2020 Review
All blogs from 2020 are here, Unedited.
January
Hey, How are you doing? It's been 21 days since I wrote my first blog. I should have written this a little earlier. Anyway, I had to travel to Chennai due to a medical emergency. I stayed there for two weeks. It's good that the company allowed me to work from there. Although I did not notice any lack in my work, my personal planning was definitely impacted. The situation came out of nowhere, and I think I adapted well.
I started playing cricket after 4 years. I have played two matches so far. My performance hasn't been really good, but it's way better than not playing at all. You can track my cricket profile here.
Could not run regularly. Just went for 2 runs. Partly because I was really busy. Also, I played a lot of cricket during the weekends and I was not feeling good enough to run. But definitely could have gone for more runs.
I went to a GraphQL meetup last weekend. Learned some Graphql concepts. Also have done some hobby projects. Would like to work with subscription and real-time data. Thinking of creating a chat app. Let's see.
Went through core and some advanced topics of Typescript. Read up stuff on Clean-code. Learned some accessibility principles. Would be building out something next week with those principles.
I found out some more things about myself. I found that I don't feel comfortable sharing or taking pictures. It is some kind of psychological barrier I shall be working to break. I uploaded my profile on most of the private mediums. I need to set my profile picture on a public-facing medium.
During my last match, while we were waiting for the match to start, there was a guy from another team smoking inside the pavilion. Thought of asking him to go outside but didn't (maybe couldn't, was tempted to ask). One guy asked him to smoke outside. It went well. We need more of those guys. At least, I need to stand up. Will be taking those responsibilities going forward.
The last 30 days were spent actively. I was really busy. I attended 2 tech meetups. Met some awesome people. Learned some cool things. I left PG and shifted with my cousin as planned.
I started playing cricket again. Joined BCG. It is an awesome community to play cricket. Played 3 matches. Haven’t done much batting. Although I was the best bowler in the third match I am nowhere close to my old days.
I did not run a lot the last month. Just a few runs here and there. It should be better this month. As I started running on the way home from the office. I run back home from the office. It’s 3.8km, but it should be ~2.5k run due to traffic and signals.
February
Feb is over! I am Working From Home as Coronavirus has taken over the world. When People were practicing social distancing to stop the spread of Coronavirus, we were traveling the south Indian temples and tourist places. Everything was planned and tickets were booked a long time ago. Coronavirus was not a thing back then, not even when my parents ended up in Bangalore. We visited Mysore, Ooty, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Trichy, Tirupathi, and many other places along the way. We had a lot of fun and Most importantly, everyone was safe.
Being an atheist, watching people doing crazy things was funny. But the devotion and faith taught me respect. At the same time, the joy I saw on my parent's faces made the trip the best one to date.
I will be reviewing my month in a different blog. Stay happy, stay safe.
March
Midway in March, I started leading our Front-end team. I read somewhere to keep yourself ready because you never know when an opportunity comes. Our front-end lead decided to leave our company, and somehow, I was offered to lead the team. Although I had not prepared myself to be leading a team. I thought I was ready technically. I took that up as an opportunity to push myself even further. I decided to take up the challenge. I have been doing good. I learned many technical and non-technical skills. Most importantly, I have been able to push my team to code better, and the inverse of that is pushing myself to learn better ways of doing things.
April
I have been planning to write tech blogs for a while now. Finally, I have written one. Click here to read, how to implement drag and drop in react. I have recently implemented drag-and-drop functionality in our schema feature. Schema is a super spreadsheet built for compliance users from scratch. In the blog, I have written on how you can build a drag-and-drop feature in a react app with react-beautiful-dnd. So far I have seen a good response. I even got a retweet from the maintainer of the react-beautiful-dnd.
I have many learnings to take from the experience, the most important one is choosing a topic and sticking to it. Earlier I used to start writing on too broad topics and lost myself there. I have many of those incomplete drafts. Slowly I will get to a level where I can write an entire book but for now, small topics work best.
May
It has been one of the hardest times I have ever faced. Everything is stopped. And many of those are affecting my timelines. I must redefine some of my goals to be more realistic. I would be happy to complete the Google web specialist certification and a half marathon by the end of 2020.
After investing some time in my first two tech blogs and some drafts, I found that one tech blog a week may not be enough to produce good content. I am thinking of producing a bi-weekly tech blog going forward.
I have been reading much on Js, You don't know Js is currently on my reading table. I have some on design patterns and clean code stuff. DSA and DOM would be the next things to deep dive in.
It has been almost 3 months since my parents are here. They are slowly getting used to this environment. It was hard for them initially to fit in the city and the lockdown added fuel to the fire. Now, they are complaining a bit less, thanks to Ramayana, Mahabharata, sree Krishna, and whatnot. They are on a roll. They love the shows and that eases out my day. They are busy with the shows and do not feel bored anymore. It allows me to work.
Now some introspection, I have been failing in keeping myself fit. I have not published any technical blog in the last two weeks. But, I have been doing well with my work. I have to start running, it's been quite a while since the last run. I have been reading the YDKJS series 1. It's a large series with 6 books. 4s have been completed. It looks at JS from a different perspective. I am planning to run through the other 3 this week.
There have been a few challenges with managing a team. It is not easy to get the best out of everyone. Also, I was struggling two weeks ago to manage my development tasks and do reviews, merges, discussions, and doubt-clear sessions. I went through some resources, got used to more context-switching, and got better at this. Shubhankar has sent me some resources. I am yet to go through all of them.
The plan for the week is to complete the YDKJS series, there is yet another book to be completed on TS + Js which I am already halfway through. I must start running or at least start going out for a walk. I will also work on some of the drafts on Medium to publish at least one of them by next weekend.
Stay safe, stay hungry!
June
I started the year with a lot of big plans. Corona ruinned a few and I must accept, a few were not planned well. In this post, I am trying to note down the learnings from the last 5 months. Also, I am going to apply them to better manage my goals in the coming days. I am lacking a bit here but high hopes for ticking off all boxes.
I ran into a similar problem, doing many things at the same time. I was trying my hands on so many things again. Although I managed to tick off some of the boxes, I am not where I wanted to be at this time of the year. I did not manage my time well in the last 4 months. When doing many things at the same time I tend to lose context. So, I am done with the switching. I am going to try just taking one task at a time from now.
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June is pretty eventful. This is the month where I am constantly checking myself. Frequently questioning my to-dos and doing. It all started with me not attending Amazon's interview. Yes, I got an interview invitation that involved an online assessment. After a few days of introspection, I have decided to not continue with the interview. I always wanted to create something useful for people and also gives me a sense of ownership. Although I am getting a sense of ownership at Radicali, I want to work on something of my own.
I am from Assam. That part of the country is way beyond other developed states in India in terms of technical development. I want to take technology there. It is a really big and open market if you see from business prospective. Most of the current solutions are focusing on metro and tier 1 cities. Living in other places is still manual and hard at times. I would love to contribute to these tier 2 & 3 cities or villages.
If that is my real calling then why am I working here in Bangalore? A hard question, so many factors are involved in this. The top one would be the financial health of me and my family. But now, I think I am almost there. I don't have a runway or even a month, but the family is in a situation where even if I don't contribute financially, it won't wobble.
So, this is it. This is the time I move on. This is the time I start. And to my surprise, I got a call from a person (from Assam) yesterday night. Our visions are more or less the same. I am going to take the conversation forward. Let's see how it goes. But however it goes, this is the time I start. Either I start with that guy or on my own. I am going to communicate this to my CTO today on our 1-O-1 and start working towards my exit.
I will write a monthly summary later. Also, I am going to update my plan later. But in short, I am returning to Assam!
Stay safe!
July
This month has been very busy. I made a few quick decisions. I still back them but the situation is screaming at me to slow down.
Maybe I need to slow down and make a more robust plan for returning to Assam. I am pretty much with the idea of going back with a job, exploring, and trying out things over there. The only thing that worries me is how that will go. Will I be more relaxed? Maybe or maybe not. But there is no harm to go with a job. But If I am not able to focus for a month or so, I have to say goodbye to the job. Let's see. I am yet to make this decision. I will conclude by this week. Considering the current situation I don't see it happening in July. I am planning to move by early Sept. But It also depends on the coronavirus cases and the weather in Assam.
Wow! The last few days have been very busy, as I said. I have been going through some of the resources for my cert preparation. It is going well. I am on track or a bit advanced. Running has stopped. I was having serious calf pain, so I did not run at all last week. Will resume this week.
What more? Oh, back to HackerEarth. Lost ~100 rating points from my first two contests. I made some silly mistakes. Also, the compiler was bad in the last contest. However, I have to up my game here. I will do some DSA practice every week on Thursday from this week. I have the goal to end with 1800 ratings or in the top 50 by the year-end if you don't know.
And this is it. This week I am focusing on running a 7k and continue preparing for cert & some DSA. See you next!
August
While I was running after perfection time was running out too. I was preparing for Google mobile web certifications. But I can't take the exam anymore because it has been stopped. 😑 . I should have drawn the line between perfection and time taken.
I had a plan to take the exam in Feb/March. But a few things hold me back. It was only mid-May I started seriously. And yesterday I turned up to register for the exam and saw that it was not there. It had been stopped. I spent too much time running after perfection. I should have given a shoot earlier. Those were the thoughts coming into my mind first.
I can try to justify the time I took, by saying that I just wanted myself to be completely ready. Also, the exam fee was a concern. Because you get only one chance for a considerable amount of fee. You must pay the fee again to appear. I wanted to crack it in the first go. But even then, there were times, when I felt I should do it now! Being a bit rusty could have been better.
Okay. I gotta work on some serious projects now. I will remove the certification from my goal list and add a new goal. I have a few projects in my mind. I will continue doing projects. Each is completed in 45 days. Mostly in vanilla Js or in a new framework or tech which I don't know or am not well versed with yet. I will write a blog summarising the learnings and takeaways after the month's end.
As I always like to say, Today is the best day to start.
Stay safe!
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Bought a domain name
I bought a domain name a few days ago. I am planning to create a nice portfolio-like landing page. This blog will also be hosted on the same domain or in a subdomain on the same domain.
I mostly write about what is going on in my life and some of what is coming in this blog. I don't want this blog to be on the front. People can still read it but It is not the thing I am trying to sell. I will start working on the new site this week. Meanwhile, many other exciting things are happening in life. One of them has to be the driving lessons. I am starting with the practical sessions today. I will be accompanied by a driving instructor on the road. I am a bit nervous, to be honest. Traffic doesn't give me a good feeling. Hopefully, by the end of these sessions, I will get better.
I have been doing good with the technical pieces. I should get better at publishing frequently but the response so far has been good. The last blog I wrote was titled - Learn Typescript in 15 Minutes. Targeted towards developers doing more than what I expected. I have already got like 20 followers on Medium. Above all these writings are good for improving myself and an opportunity to dig deep into the internals as well. I haven't published in the last two weeks! I should try to get one out each week.
Nothing much to update on the professional side. The last few weeks have been busy. Couldn't focus well on personal projects. I have been translating the javascript.info to Hindi. This was going well until a few weeks ago. Now, it has slowed down. I have to take some time for this as well. I have been wasting some time doing unnecessary introspections. I must cut down this time and back up my decisions. This is not a time to do introspections. Need to focus on the process more. I am one of the best at executions when I only focus on the process. So, for the next few weeks, I am trying to cut down my time spent on introspections and some other random things and focus more on my bigger plan. Deliverables are the website and a blog a week.
September
I could have tried and got a good govt job back in 2016. But I had other plans. Also, I was well-assisted this time around in working on the plan. I was allowed to take some time and take some risks. And my journey started.
I was always fascinated by technology. Was always interested in computers. When I was in class 9 or 10, I remember reading a book on the computer of my cousin. Well, I hadn't seen a computer at that time, It was only in class 11th when I saw or used a computer. Govt of Assam used to provide laptops for students doing well in 10th at that time. I passed my 10th in 2011 and got the laptop by Dec the same year. I was over the moon.
I was so into cricket that studies almost became secondary to me. There were a few other factors also contributing to this. Being not regular to school and not being around tuition classes resulted in me getting left alone in the classes. Some teachers were even biased toward students taking tuition from them. Being introverted didn't help. But I was welcomed warmly into the cricket field. I was too confined. I was limiting myself inside the cricket field. By the time I realised, I must appear on my 12th, I didn't have enough time. I didn't do very well but was in the top half of the class.
During my 11th and 12th period, I didn't have enough luxury to plan long, I was in a rush to get a job as I had to support my family financially sooner rather than later. After the 12th I thought of going for Air Force interviews but couldn't do it because of knocked knees (Medically unfit). I got into B.Sc. in 2013. Now, again I was splitting my energy between cricket and studies for the first two years. I was growing every day, I was getting used to reality every day. Now, I had to do a computer course as most of the govt job asks for one. I join NEILIT O level.
I was the best in our class. I loved every bit of programming. I was clear what I can do If not playing cricket. I was graduated in 2016. Completed the O level in Feb or March of 2017. And joined MCA in IGNOU, as it was cheap and classes used to be only during the weekends, allowing me to work part-time if needed. I moved to Guwahati and stayed there for 1 semester. I was not happy with my progress there and decided to move to Bangalore.
Moving to Bangalore was one of the toughest decisions. Moving to Bangalore means cutting almost all the chances of getting a Govt job. But I was very clear about the importance. That helped to convince my parents and brother. They have blind trust in me. I flew to Bangalore on the 2nd of Sept 2017.
I went off-road a few times and had a few hiccups but overall I was on the track all of the time. Most importantly I knew my track. I had analyzed everything and had a plan prepared. I started by looking at Software engineer job posts and slowly building up my skills, as I progressed through my course.
I started with an internship in Sept of 2018, which gave me a clear picture of the realities of a software developer's job. I continued in the same place for a while. Then I took a break to skill up and in Sept of 2019, I joined Radicali where I grew to lead the team within a year.
Now after completing a year in Radicali, I feel my growth has been stuck, I am not pushed enough. Also, I would have loved to build a product that impacts people around me. Now, I am more interested in working for people, working from home. Rapid development in my hometown means more room for entrepreneurship. I am moving to Assam, No matter what.
I feel like completing a circle now. From a biologist trying to be a software engineer to leading a team. I am in the next circle now. Slowly I would like to transition to a position where I can impact more people's lives, esp. people around me. But for the immediate, I would love to work on more challenging stuff, work with more experienced people, and expand my network. Build my reputation for the next step (will share later), work on financial security.
I have resigned from Radicali and joined a startup working in the Health sector, named OrangeHealth. With more senior people around and with a larger target audience I am expecting a huge lot of challenges in the coming days. I am joining them in the last week of Oct.
I will be working for the community in whatever way I can along with doing a few runs a week, playing cricket, and trying to invest in a few ideas in my hometown. I will take my flight back home on the 13th of Oct thanking Bangalore for an awesome 3 years.
October
Everything has been coming along nicely. I am moving to Assam today (Actually tomorrow), I have been a little busy this week. The last few weeks have been really good. Although I couldn't write much at this time. I am happy with the overall efforts.
I went for a few runs. Set my best 5k and 10k time in 4-5 years. Hoping to carry on from here. I feel confident now of completing a half marathon by Dec.
Hacktober fest resulted in a few extra MRs in the Javascript.info Hindi repo. Spent time reviewing them and raising issues. Let's see if anyone is resolving the issues. Love for a t-shirt is evident. I also made a couple of open-source contributions during this time. One of them is contributing to public labs.
What more? Bought a new phone. Got an Apple Macbook from my new company. Met the two co-founders.
Now Its monday and I am back coding.
Take care.
November & December