When I was a student, I was very punctual and hardworking, but didn’t think much about the responsibilities or affect of my tasks. Since I started working, though, there’s been a transformation.

I understand now that we have to be more aware of the impact of our work and our words. So in open source, whenever I comment on an issue, I try to think of what someone else will think when they see it. Lots of people interpret comments differently, so I want to be appropriate and aware in my communications. I can’t be too harsh about any particular thing. If I’m closing an issue, for example, I know we have to be specific about why and how we’re closing it, especially if we know people won’t like it.

I really respect that responsibility, and the recognition people give you when you are a maintainer. They trust your work and know you are available on GitHub to help and address queries. It feels great when I’m recognized by the people in the community who are working with me on GitHub. It’s a place where you can both offer input and receive help. I love that we can learn from each other’s perspectives and utilize all these ideas.

Embracing work and finding a source of happiness

There are some things that have been with me since childhood. I’m quite stubborn when it comes to my work, and am what you’d probably call a workaholic. Whenever I enter the office, I don’t need a warm-up period: I just dive right into whatever needs to get done. I love what I do, so when it’s time to work, I focus on work. I don't like to leave anything half-done, so I try my best to complete the work I start.

I’m motivated by challenges, so when I’m successfully able to fix a bug that requires a lot of effort that really encourages me to stay motivated to do more. I just want to be happy in my life in whatever I do. And when I receive appreciation in the open source world, I am so happy. It really feels great when I do something that’s recognized and utilized by the community.

Empowering Magento maintainers, and open source in India

The version of Magento that I work on is a free open source framework that’s highly customizable and supported by the community. It’s very popular in India, and is ideal for developers, organizations, and small merchants just starting their businesses. Magento also hosts big meetups every year (or, at least they did before the pandemic).

I fix lots of bugs in Magento, and focus on customization and framework-related changes to maintain the workflow. I recently worked on some projects for PWA Studio, which allows our users to create reliable mobile experiences that boost conversion and increase engagement.

I think there are about 30 or 40 Magento maintainers. We all understand who’s working on what. There are best practices in place so that if there’s an issue that I would usually address, no one else is going to comment on that. There’s no conflict between us. It’s a huge, empowering community and that is awesome.

GitHub is where we build all our software, and open source is in fashion now. It’s a new era in India where open source is popular because it allows everyone to build on each other’s work. It’s the best thing for developers. They can enhance their skills and be properly recognized for their contributions to the community.

For me, being recognized as a quality maintainer at Magento for core bug fixes and quality maintenance work was my proudest moment in open source. There were a few tweets that included my work and name, and that made me really proud. It’s a great achievement.

Not a burden, but balance

I want to tell every maintainer and every newcomer to just give it time. Do the work, and be consistent. Sometimes you might feel that it’s not working or you’re not able to do this, but just keep going. Once you see the output, you’ll realize that it’s a lot easier than you thought. You’ll recognize that you can do this and you’ll be happy with whatever effort you can give.

I find it helpful to make a list of what I have to do for any given task. I break it all down. And if other people are working with me, I assign out tasks so that everyone’s clear and focused on the end goal. Otherwise, it’s too easy to waste the day. Start small. Divide it up and take it a little at a time.

Recognition also helps with the balance. I do have to make an extra effort to maintain my reputation in the community. But once you get that recognition, you are motivated to continue this work happily. There is no burden in it.