Hi there!
So you want to know about me. Where do I start?
Hmmm... let's start at very beginning.
Early life and Family
I was born in a small town called Bokaro, in Jharkhand India. If you are familiar with India's geography then you might recall that Bokaro is known for its steel production. This is the city where I grew up and so its very close to my heart. If you ever visit Bokaro, you will find it to be a peaceful city, away from hustle and bustle, unlike most other cities in India. It is also a planned city, meaning there is almost no traffic, wide roads, proper drainage, space for kids to play, and so much more. As most people here are not native to Jharkhand, they shifted from various parts of the country to work for SAIL, hence the city has a very diverse culture and this helped me build characteristics to be approachable by all. I can go on and on about Bokaro, but let's talk about my family as well.
My father is a Doctor and mother a homemaker. I am blessed to have a younger brother too. The earliest memory I have is that of my mundan ceremony where both me and my brother were getting our head shaved for the first time and were crying like babies usually do during this ceremony.
When I grew up a little I developed interest in Science, Mathematics, Computers and Arts. I was around 12 years old when my father bought a computer. Even for that time, it had a very modest configuration. But it was enough to get me fascinated with the things it can do, and it didn't even have an Internet connection. I mostly used it play games and run Logo (a program that was taught in school at that time). I also used MS Paint a lot. It was around this time I decided to become a "Computer Engineer" and play video games in my free time 😛.
Education
When I was around 2 years old, my parents sent me to Rotary Play School, after that I did my Kindergarten at St. Mary's School. From class 1 to 12, I went to M.G.M Higher Secondary School. There was brief period of 3 years (class 2 to 4) when my father went to Patna to do his PHD and at that time I went to St. Joshep's in Patna. But later we came back to Bokaro and I even got admitted into same class in M.G.M. To my surprise, few of my classmates remembered me even after 3 long years! It was as if I never left.
At M.G.M I was introduced to HTML, CSS and JavaScript! While my classmates didn't find it exciting, I was hooked. The ability write some code and have it render in an application was fascinating for me. I can also link multiple pages together and have a small world inside an app! I still remember creating a website for my school and showcasing it in a school fair 😅. My efforts were appreciated by teachers and parents who came to that fair.
When I went to class 11, I choose Information Technology instead of Computer Science. Mostly because my parents wanted me focus strictly on Science and Maths (to get into an engineering college) and I wanted some exposure to programming. Information Technology seemed a right balance of both as it was considered easier that Computer Science. In Information Technology, we learned Visual Basic where as in Computer Science, C was taught. But I learned C on my own anyway. 😆
Then came the dreaded engineering entrance exams. I wasn't smart enough to qualify for any of the prestigious IITs, but decent enough to get Information Technology in BIT Mesra through AIEEE.
What followed was the best 4 years of my life. The friendships I made here is stronger than any other. I learned a lot about Computers. Even created some of my early software projects like Aurora, DC Hub Web and multiple college fest website. By the time I got out of college, I was sure that I wanted to work on the frontend side of software engineering.
Professional Journey
I will keep this section short as I already have a page dedicated to my work experience. I started with SAP Labs India, one of the best place to start your career. Learned a lot about software development process and got insights into how product is planned and executed in a large MNC. I was surprised to see that once in, I have access to all the proprietary code across the company. Something I take for granted these days 😅! I am sure that there were many other surprises at SAP which I don't remember now.
I then moved to a startup called OnGrid. It was very contrasting to SAP. With a very small shared office and very minimal code. Here I learned how to own a part of company and drive it end-to-end. I formed some of the closest friends amidst the heated discussions and we regularly connect with each other, even after 7 years! Unlike my SAP colleagues, who drifted away in the tide of time.
Flipkart was the place where I truly learned what frontend development means and how to create a web application for an enterprise with millions of transactions happening every single day. What terror a bad code deployment can have and how to manage the dreaded on-calls.
Now I have joined LinkedIn and am excited for the next chapter of my life. Needless to say, wherever I go, I will keep some values from each of my previous companies.
Starting a Family of my own
In 2021, I met my beautiful wife Komal, and we tied the knot in 2022. Had a kid in 2023! And had many other milestones in-between. My son is sleeping while I write this blog and I cannot express how grateful I am. Sometimes I feel that I am very blessed to have a very common life with so many amazing people to spend my time with. Last few years of my life has been running on a very fast pace and I cannot express how happy I am that Komal was by my side through all of it with her endless talk about completely random things.
Declare let not var, IYKYK. 😅
Hobbies
Hobbies is the part that I feel I have ignored a lot in my daily chaotic life. I tried to do sketching again during Covid and you can see them on my insta page. However in last 3 years, I barely had any extra time. But now I want to get back on reading and writing. When my son grows up, I plan to paint and play video games with him. 😊
If you're into sketching or gaming, let's connect!