Pythian Postcards: Pune, India

Monica Lambate, Senior Cloud Consultant, tells us about her vibrant life as a Pythianite in Pune, India.

Tell us about where you live.

I currently stay in Pune, which is very much known for its moderate weather and also as an educational center.

To elaborate, Pune, often referred to as the “Oxford of the East,” is a major city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Known for its educational institutions and vibrant student population, Pune is a hub for higher learning and research in India. The city has a rich historical significance, having been the center of the Maratha Empire under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

What was your path to Pythian?

I joined Pythian roughly two years back in July 2022. I joined from a referral and since then I have been working as a Senior Cloud Consultant.

I have worked on multiple projects and can expand my knowledge to a good extent. I started working on GCP cloud in my first project here, followed by DBT, Dataform, Synapse Analytics, LLM, FastAPI.

What’s a typical day like for you now?

I usually start my day around 11 or 12, which is an hour or two before my day starts. I start my day by reading some articles, checking mails, slack and working on the to-do list. Usually the calls are in the evening, so I spend the afternoon working on the action items and sometimes having short calls with teammates. We have our daily scrums around 6:30 PM in the evening, which is sometimes followed by a couple of sync up calls. Someday we don’t have any sync up calls. I usually continue working on the items for the day and close the day around 10PM.

How do you spend your time off?

I usually like to spend my time off either reading, doodling, making some DIYs, recycling stuff or mostly taking care of my garden.

What is the signature dish from your culture? / What is a traditional meal in your home country?

The signature dish of Maharashtra is Puran Poli, a sweet flatbread made from wheat flour, stuffed with a filling of jaggery and chana dal (split Bengal gram). It is flavored with cardamom and nutmeg and often served with a dollop of ghee (clarified butter) on top(which I avoid :P). And needless to say my mom makes the best ones !!

Describe an important custom from your Country.

In India, there is a custom of never returning empty vessels that are given by someone, especially when food or gifts are involved. If someone lends or gives you a vessel, such as a bowl or container, particularly filled with food, it is customary to return it with something else inside—typically a small portion of food, sweets, fruits, or something similar. This practice reflects the values of reciprocity, generosity, and maintaining the flow of goodwill.

The belief behind this custom is that returning a vessel empty may symbolize the end of a relationship or the cutting off of goodwill, whereas filling it with something creates a positive exchange. It promotes a sense of community, gratitude, and continuous sharing among neighbors, family members, and friends.

This tradition is particularly strong in Indian households during festivals and special occasions when food is often shared. It underscores the importance of kindness and giving in Indian culture.

What is your favorite holiday or festival?

It's really difficult to think of one now, because now as adults all festivals seem to be the same where we have a lot of responsibilities and rituals to follow. But I would like to share my favorite festival as a kid.As a kid, I used to enjoy and look forward to the Holi festival. Getting up early on the day of Holi, then applying oil all over the body so that the color is easily removed later, as we would have school the next day. Filling those small water balloons with a Pitchkari and then searching for friends to splash those balloons on. We would play from morning till afternoon and then whosoever will take bath first and come out clean would be again drenched in water and color.Those were few happy memories from my favorite festival, Holi.