Debugging Life

Dear Boston, So, the time has come. To bid you a farewell for the time being. We met some 4 years ago on a sunny day. I remember it was very hot. Too hot for a 22 degree Celsius day in early September. I was jetlagged after a 16 hour flight. And you were mesmerizing, as always.  You've hosted millions of people like me. The Irish who touched your shores and caressed them centuries ago. You've hosted Thoreau, Swami Vivekanand, Ben Affleck, the cab driver from middle east, students of merit in MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Berklee from asias and the australias and africas and europe, also the homeless folks. I feel jealous of you treating everyone as special, but also makes me proud that I got to roam on the same streets in which the people who made a dent in this world did. You completely blew my mind. Your beauty, elegance, arrogance, and a bipolar weather. You've been my muse, and I was yours. You developed in me the habit of long walks in silence. Almost every week I get lost star...

We all keep reading news, hear opinions, debate with friends on ideologies. Here, I am specifically talking about political ideologies. Because it is one of the main things which decides the traits of an individual on a smaller level and adds upto the fate of society and nation as a whole. I'm not going to write about the cliche capitalism vs communism debate. But I will try to give you a torch, which will help you to tread a path of your own. Truth is subjective, and you have to decide your own. But yes, I also believe that there are some truths which can be generalized in an objective manner. I believe that a person who is in love with one side of ideologies (be it left or right) is certainly not correct. He doesn't have free thoughts, it's just an impression of an ideology which he read while seeing the world through it's bias.  I'll love to put forward some examples: Feminism. This word is a topic of heated debates in every part of the world. Giving equal rights...

Right now, I hung up the phone. I had a conversation with papa. Barely 8-9 minutes. This is the first time that I called him on his number, and we talked this long. Not like, I never spoke with him on phone, but it was barely like 20-22 seconds. Yes, in last 22-23 years, we never had 1-1 conversation even for more than 1 minute, unless ofcourse he had to scold me. I am feeling strangely powerful. He didn't give me motivation, but just him discussing future with me, made me realize that now I am a grown up. He sharing his plans with me about my younger one's education, and he sharing some life lessons with me... had a profound impact. Quoting him, he gave me a good advice.  "Baba ye baat bolte hai, unne experience kari hai. Maine bhi itne saalo me experience kari hai ki paisa kamana aasaan kaam hai, paise ko jod ke rakhna bhot mushkil hai. Aur tu choti umr se hi aadat daal. Hamesha ye baat yaad rakhna. Paisa bahot badi cheez hai." I myself, have seen him struggling whe...

Today is Friday, and I opted to work from home. So, its a bit relaxed for me. Or is it? Does it happen to you that whenever you're having ample of time in your hand, you don't necessarily want to make it ultra productive, but you don't want to waste it either..? (Today is one such day, so in order to avoid anxiety, I have to work today... maybe study something or listen to a good podcast to say the least) Also, even though I have said this earlier, but I am obsessing over people who have pursued an MBA after their MS. The Fuqua passouts, Booth passouts, Haas passouts, Harvard BS, Wharton, Sloan, Tuck, Kellogg, Ross passouts.... maaaaannnn I soooo want to join these schools. These schools sculpt global corporate sharks, young turks leading projects of millions and billions!! What else? In Portland, I am spending most of my days in silence. Literally not speaking a word to anybody for 15-18 hours straight... Strangely, I like this. Just me, my thoughts, books, internet, food ...

 So, I'm writing about my first day of Job after coming home from third day. Well, because its a good job which apparently keeps me busy. And also, I just come home, eat food and literally doze off.   Basically, I have to work on a product with a team, where I'll spend my time on analytics and machine learning stuff. I am in the core business team of the product, where I'm working directly with Maxime (Dartmouth MBA) and Swapnil (MIT MBA) who are the AVP and VP of my company's behavioral health division. Also, other teammates Ryan, David and Clare are also veterans and I'm the only intern.  So, its a bit intimidating (in a good way) and challenging. I will learn a lot. Also, Swapnil is VERY humble. I thought she'd be a bossy lady with whom I'd have a tough time... but is not. She is soooo soooo humble and I haven't seen her resting a single minute. She is just working all the time. I aspire to be a workaholic like her in the coming years...  And Maxime. ...

If you have ever read about blackholes, you might have come across the term 'singluarity' at some point. Well, I am about to enter that phase of my life now. At this moment, physicists are still trying to find out what exactly happens after that point. Same is with me. I am standing at the verge of six months which will decide the entire course of my career. Although I'll be happy with my coop like others, I want to make the best use of these six months. This place will either help me dig my head in books and courses all the way, or just lay on the bed on weekends... this room... my place... will be my battlefield. Also, I am in suburbs for six months. Here I am experiencing the 'true' culture of America. The introverted side of the USA, which isn't portrayed in movies. Even the sound of sneezing touches the ears of the man moving his lawn 2 houses down the lane. You can hear birds chirping 24*7, sound of rustling leaves when the wind blows, and occasional thuds...

Again, I am writing this from library. Seems like a ritual, which is about to break. Actually, today is Thursday and I am moving to portland the day after tomorrow. So, I'll miss studying in library for the next six months. For some unknown reasons, I am feeling this sudden urge to study and code. Which is very rare because I feel like this only for a day or two in a couple of months; but it's been almost two weeks that i've been into books and udacity at a stretch... at this rate i'm sure i can crack faang, mckinsey or atleast land a good job for the time being. Its by the end of my first stretch in boston that i have realized how awesome northeastern university is!! i cant wait to come here again in january and become an all round nerd.. i wish this 'urge' to study stays with me in portland as well... also, yesterday was the last time i cooked for my roommates.. and i'm not even kidding... the sabzi turned out to be awesome..!! now this might not be a big ...

Well, so I am again in the library. And I wanted to take a break from studying about CAP vs ACID theorums and making ETL pipelines in Apache Cassandra... so here i am writing a post. I am thinking of updating this on a regular basis now. So yeah. Yesterday was a good day. Vishesh bhai offered me to go with him to Revere Beach (where his friends from merchant navy were coming). Man, they were awesome. One was from lucknow and another from haryana (jhajjar) and they will be boarding their ship from providence and had a stay in boston for a day. I was shocked to know that they will be staying in waters till 6 months straight!! No sight of land... kudos to them. Also, I met Utkarsh who is from UP and is placed in Nvidia (california) as a deep learning engineer. Soooooo coooool. So yeah, they came at my place. I made them tea, which to my surprise, they enjoyed! And then they went. Maybe I won't meet those two again in this life, but I'll definitely remember their faces. We watched ...

 Right now its 7:13 pm and I am sitting in Snell Library. I was coding some stuff in postgresql (udacity's nanodegree). I have to go to Jigesh Bhai's birthday by 8:30 and to be honest I want to sit in the library till 10-11pm. So, in a nutshell I will have to negotiate with both things and reach at the party by 9-9:30. And since I wanted to take a break, I thought to write a blog post. About my own dreams, work and life. I am moving to Portland for six months and honestly I dont want to leave Boston. I have made a family here. I know its for the better, but duh... So yeah, it seems a bit pretentious (trust me I hate it) but I enjoy working like this. Empty library, just the noise of my fingers hitting the keyboard and indistinct chatter in the background. It made me think of the things that I left behind some 10 months ago. I was a boy, in comfort zone who used to think that I've conquered the world. It was here, when I came to Boston where I realized that I am merely a spe...

I was surfing instagram, where I stumbled upon this quote by Democritus. At first, I agreed to this quote. But then I started to scrutinize this. Also, before reading further, read this quote and then form your own opinion... Not at a superficial level, but think about what he said for a couple of minutes. And only then, I want you to read further. Okay, let's go! In my opinion he's implying that everything which has physical form, is universally objective. Means, it is a truth, which everyone can acknowledge. However, perception is an opinion which is subjective. For example: If you and I were standing infront of two pots. One of sunflower and other of red-rose, we might have different choices. I personally love sunflowers, but you might love roses.  Here, we both are acknowledging that 2 flowers are in existence - which is the objective truth. But - which flower is more beautiful is completely subjective, and non-binary. I mean you might choose rose over sunflower because t...

So the night before yesterday, I was on a call with two of my friends. We were talking about nihilism, absurdness, and existential crises. As in, the origins of big bang, higher dimensions, and the meaningless celebrations. A topic popped up all of a sudden about the absurdness of birthday celebrations. One of my friends asserted that it's meaningless and infact saddening that one reaches a year closer to death, but still celebrates it. To be honest, even I used to think of it in this way until something very peculiar striked my mind.   I thought, birthday celebration is indeed a good thing. Not because we've grown a year older. But, because we're closer to achieve non-existence. We'll lose the consciousness and merge into the void again. I ask - why do people fear death? Before-life and after-death are the same thing. All of this is temporary, and has no inherent meaning or value. So, if you celebrate birthday or don't believe in it - it's totally fine. We are...

So, I came across a form of Japanese poetry - Haiku . They're very short poems. Which generally follow the 5/7/5 rule. However, many Haikus written in english don't follow it, but maintain the overall feel and brewity.  Here's a Haiku for the strongest person I've ever met in my life. Like always, I won't share this link.. If you come across this, thank me later. Idk why, I've a gut feeling that you read what I write :)   a beautiful shrub growing from cracks of a wall tender yet fierce     What shall I name this Haiku? It's better I don't name it and limit it's scope. Till the next time Yours Truly.

When we think of Hauz Khas, we picture the party hub of India. Raves. Clubs. Hardcore party animals. Girls and Boys. Disco. Right? At least I did it before paying a visit. But, my perception was busted as and when I explored the lanes of this beautiful village. It was a scorching day of June. I had completed my data analysis for AAP and had a lot of time to spare. I was binging on movies in my PG in Noida (gosh! I really miss that room). I had already visited CP (multiple times), Akshardham, Gurgaon, and Old Delhi. However, one place was remaining and I wanted to see it right from the day I landed in NCR - the Hauz Khas village . I had my classmates in Delhi and Gurgaon during the same time (Rahul Gautam and Prashika - shoutout to you, if you ever read this xD). But my solitary ass decided to explore that part of Delhi - ALONE. I took metro from Noida Sector 15 and sneaked to CP (duh, again). Then I visited India Gate, Amar Jawan Jyoti, and Lodhi Garden. Then I had the chance to board ...

It is evident that homosapiens have gained their dominance on the planet by developing cognition. Evolution has made certain species way stronger than humans. But the ability of humans to hunt in a groups, live together in clusters, and super high control over body parts such as fingers has given them an upper edge. However, another thing to notice is that intelligence and cognition is not necessary for survival. If it was, then every organism on earth would've focused a lot on neurons rather than muscular cells. We would've come across a dog playing chess against Gary Kasparov.. The oldest bacteria and multicellular species don't have super high cognitive abilities. In fact, I was reading that homosapiens had very close relatives homo erectus and Neanderthals. But according to some theories sapiens played a major role in removing Neanderthals from the face of the earth.. which indicates that we're very intolerant.. and it is with the help of our cognitive ability ...