The long way here

I was a good kid, the kind who scored well in exams. But I was also the kid breaking toys open just to see the motor inside. Then I started rooting phones, and bricking most of them. Then I found Termux and started cracking things open there too. Then someone showed me programming. Scratch, then HTML, then JavaScript, and it never really stopped.

I hadn't learned to build full applications yet, but I figured out I could turn what I knew into cash anyway. Local outreach, an Upwork profile, and my first dollar at sixteen.

Decided to skip the degree and do something else instead. Spent a few months building a portfolio. Then moved to Bangalore with a thousand rupees, just to break out of my comfort zone. It failed, and I came back. A week later, I moved to Kochi instead. Attended events, went to interviews, kept freelancing. A month in, I landed an internship.

That internship at ClusterDev, the makers of the Manglish and Desh keyboards, was my first real job as a software engineer. I built a multi-language web transliteration platform there, along with a handful of other web projects, most of which reached tens of thousands of users. That's where I learned the actual ABCs of building software that reaches a wide audience. And working with one of the best product teams in Kerala didn't just teach me how to build good software, it also gave me some of the most valuable connections of my life.

While I was in Kochi, I started engaging with communities more, and TinkerHub was the main one. After work, I'd spend time with community fellows, which helped me gain more knowledge and more skills. That's also where I found some of my most valuable connections and mentors. I still actively maintain those contacts today, and I try to stay part of TinkerHub's activities as much as I can.

On my mentors' suggestion, I gave college a shot, to bridge the degree gap. I joined MAMO College, near my home in Kozhikode, for a bachelor's in Advertising and Sales Management. I had to drop out by the third semester, but it was a beautiful experience, connecting with peers again after a while on my own unconventional path, and I made some of my closest friends there. I wasn't focused much on academics, but I was fully in on the club activities, the communities, and the tea circles.

I got introduced to iLAB unexpectedly, and I pursued it while I was still in college, mostly so I wouldn't lose touch with community and tech. At the time, I never thought it would become one of the biggest turning points in my life. With a few people at iLAB, I kicked off a new project called DTLP, the Digital Tech Literacy Program. I started out designing the curriculum and facilitating students, and by now I lead the knowledge side of the whole project. Over two cohorts, we brought more than a hundred participants into the world of digital tools and information technology.

I'm still closely involved with most of iLAB's activities. This space helped me grow beyond just tech: empathy, caring for others, making meaningful change, communication, public speaking. I learned it all here, and I still practice it. iLAB also grew my network in ways that mattered.

I also got into Eduport just as unexpectedly, after meeting the founder at an event. I worked closely with leadership there, solving operational bottlenecks with technology, building small tools fast, and generally being useful wherever I was needed. Later, I built a multi-portal student learning platform for Eduport Plus. Over eleven months, I worked across several teams in the organization to build dozens of tech solutions. I also got a much closer look at how edtech businesses actually operate, and how a new business gets deployed into different markets.

Here I am, currently not holding any full-time title. Still working with communities like iLAB and TinkerHub, among a few others. Still exploring, mostly exploring myself. Essentially, figuring out!