Never before had I experienced a day go from zero to 100 so quickly. Thankfully, it’s an experience I now look back on with a tame grin. I had woken up as usual, at dawn, preparing to begin stock trading while remotely communicating with my trader friends (read: friends who happen to be traders) before my day job would kick in much later. No sooner had I peeked at the “balances” tab in my brokerage account had my panic attack ensued. Seeing a potential 6-figure debt, out of nowhere, staring me in the face caused me to jolt out of bed.

Wait, what? how? when? I just could not fathom how this came about. Given that I make several trades on a good day, taking full advantage of my margin account, I’m well accustomed to receiving money due notifications. However, these are for amounts I’d quickly settle by selling off a single security or transferring in additional cash.

For the...

I first put my fingers down to code Views in May 2017. Yep, Views. In fact, the original name was CampusChat but I soon thought that was a bit unwieldy. Vibes was next and then Views eventually became Veews. All the while I was going through what was probably the toughest period I’ve experienced personally. This coincided with my involuntary pullback from social media and Veews was filling in as a worthy distraction keeping my mind on the “bright side”.

What followed was weeks, months and then years of blood, sweat and laughs. We got to work and made several iterations to the product. A product that would help better navigate campus life by providing access to resources beyond what the prevalent chat apps did. For example, it would allow students conveniently and efficiently learn what services their barber collegemate offers and at what price a fellow student will get their make-up...

“ARSENE WHO?” were the words emblazoned on the cover of the London Evening Standard on October 1, 1996 in mockery of the silent giant from Alsace, France. I was but a toddler and probably would’ve asked the same question were I a decade older, albeit in genuine ignorance of the man.

Several years later and I fell irredeemably in love with football - I wound up an Arsenal fan in my pre-teens, thanks in no small part, to yet another Frenchman, Thierry Henry, who’s playing style I found exceedingly graceful. Thereafter, my passion for, and knowledge of, the game spiraled uncontrollably, and my fandom for my new found club blossomed in tow.

I consumed every bit of information about the club. I could soon recite the match-day starting eleven and eventually, I took notice of the manager too. “Wait, Arsene?”, “Is Arsenal actually named after him?”, I remember thinking to myself. Alas, it...

Barely opens eyes, rolls over leftward and almost immediately, rapid blinking ensues. Next, quick hand rub over my eyes to be certain about what I’m seeing. My alarm clock only lies to me twice every year. But it’s neither March nor November and so, it really must be 6:30am. Alas, this is not a dream, why am I awake?

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I’ve been waking up at 6:30am or thereabout for over a week now and it still takes me by surprise - every time. Moreso, when I arise without a nudge from my reliable friend in the alarm clock.

Anyone who knows me well would readily confirm I’ve been on the dark (read: late night) side of life for the vast majority of my adult life. And on little thought, I’d attribute that mainly to 2 things: college and my career path. I would assume the first is probably self-explanatory and that journey is over for better or worse. I am now a software...

I am, perhaps, in the quintessential developer scene - lights out with eyes wide open staring into a few computer screens and typing away furiously (ok, maybe slight exaggeration) into my backlit Apple keyboard. Frankly, this is nothing unusual for me and several night owls scattered around the world (you know yourselves). Except, instead of typing code, reading something funny/weird or poking around the internet, I am writing a blog post that I intend to publish. Ha!

Walking down memory lane a bit, writing is not completely foreign to me. I enjoyed penning down my thoughts on paper growing up. Writing for me is the discipline of filtering a flurry of thoughts which usually evokes clarity and uncovers blindspots. It was and remains a thrill to me. It has provided relief in some of my lowest moments and has also helped gather my thoughts and articulate my intent around a variety of...