Part 1: Beginning of long journey
The year was 2020. The world was going as usual and it seemed like nothing will change. At the beginning of the year there were few news about a fast-spreading disease called COVID. But no-one could guess the effects that will come. However, this post is not about the pandemic, so I will spare the details, but this is where the story begins. This post is about me enjoying remote working, getting frustrated of it; and then moving back to Bangalore.
March 2020, I joined Cisco Systems as SDE 2. Two days after joining, mandatory, indefinite WFH was declared. After 20 days, entire country was put in lockdown. For 2 months, life came at standstill. After a few months, lockdown restrictions eased, and I moved to my hometown. This was the start of my excruciatingly long WFH journey
Working during the pandemic felt like “this is fine” meme. While the world burned outside, I was moving JIRA tickets to “done” by changing the colors of button and fixing the font size. I was enjoying every single minute of it. I had all the time in world to improve myself. Software engineering is all about becoming a life time student and WFH gave me perfect environment to accomplish that.
The learning continued for some time, which was followed by boredom. By the end of 2020, I had learned enough JavaScript, to reach a saturation point. A new year began and I alleviated the boredom by focusing on books rather than tech. I had always felt my knowledge is concentrated on academics, and lacked the rigor beyond the science-and-technology world. To explore new frontiers of knowledge I decided I will read 36 books in 2021. Averaging 3 books per month.
Part 2: Holding the line with no end in sight
2021, brought the hope of large spread Corona virus coming to end. But oh boy! We were all so wrong. The virus underwent a mutation, became much stronger, and much powerful. Whereas in the first wave we were unscathed. The second wave was different. My entire family contacted virus. Especially my dad got really sick. This event forced me to reevaluate my life choices. Just like the virus, I underwent a mutation. However, the results were opposite. I came out much weaker, and ambitionless person. I started appreciating the simpler things in life, like breathing and being alive. I ended the year by reading 32 books, and a renewed appreciation of life
Next year, 2022, I focused on getting healthy. I have had enough learning, now I wanted health. I no longer yearned for better career and expanding knowledge. I spent the entire year with focus on just being healthy. At start of the year, I weighed 96 kg. By the end, I was at 82 kg, averaging 1 kg loss per month. Not an impressive feat, but positive progress nonetheless.
In 2023, the boredom of living alone at home, with no human interaction (apart from the Teams call), started catching up to me. I started feeling like I am losing prime years of my life sitting at home, making no new friends, learning no “worldly knowledge”. My 2023 goal, then became to put my life on an upward trajectory at social interactions. At the time, I couldn’t leave home because my marriage was scheduled in May ‘23. It felt stupid to make a major decision while one major event is already underway. I decided to continue remote work but in a different company. With a fresh start in mind, I started applying for new jobs, merely 1 month after marriage. And found a new job, fully remote. At first it felt like I have achieved my goals. However, after 4 months of working at company, I did not like working there. The company didn’t offer me the growth prospect that I was expecting. Hence not a place I foresaw myself working for a very long time. And with that feeling, 2023 came to an end. I was back where I started. Only difference - I now had to check “married” under marital status on job applications
Part 3: Moving to Bangalore
2024 started and the job-hunting process started all over again. To counter last year’s dead progress, I desperately started looking for new job. In 2 months, I had one offer, and decided to pursue it without finding any counter-offers. The catch, this job was in Bangalore. So, after 4 years. I ended my WFH journey and moved cities. TBH, my current company is not that different from last one. The strict HR policies are a little different from the kind of companies I have worked with. But Hey! I cannot keep switching forever. If I want to rise the corporate ladder, I have to fight the system at some place. Let this one be the place where I do
Moving cities after marriage is different. Before marriage I could shift home, with my 2 suitcases, anytime I want. All I had to do was call an uber XL, which can fit 2 suitcases and a few household items. Now, my wife’s shoes collection itself takes more than 2 suitcases. Whereas I can spend entire day in a single dress. My wife needs one “outside home” dress, one “at home” dress and one night dress. Then there is a set of “What if” stuffs like “what if I go to a beach, I need these 50 cloths, and these 10 earrings”. In essence, shifting cities was an adventure in itself. Fun fact, I went on 3 day trip with her, and she legit packed 12 dresses, and I packed 2.
Now, 2024 is coming to an end, last 4 years were filled with ups and downs. I gained lot of knowledge, and I lost lot of my social skills. For some time, I felt like I was improving myself every day, other times it felt like I was degrading every minute, heading towards a downward spiral and throwing my life away. In year 2025, I will continue focusing on my career and social skills. I want to leverage being in Bangalore and meet new people. I have been a hermit my entire life. It’s time to change that. I need to start interacting more and establish better connections. Let’s see what the new year holds for me