Tech Story: From Tinkering to Code

Hello there,

I’m Surya, a software engineer with about 1.5 years of experience in the IT industry and am currently on the lookout for the next opportunity.

Today, I want to share my journey, from a curious kid playing with tech to where I am today, figuring things out as I go.

First Spark

I first got to use a PC back in 2006-2007. I was too young to understand much, but I remember how a beige box with chunky wires seemed to do magical stuff. Like any teen, I mostly browsed the internet at first, but soon grew curious about Computers as I progressed in school. It was 2012, and I still remember rushing madly to the computer lab like we rush to catch the Mumbai locals today.

My first moment of realizing that I could build something was when I changed the color of an <h1> tag to red. That simple action unlocked the world of possibilities, and suddenly, the web wasn’t just something I consumed - it was something I could create. HTML and CSS became my playground, though it wasn’t easy transitioning from school-level projects to something more advanced.

Exploration

After gaining confidence by troubleshooting Windows, I turned to smartphones and began tinkering with their operating systems. I experimented with custom ROMs on my Asus phone—Lineage OS, R Remix, AOSP - you name it! I spent countless days exploring & testing features, hoping that my phone would survive.

These formative experiences with hardware and software shaped my curiosity. When I entered college, it became clear that Software Engineering was where my love for tech could take root and grow. Alongside my best friends, Kasi and Soumya, we embarked on our first project—a website for quotes similar to BrainyQuote.

Pivot

While we didn’t finish it, the excitement of web development reignited my passion. In 2019, I joined a technical club at our college, SIESGSTarena. It felt like a small startup hidden inside a Codechef club. They were working on a coding platform, problem sets, and even machine learning.

Getting exposure to such collaborative environment felt crucial and it turned out to be one of the highlights of my undergrad years.

I worked on the frontend of the coding platform (Arena), landing pages for flagship contests, and learned a bit about marketing - taking the product to its audience.

In 2020, I was chosen as the club president, and I was on cloud nine. Being an ECE student, this was a personal win! We worked hard to grow our user base, secure better sponsors, and attract participants from all colleges across India.

While I missed holding in-person meetings, I had first-hand exposure in managing a team & focusing on growth and product improvement. I was exposed to range of issues to work on - human psychology, college interventions, tech being the smallest problem here. This outlook helps me think broadly when dealing with problem / new situations.

Leading a team isn’t all rosy—I felt overworked, scaling a team while maintaining the quality of work was hard. It requires vision, the guts to handle lows, second-order thinking, and openness to criticism.

Overall, my journey with Arena was beautiful. I met great people, we went all-in to make it big, and we had fun. If you have the chance to join a club (in college or your city), try it. It can be an amazing experience.

In 2021-2022, I pivoted towards Python and learned a bit about machine learning and deep learning. While I started learning these technologies for our final year project, I was amused to know how far Computer Science can go with humanity. We had an enormous task of creating a GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) model, and somehow, we made it. ML, AI & DL are interesting spaces & I'll probably pick it up as a hobby sometime.

Current

In 2022, I joined Capgemini as a Backend Developer. This was my first corporate job, and it was a steep learning curve. I worked on Spring Boot and cloud tools and joined a BMW project, which was pretty exciting.

Seeing a project go live shortly after I joined was a new experience for me, and over the next few months, I got a good sense of how things work in large companies. Apart from routine development, I practiced debugging issues, being an agile worker while having a systematic approach.

But by May 2024, I decided to resign. I wasn’t feeling connected to the work anymore, and I’m still in the early years of my career. I want to make sure I’m doing work that excites me and pushes me forward.

Since leaving Capgemini, I’ve been brushing up on my web development skills and working on projects that interest me. I’m also exploring other technologies and figuring out where I want to go next. I’ll probably write about this sabbatical soon.

Final thoughts

As a wanderer in tech, I’ve had a range of experiences that have shaped my path. For anyone new to this field, I’d encourage you to dive deep into those rabbit holes and explore every aspect of technology that excites you—until you’re truly satisfied with your work.

If you ask how this journey has changed me, I think I’ve evolved from being just a Frontend/Web/ML person to embracing a broader identity as a Software Engineer. I’ve learned not to fixate on a single path while I’m still figuring things out.

Ultimately, the journey is the destination & these curious initiatives, tinkering leads us to knowing our interests & find joy.

If my journey resonates with you or if you have any opportunities in mind, feel free to ping me at my email.

Thank you for reading, I hope I’ve stirred some memories of your own ‘Tech Story’. See you soon with another blog.