly SIP inflows in India crossed 26,000 crore in March 2026, a fresh all-time high, according to AMFI monthly data, and this made me think of how engineering teams manage their cloud resources, because the pattern looks similar, with big inflows of cash and no clear exit strategy, just like investors dumping money into SIPs without a plan to withdraw it, and the bills just keep piling up

I've seen teams deploy Kubernetes without properly optimizing their resource allocation, and this leads to a huge cloud-cost, because they're not monitoring their usage closely, and the bills just keep growing, just like an SIP investment that's not regularly reviewed, and this is a problem that needs to be addressed, because cloud-cost is a significant part of any company's budget

The thing is, engineering teams are not just dumping money into cloud resources, they're also not planning for the future, and this is where the financial-analogy comes in, because just like a SIP investor needs to have a clear plan for their money, an engineering team needs to have a clear plan for their cloud spend, and that plan needs to include spend-optimization, and resource-management, and a clear exit strategy

I've worked with teams that have implemented cloud-cost monitoring tools, and the results are impressive, because they're able to track their usage in real-time, and make adjustments on the fly, and this leads to significant cost savings, and it's not just about the money, it's also about being more efficient, and using resources more effectively

But it's not just about the tools, it's also about the culture, and the way teams think about cloud resources, and engineering-leadership plays a big role in this, because they need to set the tone for the team, and make sure that everyone is on the same page, and that page needs to include a clear plan for cloud spend, and a commitment to spend-optimization

I've seen teams that have a clear plan for their cloud spend, and they're able to manage their resources effectively, and they're also able to innovate, and try new things, because they're not held back by a huge cloud-cost, and this is where the financial-analogy really comes in, because just like a SIP investor needs to have a clear plan for their money, an engineering team needs to have a clear plan for their cloud spend

The key is to find a balance between innovation, and cost savings, and this is where Kubernetes comes in, because it allows teams to deploy resources quickly, and scale up or down as needed, and this leads to a more efficient use of resources, and a lower cloud-cost, but it's not just about the technology, it's also about the people, and the way they think about cloud resources

Engineering teams need to think about cloud resources in the same way that they think about their own personal finances, and this means having a clear plan, and a commitment to spend-optimization, and resource-management, and it's not just about the money, it's also about being more efficient, and using resources more effectively

I think that if engineering teams can learn to treat cloud spend like a SIP, they'll be able to manage their resources more effectively, and innovate more quickly, and this will lead to a more efficient use of resources, and a lower cloud-cost, and it's not just about the technology, it's also about the people, and the way they think about cloud resources

The bottom line is that cloud-cost is a significant part of any company's budget, and engineering teams need to have a clear plan for managing their cloud resources, and this plan needs to include spend-optimization, and resource-management, and a clear exit strategy, and it's not just about the money, it's also about being more efficient, and using resources more effectively

Half of Cloudflare’s traffic is now automated bots

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:01:33 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

When Cloudflare released its 2025 traffic review, I saw the headline that more than half of every request they handle now comes from automated sources, and the growth curve for agentic AI traffic has been steeper than that of traditional crawlers for the past three quarters.

Agentic AI traffic isn’t the polite indexer that politely reads a sitemap; it’s a suite of autonomous agents that can fill forms, trigger transactions, and even generate content on the fly, meaning the requests they send carry intent and state.

That shift flips the economics of serving the web; rate-limit thresholds that once protected a handful of noisy scrapers now bite into legitimate user latency, and the price tag on bot-detection services has risen in step with the traffic volume.

If half the hits are machines, we have to ask whether those hits are actually contributing to revenue, or merely inflating our server bills while our dashboards flash green on request counts.

The answer isn’t to throw more models at the problem but to integrate AI into the core workflows that already generate profit, such as using an agent to pre-populate a checkout form for returning customers rather than letting it crawl endlessly.

Building that kind of system forces us to treat AI like any other critical service; we need versioned models, observability pipelines, and a deployment cadence that can survive a sudden surge of a million agent calls in a minute.

Companies that keep spending on flashy demo projects while neglecting the underlying engineering stack end up with a widening gap between AI spend and actual return, a gap that can be closed only by hiring engineers who understand both the model and the production environment.

At the same time the rise of agentic bots makes it harder to distinguish between legitimate and malicious traffic, so investing in AI-powered traffic classification that can flag anomalous behavior before it overwhelms the edge has become as essential as any load balancer.

Last month our team had to raise the Cloudflare rate limit from 10 k to 30 k requests per second after a new marketing AI assistant started polling product pages, a change that cost an extra $12 k in bandwidth but saved a potential $200 k loss from missed conversions.

More than Half of Web Traffic is AI

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:56:19 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Cloudflare's 2025 review shows automated traffic, including bots, scrapers, and agents, now makes up over half of all web requests they see. This shift indicates a significant change in internet interaction, driven largely by the growth of agentic AI traffic. For the last three quarters, agentic AI traffic has grown faster than classic crawler traffic. These trends have far-reaching implications for how we approach AI adoption and its potential to deliver business value.

The surge in automated traffic raises questions about the effectiveness of current AI strategies. Despite significant investment in AI, returns are often unclear. Many organizations struggle to achieve the promised benefits of AI, and the gap between investment and actual business value is widening. The key issue is what's holding us back from realizing AI's benefits.

One reason for the gap lies in the way AI engineering is approached. AI projects are often siloed, with separate teams handling data science, engineering, and deployment. This fragmented approach can lead to a lack of cohesion and alignment, resulting in AI solutions that fail to deliver business value. To bridge this gap, a more integrated approach to AI engineering is needed; one that brings together cross-functional teams to design and deploy AI solutions meeting specific business needs.

Another challenge is measuring the ROI of AI initiatives. As AI becomes more pervasive, it's increasingly difficult to isolate its impact on business outcomes. Traditional metrics like click-through rates or conversion rates may not capture the complex effects of AI on business value. More nuanced metrics are needed to accurately measure the ROI of AI initiatives and provide actionable insights for improvement.

The growth of agentic AI traffic also highlights the need for sophisticated bot detection and rate limiting strategies. Advanced AI-powered bots can mimic human behavior, making it harder to distinguish between legitimate and automated traffic. This has significant implications for the economics of serving traffic; organizations must balance providing a good user experience with preventing abuse and optimizing resource utilization.

Addressing these challenges requires a holistic approach to AI adoption, considering the complex interplay between AI, business value, and technical feasibility. This demands a deep understanding of the business domain and the technical capabilities and limitations of AI. By bringing together business stakeholders, data scientists, and engineers, we can design and deploy AI solutions that deliver tangible business value and drive outcomes.

The recent surge in automated traffic underscores the importance of AI explainability and transparency. As AI becomes more pervasive, providing clear explanations of AI-driven decisions and actions is essential. This is not only about trust and accountability but also about driving business adoption and ROI. Transparent and interpretable AI models can build trust with stakeholders; they can ensure AI solutions align with business objectives.

Achieving AI's potential requires a pragmatic and business-focused approach to AI adoption. This involves experimenting, learning from failures, and continuously refining our approach to AI engineering and deployment. By doing so, we can bridge the gap between AI investment and business value; we can create a future where AI delivers impact.

AI is not a panacea but a tool to drive business value. The question remains: what's holding us back from achieving AI's potential? For leaders of AI initiatives, the key question is: what specific business problem are you trying to solve with AI, and how will you measure the ROI of your efforts?

Senior PM Pay Drops 18% in 2 Years

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:40:29 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Senior PM total comp at Series C and later startups has dropped 18% in 24 months, the first sustained decline since 2015, according to Lenny's Newsletter PM benchmarks. This trend affects a crucial role for startups, with the drop more pronounced than the cooling engineering market, where senior IC roles are holding up better than management tracks.

Product management has always been highly valued in startups, with senior PMs' total compensation traditionally high, reflecting their importance in driving product development and growth. However, current market conditions, including the end of the 2021-22 over-hiring cycle, have led to a decline in compensation for senior PMs, with many startups reevaluating their compensation structures and executive pay.

The decline in senior PM pay is also a result of the changing nature of the role itself; as startups grow and mature, product management becomes more complex, requiring a broader range of skills and expertise. However, this increased complexity has not been matched by a corresponding increase in compensation, leading to a disconnect between the value senior PMs bring and the rewards they receive.

The implications of this trend are significant, as it may lead to a brain drain of top product management talent from startups to more established companies, where compensation is more stable and rewarding. This could negatively impact startups' ability to innovate and compete, as they will be losing the people responsible for driving product development and growth.

The shift in salary trends for senior PMs reflects the evolving tech industry, where lines between roles and functions are becoming increasingly blurred. Startups will need to adapt to these changes and find new ways to reward and retain top talent, including senior PMs, or risk falling behind in the competitive startup market.

The drop in senior PM pay is a complex issue, driven by market conditions, the changing role, and startups' evolving needs. The traditional model of compensating senior PMs is no longer sustainable; startups must find new ways to attract and retain top product management talent to remain competitive.

The current state of senior PM compensation presents a challenge for startups but also an opportunity to rethink their approach to rewards and talent management. By finding new ways to provide value to senior PMs and recognizing the importance of this role, startups can attract and retain top talent and better position themselves to compete and thrive.

The decline in senior PM pay is a trend that will be watched closely by startups and the tech industry, with significant implications for talent management and compensation. Startups will need to stay ahead of the curve and find new ways to attract and retain top talent, including senior PMs.

The future of senior PM compensation is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the traditional model is no longer sustainable. Startups will need to adapt to the changing market and employee needs, requiring a fundamental change in their approach to compensation and rewards, and a willingness to experiment and try new things.

Postgres Authentication in Production

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:17:10 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Verizon's DBIR report that 44% of breaches are caused by stolen credentials got me thinking about Postgres's approach to authentication. I was struck by how different it was from other databases I'd worked with.

Postgres uses a separate authentication system, rather than relying on the operating system's authentication mechanisms. This flexibility is great, but it requires careful configuration.

On a project storing sensitive data, we used a combination of SSL certificates and password authentication to ensure only authorized users could access it. It was work-intensive, but effective.

Postgres's default password hashing algorithm is relatively simple, which isn't ideal. However, you can configure it to use more secure algorithms like bcrypt or PBKDF2 to protect user passwords.

Working with Postgres, I've come to appreciate its authentication handling. It's not always straightforward, but it's worth the effort, especially considering the 44% breach statistic.

Of course, there are trade-offs. The added complexity can make it harder to manage and maintain, especially for smaller teams. But overall, I think the benefits outweigh the costs.

Reading through the Postgres source code shows the attention to detail the developers brought to the authentication system. They've thought carefully about potential risks and tried to mitigate them.

Postgres uses 'roles' to manage access, defining a set of privileges a user has. You can assign multiple roles to a single user, making it a powerful way to manage access.

Even with precautions, breaches can happen. The 44% figure is a reminder that no matter how careful we are, there's always a chance something will go wrong.

Finding a balance between security and usability is key. Postgres shines here, offering flexibility to configure the authentication system while providing high security out of the box.

Sunday Mornings Back Home

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:57:26 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Sunday mornings back home were always special. The whole town seemed to wake up to the sound of temple bells, and the smell of incense and fresh flowers filled the air. I remember walking to the mandir with my family, the sound of the aarti, and the taste of homemade sweets that the vendors sold outside. It was a time when everyone put their daily worries aside and came together as a community.

I think what I miss the most about those Sunday mornings is the sense of community that they brought. Everyone knew each other, and it was a time when people would put aside their differences and come together. The town was small, so everyone knew each other's names, and it was not uncommon to see people from different castes and religions sitting together and talking.

As I grew older, I began to appreciate the value of those Sunday mornings. They showed me the importance of community and the importance of putting aside our differences and coming together. I think that is something that is missing in many of the cities that I have lived in since, wherever I have lived since.

I have tried to recreate some of that sense of community here, by attending the local temple and participating in community events. But it is not the same. The scale is much larger, and it is harder to know everyone's names.

Despite the differences, I still try to hold on to some of the traditions that I grew up with. I still make it a point to visit the temple on Sundays, and I try to cook some of the traditional dishes that my mother used to make. It is a way for me to stay connected to my roots, and to pass on some of those traditions to my children.

My children are growing up in a very different environment than I did, and I worry that they will not have the same sense of community that I had. But I hope that by teaching them some of the traditions and values that I grew up with, they will be able to appreciate the importance of community and the value of putting aside our differences.

Looking back on those Sunday mornings back home, I am reminded of the importance of holding on to our traditions and values. They are what make us who we are, and they are what give us a sense of belonging.

I think that is something that is often lost in today's fast-paced world. We are so focused on our individual goals and aspirations that we forget the importance of community and tradition.

But I believe that it is never too late to make a change. We can start by making small changes in our daily lives, like attending community events, or participating in local traditions.

It is not always easy, and it takes effort to make a change. But I believe that it is worth it, because when we come together as a community, we are stronger, and we are more resilient.

Sunday mornings back home may be a thing of the past for me, but the lessons that I learned from them will stay with me forever. And I hope that by passing on some of those traditions to my children, they will be able to appreciate the importance of community and the value of putting aside our differences.

Sunday Mornings in Orai

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 06:50:25 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

Sunday mornings in Orai were always special. The whole town seemed to wake up to the sound of temple bells, and the smell of incense and fresh flowers filled the air. I remember walking to the mandir with my family, the sound of the aarti, and the taste of homemade sweets that the vendors sold outside. It was a time when everyone put their daily worries aside and came together as a community.

I have tried to recreate some of that sense of community here in Dallas, by attending the local temple and participating in community events. But it is not the same. The scale is much larger, and it is harder to know everyone's names.

Looking back on those Sunday mornings in Orai, I am reminded of the importance of holding on to our traditions and values. They are what make us who we are, and they are what give us a sense of belonging.

I think that is something that is often lost in today's fast-paced world. We are so focused on our individual goals and aspirations that we forget the importance of community and tradition.

But I believe that it is never too late to make a change. We can start by making small changes in our daily lives, like attending community events, or participating in local traditions.

It is not always easy, and it takes effort to make a change. But I believe that it is worth it, because when we come together as a community, we are stronger, and we are more resilient.

Sunday mornings in Orai may be a thing of the past for me, but the lessons that I learned from them will stay with me forever. And I hope that by passing on some of those traditions to my children, they will be able to appreciate the importance of community and the value of putting aside our differences.

My Mother's Chai

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 17:53:44 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

I have been living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas for a while now, and one of the things that has become a staple in my daily routine is making chai for my mother. She visits us often, and every morning and evening, she expects a perfectly brewed cup of chai. At first, I found this ritual to be a bit tedious, but over time, I have come to appreciate the patience and attention to detail that it requires.

As I wait for the water to boil and the tea leaves to steep, I am reminded of the importance of slowing down and focusing on the process, rather than just the end result. In software development, we often get caught up in trying to meet deadlines and deliver features quickly, but in doing so, we can compromise on quality and attention to detail.

My mother's chai has taught me that sometimes, it's better to take a step back and focus on the little things. Whether it's the ratio of tea leaves to water or the amount of sugar to add, every detail matters. And it's not just about the end result, but about the experience of making it. The smell of the tea leaves, the sound of the kettle whistling, and the feel of the warm cup in my hands all contribute to a sense of comfort and tranquility.

As I pour the chai into a cup and hand it to my mother, I am reminded of the value of hospitality and taking care of others. In a world where everything is fast-paced and automated, it's easy to forget the importance of human connection and simple acts of kindness.

I have come to realize that making chai for my mother is not just about making a drink, but about creating a sense of community and connection. It's about taking the time to appreciate the little things and to show love and care for those around us.

In a way, making chai is like writing code. You have to be precise, patient, and attentive to detail. You have to understand the nuances of the ingredients and the process, and you have to be willing to iterate and refine until you get it just right.

As I continue to make chai for my mother, I am reminded of the importance of balance in life. It's not just about achieving a goal or meeting a deadline, but about the journey itself. It's about the people we meet, the experiences we have, and the lessons we learn along the way.

My mother's chai has become a ritual that I cherish, not just because of the taste, but because of the values it represents. It's a reminder to slow down, to appreciate the little things, and to focus on the process, rather than just the end result.

In the end, making chai for my mother has taught me that sometimes, the simplest things in life are the most profound. It's a lesson that I will carry with me, not just in my personal life, but in my professional life as well.

As I finish writing this, I am reminded of the smell of the tea leaves and the sound of the kettle whistling. It's a smell and a sound that I associate with comfort, love, and connection.

I hope that as you read this, you will be reminded of the importance of slowing down and appreciating the little things in life. Whether it's making chai or writing code, it's the attention to detail and the care that we put into it that truly matters.

Morning Chai in Dallas

Lavkesh Dwivedi — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 04:22:12 +0000

Originally published on lavkesh.com

I wake up to the smell of spices and tea leaves, a smell that instantly makes me feel at home. It is my mother's tradition from Orai, now living on in our Dallas kitchen.

As I've grown older, I've started making chai myself, and it's become a ritual that I cherish. There's something soothing about boiling the water, adding the tea leaves, and stirring in the spices.

My mother always said the key to making good chai is to use high-quality tea leaves and to never rush the process. It's not just about following a recipe, but about taking the time to appreciate the little things in life.

When I'm making chai, I'm not thinking about work or any other stressors in my life. I'm fully present in the moment, focused on the task at hand, and that's a feeling that's hard to find in our increasingly busy lives.

Sipping my chai reminds me of the importance of slowing down and appreciating the little things in life. In a world that's always pushing us to go faster and be more productive, it's easy to forget to take a step back and breathe.

My morning chai has also become a time for reflection and planning. As I sip my tea, I think about what I need to accomplish that day, and I make a mental list of my priorities.

I've tried to explain the significance of chai to my friends and colleagues here in Dallas, but it's hard to put into words. It's not just a drink, it's a tradition, a ritual, and a way of life.

As I finish my chai and get ready to start my day, I'm reminded of the importance of holding onto traditions and rituals, even as we move to new places and start new chapters in our lives. My morning chai is a connection to my past.

It's also a reminder that sometimes, the simplest things in life are the most meaningful. In a world that's always pushing us to be more complex and sophisticated, it's easy to forget the beauty of simplicity.