2020 - Year in Review

blog Dec 31, 2020

The year 2020 was a crazy year for the whole world. Everyone endured a cataclysmic pandemic that changed everything. Of all the things, it changed my perspective around a lot of things. How we perceive our present and how a pandemic could change all the plans we have for our future.

In February, while I was job hunting, I did not realize how challenging it would be for others to get a job throughout the year. I think I was fortunate to bag an offer at the right time and made the switch. Right after the transition, my previous company called it quits and folded its operations in India.

The new normal that they called it wasn't normal at all. The work from home thing was a lot for me. I was not able to cope up with the transition very well. In the past, I used to spent only 10-12 hours at home. Otherwise, I would be at work, the gym, outing, or at a friend's place where we would chill most of the weekends. The one thing that helped me was isolating my work environment. This way, I could still distinguish between work and home, and it worked like a charm. If you are struggling too, you should give it a try.

For most parts of the year, I had more time at hand as there was no commute to work, so I spent much more time with family, ate home-cooked food (for a change), read books, and invested more time into learning new things.

Books I read

  • That Will Never Work - The birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
    by Marc Randolph
  • Ikigai - The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
    by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles
  • Atomic Habits
    by James Clear
  • Ichigo Ichie - The Art of Making the Most of Every Moment, the Japanese Way
    by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles
  • Think Like a Monk
    by Jay Shetty

Things I learned

  • Kubernetes (the hard way) and Container Security
  • How to make Pizza 🍕 at home.
Experimented different kinds of Pizza. This Paneer Pizza was my favorite !

Games I played

  • The Uncharted Series (on PS4 - Its awesome! )
  • Dota 2 (all time favourite)
  • CS:GO (because friends called)
  • Valorant (the rank grind was too harsh; gave up)

I hope 2021 has more joy and adventures in store for all of us.

Happy New Year 2021 ! 🎉

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