Long time, no year review :)
As I sit down to write this year-in-review blog post for 2024, it’s around 4:30 a.m in the morning., I’m wrapped up in my cozy blanket, and the winter rain is pouring heavily outside in Delhi. It hit me that it’s been ages since I last wrote a year review—2020, to be precise. Life has a way of keeping you busy, and maintaining your own website consistently isn’t always easy. Still, I try to carve out time to pen down my thoughts and experiences whenever I can.
The year 2024 has been nothing short of a rollercoaster, filled with its fair share of highs and lows. But hey, that’s what makes life interesting. A lot happened both professionally and personally. Let’s dive in!
Professional Life
Professionally, I’ll be completing five years at Blinkit on January 6, 2025. Time truly flies! This year has been particularly significant as I was promoted to the role of Tech Lead. With this new responsibility comes the challenge of learning and growing—a foundation for my leadership journey. I’m currently leading an all girls team of three, and I find it to be a unique and enriching experience in team management. Working with such a diverse and talented group has broadened my perspective on collaboration and problem-solving.
This year turned out to be full of unexpected opportunities and milestones. While I hadn’t originally planned on participating in open-source conferences, I came across the inaugural OpenSearch Conference in India through my network. Inspired by the chance to engage with the community, I submitted a proposal as a speaker representing Blinkit and it got accepted! It was an incredible experience to share the scale and impact of my work in the search and discovery domain with a broader audience. You can find more details about my talk here: opensearchcon-india-2024.
Another highlight was being honored with the prestigious Founder’s Award, a recognition that deeply validated my contributions.
I’ve been working in the search and discovery domain for quite some time now. Back in 2020, the team didn’t even exist. By 2024, it has grown significantly, which mirrors Blinkit’s overall growth trajectory.
Team Lunch
I had my first experience with campus hiring this year when I visited IIT Kanpur to recruit software engineers for Blinkit and Zomato. The process was challenging, as it involved extensive coordination to shortlist and interview students. However, it was a unique and rewarding experience that provided valuable insights and a great opportunity to learn something new.
There were also multiple sports events held this year, including frisbee, badminton, and more. Playing frisbee as a sport was a completely new and exciting experience for me. Our team gave it our all and made it to the semi-finals, which was a proud moment for us. Beyond just the competition, it was a great way to bond with colleagues, challenge myself physically, and enjoy some much-needed breaks from work.
Frisbee Team
Badminton, on the other hand, brought back fond memories, as it’s a sport I’ve always enjoyed. I’m already looking forward to next year’s frisbee competition, hoping we’ll go even further this time, and can’t wait to participate in more such events to keep the sports spirit alive!
Oh I forgot to mention, participated in the Devils Circuit - Delhi NCR event. This was something very crazy to test fitness level. It was a 10 KM marathon run where you’ve to complete all obstacles (see here).
Post completing Devils Circuit
Personal Life
Not going to share a lot of things here but, these are kind of highlights which I would really love to share and for those who are reading it, may get inspired from it as well.
I did my first trek in Nag Tibba. It’s a peak in the Uttarakhand. It was really fun to do a night trek.
Sunset view, arriving at the base camp of Nag Tibba trek
I participated in a 10 KM marathon, which marked my second run after completing a 5 KM one last year. It was exciting to challenge myself and test my stamina.
Medal of 10 KM marathon run complete
Afterwards, I travelled to Sri Lanka. It was amazing. I’ve shared my travel experience in the blog post separately - Pearl of Indian Ocean - Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, I had an adventurous time engaging in activities like trekking, hiking through a national park with live wildlife, and surfing on beach.
Within few months, had a trip with my work team to Dalhousie and Khajjiar. We did this trip during monsoon and I must say it was such a bliss.
Airbnb in Dalhousie
View of Khajjiar
Then, I had a mini weekend trip to Agra to see Taj Mahal. I know too much travel, right?
First time visit to Taj Mahal
After Agra, it was Goa mini weekend trip. My friend’s bachelorette.
The last trip of the year was to Thailand. What a blissful country! I’ve shared my travel experience in blog post separately - Land of Buddha - Thailand
As the year ends, I’m focusing more on relaxing myself for next 1-2 months until I start again with next adventures in the year 2025.
Take Away Points
Professional Life
- Keep looking for opportunities (externally and internally)
- Communication is the key to improve professional and personal relations.
- Make your good online presence.
- Appreciate the work done by your peers and make their day.
- Keep learning and upskilling.
Personal
- Travel more often.
- Maintain a healthy diet.
- Regular workout/sports.
- Take care of people and environment around you.
What’s Next
- Learn more about leadership principles.
- Sharpen my tech skills.
- Focus to improve my verbal communication and overall personality.
- More adventure sports.
- More travel.
- Give 1 tech conference talk in a reputed conference.
- Try new things as usual which I do.
- Learn more about cinematography and hone my drone skills.
- Study roots about startup ecosystem in India.
- Be in the best shape fitness.