A running list of small, personal goals for 2026—because life is about the little things.

2026 Micro list

My second year at Amazon: launching Vega OS, learning about TV apps and DRM, understanding scale, and key lessons about communication and tech depth.

Reflecting on my 2nd Year at Amazon

Learn how I built my personal blog using Next.js, Tailwind CSS, and Vercel. A complete guide to my tech stack, design process, and tips for overcoming the fear of publishing your first website.

Behind the Scenes: How I Built My Personal Website

<2025 />

Passed my AWS GenAI Practitioner Exam

s a senior developer, you also know that many performance issues can be prevented long before you run Lighthouse, WebPageTest, or any profiler. Good engineering practices applied from day one reduce bottlenecks, simplify debugging, and make later optimization much cheaper

Front-end Performance guide for Senior Developers

Learning AI - 7 days, 7 concepts

A journey through four years of Diwali celebrations in the UK - from a small rented flat in London to our own home, filled with lights, love, and new traditions.

Celebrating Diwali in the UK

Celebrating 5 years of marriage: from a simple court wedding during COVID to building a life together in the UK. Real talk about relationships and partnership.

5 Years of Togetherness

Working on VegaOS at Amazon: my first TV app project. 1 year 8 months of learning, challenges, and creating accessibility guidelines for WebView apps.

My first project at work - VegaOS

JavaScript OOP tutorial: master classes, inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, and abstraction with practical examples and carousel implementation.

Object-Oriented JavaScript: A Practical Guide with Examples

Why travel changes with age: comparing solo adventures in 20s versus comfort-focused travel in 30s. Personal travel stories and evolution of preferences.

Travel when you are young

Model Context Protocol (MCP) by Anthropic explained: standardize AI app data access, MCP vs RAG differences, architecture, and implementation with practical examples.

A Developer's Guide to MCP: Model, Context, and Protocol

AI vs ML vs MLOps explained: understand differences, tech stacks, career paths, and how to start in AI engineering with practical examples and roadmaps.

AI vs ML vs MLOps: A Developer's Roadmap to Getting Started

Web accessibility interview questions covering ARIA, landmarks, screen readers, WCAG guidelines, and best practices for creating inclusive digital experiences.

Interview Questions on web Accessibility - Part 1

Learn about accessibility issues with CSS flexbox and grid layouts. Discover why visual order must match HTML structure for screen readers and keyboard users.

Accessibility - CSS flexbox, & grids

HTML button accessibility guide: semantic tags, ARIA roles, keyboard support, and screen reader compatibility for inclusive web development.

Curious case of button tag

Accessibility testing tools limitations: what Lighthouse, Axe, and automated tools can and cannot detect for WCAG compliance and manual testing requirements.

Accessibility automated tools - what to expect

How to use AI tools as your coding companion: vibe coding, instant code reviews, and learning new concepts. Practical tips for developers to stay competitive.

Make AI your Friend

Buying my first home with hard-earned money as a woman engineer: the emotional journey, rent vs buying decision, and overcoming buyer's remorse.

My own home

Processing grief and personal loss: finding peace through acceptance, empathy, and the healing journey. Reflections on loss and moving forward with courage.

The Weight of Goodbye

Discover authentic tech pioneers doing meaningful work: from Carol Shaw to Aaron Swartz. A curated list of inspiring people beyond social media influencers.

Inspired by Real People: A Personal Reference List

Taking a social media break sparked clarity and led to filing my first patent at Amazon. The rejection taught valuable lessons about innovation and persistence.

How a Social Media Break Led Me to File My First Patent

Building a side project in Java Spring Boot from scratch: learning journey, progress updates, and rediscovering the fun of being a beginner again.

Going Back to Java — From Heart, Not Hype

Why developers ignore accessibility: lack of training, poor code reviews, and missing semantic HTML education. How to improve accessibility awareness in teams.

Why the developers are not focusing on Accessibility?

VPAT (Volunteer Product Accessibility Template) explained: accessibility conformance reporting for WCAG, Section 508, and EN 301 549 compliance standards.

What is VPAT?

Common accessibility mistakes developers make: color-only states, missing labels, no semantic HTML, focus traps, and multimedia issues with WCAG solutions.

Top 10 mistakes in Accessibility

React Day Bangalore 2021 accessibility talk: why 100 Lighthouse score doesn't guarantee accessibility. Practical tips for building accessible React apps.

React Day Bangalore, 2021

Why CSS outline matters for accessibility: keyboard navigation, WCAG compliance, and custom focus styles for better user experience and inclusive design.

Never remove outline from CSS

Web accessibility talk at GDG Chennai DevSangamam 2020: covering developer responsibilities, testing tools, and common questions about accessibility.

TALK - GDG Chennai DevSangamam

My 2025 reading list featuring tech books, philosophy, fiction, and self-help. Track my reading journey month by month with reviews and recommendations.

My reading list 2025

Watch my accessibility talk for JavaScript applications at Girls who JavaScript conference. Learn practical tips for building accessible JS apps.

Accessibility Talk at Girls who JavaScript

Join weekly 30-minute system design sessions covering real-world problems, scalable architectures, and distributed systems. All notes available on GitHub.

Weekly System Design Sessions

Advanced system design concepts: event-driven architecture, sharding, distributed transactions, CAP theorem, and resilience patterns for scalable systems.

Advanced System Design Topics

Why personal branding for engineers should focus on skills and projects, not cringe content. Build real brand value through meaningful work, not social media hype.

Brand Value ≠ Cringe Content

Sharding vs partitioning comparison: understand key differences, use cases, and when to choose each for database scalability and performance optimization.

Sharding vs Partition

Database partitioning explained: improve query performance and manage large tables. Learn range, list, hash partitioning with PostgreSQL examples and best practices.

Partition Demystified

30-day social media detox results: improved focus, better sleep, completed DDIA book, wrote 10 blogs, and reclaimed attention from doom-scrolling habits.

30-Day Social Media Break Recap

DDIA chapter summaries with videos and notes: learn distributed systems, data models, storage, and replication. Complete study guide for system design interviews.

Designing Data Intensive Applications - chapters summary

DDIA book review: key takeaways on distributed systems, data storage, and scalability. Essential reading for engineers building resilient, scalable applications.

Finally Completed Designing Data Intensive Application Book

Learn database sharding for distributed systems: types, strategies, implementation, and trade-offs. Boost scalability and performance with practical examples.

Sharding Demystified

Career advice for engineers in AI era: web development relevance, competing with AI tools, junior developer challenges, and building deep technical fundamentals.

Notes to Engineers in the AI Era

Why big tech companies prioritize DSA interviews: understand hiring manager perspectives, problem-solving skills, and why DSA matters for engineering careers beyond frameworks.

Why Big Companies Still Ask for DSA in Interviews

Eventual consistency in distributed systems: understand consistency models, trade-offs, delay windows, and practical solutions with coffee shop analogy and examples.

Understanding Eventually Consistency

Starting a daily virtual reader group: 30 minutes of silent reading together. No discussions, no pressure - just a quiet space for mindful reading community.

The 30-Minute Daily Reader Group

Design scalable register API: high-level design, database schema, security, rate limiting, email confirmation, fault tolerance, and CAP theorem considerations.

System Design: Design a register API

Diversity hiring explained: why diverse teams drive innovation, debunking myths about quotas, and understanding true representation beyond gender in tech workplaces.

Diversity Hire

How social media addiction affected my focus and memory, and the simple rule that helped me break free: replacing phone time with books and long-form content.

Social Media Was Draining Me

Why having a mentor matters: learn from experienced professionals, navigate career challenges, set realistic goals, and accelerate professional growth with guidance.

Why I Advocate for Having a Mentor in Your Career

Database replication strategies: single-leader, multi-leader, and leaderless replication for high availability, scalability, and fault tolerance in distributed systems.

Database Replication Strategies

JavaScript security best practices: protect against XSS, CSRF, and code injection. Learn CSP, sandboxing, and secure serialization with practical examples.

JavaScript Security: Protecting Your Web Applications

React Native new architecture explained: JSI, Fabric renderer, TurboModules, and bridgeless design for faster, more responsive mobile apps with better performance.

React Native New Architecture

How I built my personal website in 7 days using Next.js and Tailwind CSS while recording daily progress. A journey of accountability and shipping fast.

I Took a 7-Day Challenge to held me accountable — Here's What Happened

API design fundamentals: understand REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets, status codes, data formats, and communication protocols with practical grocery list analogy.

APIs Are Like Grocery Lists: A Fun Guide to API Design

30-day art challenge using only post-it notes and a black pen: drawing from memory and surroundings. A creative journey with limited art supplies.

My 30-Day Art Challenge: A Creative Journey

Why limiting learning resources improves focus and mastery: avoid resource hoarding, focus on one resource at a time, and implement learnings effectively.

Limit your learning resources

HTML button vs input type button: understand differences in flexibility, styling, form handling, and accessibility for better web development practices.

input type button vs button

React createPortal explained: render components outside parent hierarchy for modals, tooltips, and dialogs. Practical examples and use cases included.

Mastering createPortal in ReactJS: How to create portals in ReactJS

System design beginner roadmap: learn scalability, performance, reliability, load balancing, caching, databases, and API design with real-world restaurant analogy.

System Design Roadmap for Beginners

Published accessibility chapter for TV apps in React Native guidebook by Callstack and Amazon. Free ebook on making TV applications accessible for all users.

I am an author Now!! Accessibility for TV apps

2024 year in review: joining Amazon as Solutions Architect, focusing on health, speaking at conferences, and co-authoring accessibility guide for TV apps.

2024 year end review

Limited edition 2025 desk calendar featuring handmade illustrations and calligraphy by Neha. Available in India and UK/EU with 300 GSM matte finish paper.

2024 Limited Calendar

UK Global Talent Visa guide: eligibility, endorsement process, Tech Nation requirements, documents needed, and tips for digital technology professionals applying without lawyers.

Global Talent Visa, UK

Amazon London interview experience: telephonic rounds, loop interviews, timeline, preparation resources, and tips for clearing Amazon technical interviews successfully.

I joined Amazon, London

Why I use Topmate for mentorship: protecting time boundaries, connecting with serious learners, and giving back to community through JSLovers giveaways.

Why I started topmate.io

Complete guide to calligraphy tools: pens, papers, inks, and colors. Learn brush lettering, nib calligraphy, and Devnagri calligraphy with beginner-friendly tips.

My calligraphy tools

React error boundaries guide: implement error handling with react-error-boundary, fallback UI, logging, and retry functionality for resilient applications.

Mastering Error Boundaries in React: How to Catch & Handle Errors Effectively

<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>this is a list of micro goals for 2026. A few planned and many unplanned. Because life is about small things.</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<h2>Personal</h2>
<p>1 . Wore the dress. I have stopped dressing since covid. This year I have decided to wear a dress every month. For Feb - done.</p>
<p>2 . Took myself on a solo dinner date. Well, I was travelling to India for work and I dined there alone. So, I will count it.</p>
<h2>Work</h2>
<p>1 . Open source contribution to VegaOS + AI + Accessibility  <a href="https://github.com/efahsl/vega-developer-workshop-for-tv-apps/pull/2">PR</a> and <a href="https://github.com/efahsl/vega-developer-workshop-for-tv-apps">project</a></p>
<p>2 . Going to speak at <a href="https://reactnorway.com/">React Norway</a>, and <a href="https://reactsummit.com/">React Summit</a></p>
<h2>Health</h2>
<p>1 . Health reports were good. Need to work on Vitamin-D, and lipid profile.</p>
