It’s been just over a year since I graduated from college, and life has been a rollercoaster. I wanted to continue my tradition of writing a yearly article as a document of my growth and just a way to share what’s been happening in my life. I’m changing the format up a little bit this year but I think it’ll be fun!

Experiment #1: Adult from Home

Goal: Try to find a job from the comfort of my home in Bangalore
Outcome: Unsuccessful

In The End of an Era, I said, ” I’m looking for a job. I’m trying to run a startup. I’m trying to spend time with my family. Trying to get healthier. The possibilities for the future are endless…” All of those things are true. The first thing I did after getting back home from our tour of the US was sign up for a personal trainer/nutritionist. I started preparing my own meals, trying to include protein wherever I could and just focused on eating healthier. I spent three to fours hours a day managing the new batch of interns I had hired for my startup. A lot of them were personal friends of mine and striking a balance between being a good friend and a good manager was a challenge. I did spend a bunch of time with my family. But, despite everything seeming rosy on the surface. Nothing felt right.

The unending dread of a job hunt is difficult to explain. It was a constant sense of failure. I had taken this huge gamble by graduating a year early so that I could study less and work more. That gamble was beginning to feel foolish. Why didn’t I stay an extra year at college? At the same time, my friends were travelling the world – Japan, Dubai, Europe. The farthest I got to go was Nagarbhavi. As you fill application after application, read rejection email after rejection email, and keep feeling like you’re almost there but never there, you begin to feel like it’s never going to happen.

There were some highlights – I looked forward to hanging out with Abhinav and Damo every day. My buddies Nikhil and Vedu visited Bangalore, and Urvish and Anish came back home after three years. The 2024 Euros were also a great distraction. I allowed myself to get fully immersed in it all, and it was a really fun tournament. I realized how much I had missed a good international tournament. Mangoes were a great relief, every night my mom would cut some mangoes and keep it in a bowl and I would look forward to eating them so much. It was too soon to miss my college friends but spending most of my day staring at a screen at home did make me think of them quite a bit, but I got to meet most of them sporadically through the summer.

But my dad sensed something was wrong, and he suggested I do an internship at a startup that I had interned at before. Here was the catch – it would be unpaid, and I would have to go in-person to California. At this time, I really didn’t want to leave Bangalore, especially with no return date in sight. But despite my best efforts to discourage my dad, he insisted it was the best thing and sent me. I remember crying on my last day in Bangalore because it felt like this comfort that I had gotten used to was being plucked away from me with no evidence that it would help me in the long term. So, I sat on a plane and flew to San Francisco.

Experiment #2: Struggle

Goal: Discover what it means to be ‘unpaid’ in California and see if that motivates you enough to get a job
Outcome: Successful

For the first month of the internship, I was graciously hosted by my family friends. The only problem, they lived in San Jose, and my internship was in-person in Menlo Park. If you own a car, that’s not a big deal – maybe 45 minutes on the road on a bad day. By train, using the Bay Area’s terrible public transit, this became a two and a half hour expedition. First a walk, then a bus, then a train, then a van pool – with a good fifteen to twenty minute wait between each. Thankfully, the company recognized my journey and gave me a transport stipend. This was enough to cover Ubering one way. So I would Uber every morning to go on what would often be a one to one and a half hour journey in peak traffic (cause god bless car-based infrastructure). On the way back I would have to take the public transport route which meant that even if I left work at 5, I often got home at 7:30 or 8. I would throw some random dish together with whatever ingredients I had and call it a day but I found myself exhausted most days. The whole time, I was also searching for apartments, so as to not overstay my welcome at my family friends’ place and also find something a bit closer to work.

A succession of apartment tours where I would be given an exorbitant price for a tiny living space, and be made to compete with four to five other people who were all better on-paper prospects than a 20-year old intern on a transport stipend. For most apartments, I couldn’t even apply cause I didn’t pass their background check due to insufficient income. After a few more painful rejections, where I had even signed the lease and then lost the apartment to someone else, I decided to check AirBnB.

That’s where I found what looked like a great place – it was really close to work and the host was Indian. I would get their master bedroom. The price was a bit too expensive for my liking, so I decided to go and visit them in-person to see if I could negotiate a lower price. When I went to their place, they recognized me from when I had served 600 people at the Shri Krishna Vrundavana Temple in San Jose. I had apparently served them lunch and they were so impressed by this that they gave me a huge discount on rent without me even having to ask for it. In a week, I rented a car and moved all my stuff from San Jose to Menlo Park.

The next month might have been the toughest I’ve had in my adult life. Since my “transport stipend” was now going completely into rent, I had almost not discretionary money to spend. In addition to this, I really did not enjoy my time at their house. They didn’t maintain the same standards of hygiene I was used to, so I struggled to cook in their kitchen. Their house was noisy and so dirty – due to their unruly three year old son who was actually quite fun to play with and the only upside to my time there. I learnt pretty early on that this couple were also staunch Republicans and had a pretty upsetting worldview. I would’ve been able to ignore this if the hosts hadn’t been so insistent on debating me every few days after a long day at work. I found so many inexpensive escapes that month – walking around the Stanford campus, sitting on a bench in downtown Palo Alto and reading a book from the library, taking the CalTrain to its last stop and coming back. Anything so that I can get home after my hosts sleep so that I didn’t have to deal with their dirty kitchen or have to have an exhausting conversation about opposing worldviews. I ate really poorly that month. I really disliked my work as well, I had dreams of writing Machine Learning algorithms – I was stuck changing the position and color of buttons. I was beginning to feel doomed. The dread had accumulated into a much worse feeling of “is this it?” And then I got an email from Amazon.

It was for their Online Assessment, I brushed up on my basic coding principles and went into the assessment. It was a bizarre three-hour experience. After a relatively easy coding section, there was a simulation of the day in the life of an Amazon employee. You were put in strange uniquely capitalist scenarios and judged on how you respond to them. I came out of it feeling somewhat confident, but I couldn’t let myself dream. In five days, I got an email saying that I got the interview. I spent the next week preparing and preparing hard. This was my one shot. My one chance to escape this nightmarish situation that I had found myself in. And then I fell sick. I lost hearing in both my ears due to infection and my eyes were filled with tears constantly. I had a high fever. This was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me with my interview in two days. I went home and barely ate and slept and took my pills and hoped I would recover. I woke up the morning of my interview with a hundred and three degree fever. I took two ibuprofens and hoped for the best. The interview itself was a blur. I could barely hear the interviewers. I could hardly see the screen due to how badly my ears were tearing up. My mind was so clogged with fever and pills. And yet, I was determined. I got through that interview through sheer force of will. I had to get out of this hole. I had to win. One week later, my life changed. I got a job at Amazon as a Software Development Engineer.

Experiment #3: Make Up for Lost Time

Goal: Try to do as many things as possible in as little time as possible
Outcome: Successful, but at what cost?

Thus began the most insane, action-packed three months of my life. First, I flew back to Bangalore and spent two weeks with my family – both nuclear and extended. I was able to treat my whole extended family – about sixty people – something I had wanted to do ever since I was little. After a lovely fortnight in BLR and a proper chance to say goodbye to everyone I flew to Seattle where my best friend of all time Urvish and my good friend from college Vedu were already working in the same building as me. I got an apartment across from theirs and in eight days I set up my apartment completely.

Lots of Ikea trips, Costco trips, Indian store trips and hired help to build everything later – I had a beautiful apartment set up. I got the TV of my dreams, a comfortable sofa, all the kitchen gadgets someone could want. I didn’t get too comfy though, first course of action after an uneventful onboarding week was to fly to Boston for Diwali. It was so fun and I was so glad to be able to meet all my friends for the first time since graduation. I also surprised a large amount of them so that was really satisfying. After spending a day in Boston, I flew back.

Then, I fell sick again. Except, I didn’t get better. I stayed sick for a week, two weeks, three weeks. I had so many plans of things to start doing like working out and meeting new people and I kept waiting to get better to start those things but that day never came. The healthcare system in America was absolutely frustrating me. I knew I needed to see an ENT but they were making it nearly impossible to see one. I went to three different physicians before one finally referred me to one. Then when I booked the appointment, the earliest I could get was three months out. In the meanwhile, I flew to Austin for Thanksgiving to my Chikki’s place. I was able to meet my mom’s side of the family and bond with them deeply. This was really fun and a great break. I was back in Seattle for only a week before I was off again to NYC this time. Here a spent a week with some of my closest friends and came to understand the scope and depth of New York a lot better. It was a fun trip – from pub golf to eating at a Michelin Star restaurant to having long conversations with some of my closest friends – I came out of it feeling very whole.

It was two weeks in Seattle before I was back on the road. This time for a road trip across Utah with Pranav, Vasi and Vedu. This was such a fun trip and definitely my favorite trip that I’ve done without my family. We saw the beautiful Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and had a fun night in Vegas. So many unforgettable views and memories. It was the first group trip I had done after becoming financially independent and just being able to do what I wanted without having to worry too much was such a liberating feeling. I then flew to Raleigh to spend time with Anish, Urvish, Uncle and Aunty. They’re my family away from home and spending time with them made me feel so at home. I came back to Seattle on January 1st 2025. Having done so much, but definitely having stretched the limits of my health and my body.

Experiment #4: Rest and Recuperate

Goal: Take it easy
Outcome: Successful

In my next couple of months, I focused on getting healthier and bringing a routine into my life. I learnt how to cook so many tasty things. I started getting up early every morning to go to the gym. Depsite how many times they changed my team, I made sure to stay on top of work. Around this time, Vedant Bajaj and Arham got jobs at Amazon, and soon we had a small group in Seattle. This was a great time because we were able to socialize a lot and hang out on weekends and after work. January and February went by like a blur, on alternate weekends we would go for a local hike or scenic area. We started exploring Seattle more. Urvish’s mom visited and we took her around and explored with her. We started watching shows together, and everything was so serene for a few months.

In March, we started getting guests. First Anish, then Nikhil, and finally Rachel. This taught us how to host, how to cook for large number of people – we made Pani Puri, Bisibelebath, Thai Curry, Pasta, Pizza from scratch! We discovered new parts of Seattle and did so many activities near and far. Things were starting to get kind of boring so for the first time in four months, I left Seattle and went to NYC in April. That trip, although it just lasted for a weekend, was so fun! But the main theme of these months was to find out what was wrong with me health wise and fix it. A common theme throughout this article was me being sick and I was tired of being sick. After days of waiting and dozens of doctor’s appointments, I have a surgery scheduled in late June that hopes to cure me.

This month was supposed to end with a glorious Europe trip with my high school friends, but alas two days before I was supposed to go I got struck with COVID-19. This gave me a chance to truly rest and reflect on the year I’ve had. While I’m gutted I wasn’t able to go, I think my body needed a break.

Experiment #5: Win the League

Goal: Watch Liverpool FC all season and enjoy a Premier League title win
Outcome: Successful

You may want to skip this part if you’re completely ambivalent to sports but I think there’s some takeaway from it. This year hasn’t been easy but just as I was beginning a new start in my life, Liverpool was starting under a new manager, Arne Slot. In addition to signing no new players this summer, we had the contracts of our three biggest stars pending signatures. What followed was an exciting, rollercoaster of a season. Throughout the hard times and fun times and slow times and fast times, the Liverpool winning machine kept rolling on. But Trent Alexander-Arnold was the player that made me fall in love with football. A sport that had saved me in the worst of times and brought me incredible joy in the best of times. Slowly, across the year I had to make my peace with the fact that he was leaving. There are moments I’ll never forget this season – the win at Old Trafford, the Darwin Nunez late winner again Brentford, the goal after goal that Mo Salah scored and to cap it all off, the day we won the league which I celebrated with my best friend Sadiv in New York City. Screaming ‘YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE” in the middle of a pub with other Reds made me truly believe in the mission statement of the club. You never walk alone. You never will. And there’s nothing more beautiful than that. This might be my favorite ever season of football.

Experiment #6: Conclude this Article

Goal: Try to come up with a fun way to wrap up this article
Outcome: Unknown

In 2022-23, my motto that went through my article was basically “It ain’t over till its over”. That seemed to be the sentiment that was the overwhelming feeling that year. Last year, the takeaway was “Don’t be sad that its over, be glad that it happened”. This year was a lot more haphazard, so finding a throughline has been a little harder. I definitely learnt a lot in the last year since I graduated. I’ve learnt to be more resilient, to be less reactive, to be more empathetic, to be less volatile. But “The Year of Growth” seems too saccharine and far too self-congratulatory than I actually feel. One thing I’ve felt throughout the year is a deep longing for my friends who are far away. This was the first year I’ve spent where I am not constantly surrounded my people my age. “I love my friends” is a fun takeaway but again, I don’t think it encompasses the whole year. Mind my language here but a famous quote was going around last year, “The more you fuck around, the more you find out” and I think that might be the best way to encapsulate this year. I fucked around and a lot of the time I found out. I found out what happens when you push your body further than its meant to go. I found out what happens when you have sheer determination guiding through a tough time. I found out that the more love you put into the world, the more you get back. I found out that stuff doesn’t always go to plan, but you have to keep your head up. So if I had one thing to share from my first year of adulting it would be “Don’t let the fear of finding out stop you from fucking around.”. Try things. Push yourself. Sometimes you’ll fail. But you’ll be so happy you tried anyways. Thank you for watching Arny News!