Like any year, 2023 has its ups and downs. But I think after 2016, 2023 is the best year for me. I want to reflect on it so that I know why it went well and repeat it the next year as well.
I don’t know how to do this reflection though. In “All the world’s a stage”, Shakespeare wrote how we merely are actors donning various roles. Since we all are good at reviewing how well the actors have acted in movies, I want to reflect on the roles I’ve played in life. This is also the Stephen Covey’s Roles and Goals concept from the 7 Habits of highly effective people.
Listen to this as you read the rest of the letter :)
1. Civic-Technologist
Much of my time this year has gone into rebuilding this role of mine. I’d always asked people not to call me a “Techie”. One, I was not confident if I had required skills to be called so. Two, I thought it is a restrictive role, not allowing me to do various other things of my interest. I worked on both these aspects this year.
Skills: I focused on getting my basics right. This means I had to resist the FOMO of learning every new development. AI, AGI etc., had to wait. Instead;
I learnt GDAL. It is the basic technology to do anything with geospatial data. I’ve also got opportunity to use it in my flood management work - where I had built geospatial data pipelines.
I learnt HTML, CSS, JavaScript. Just the basics so that I can have a meaningful conversations with front-end developers. So that I can imagine possibilities. I’d built my personal website using my learning.
I did some coursework at CS50.
Making the “techie” role nonrestrictive: This is a continuous battle. People generally box techies into task oriented roles. It is also partly techies’ own doing. Engineering education in the country has become job oriented. An engineer is just as fine building a website for Company A compared to Company B. I could only tackle this by being vocal about my interests and where I want to do technology.
I gave talks and meeting the community often.
I did course work in Public Policy. My project was on regulation of AI in India.
I’m happy with this role of mine.
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2. Actor
I created this role of mine in 2023 itself despite my stints with it before. In the Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus gave actor as an example of someone who lives the absurd condition of the world. I could understand it a little now. It is by living multiple lives that we could detach from life and be free of the urge to find meaning in life. Camus says that it brings Absurd Freedom.
I did 5 performances (3 plays) and a couple of short films. The first one is obviously special to me :)
And then I enacted as Prince MacDuff in Macbeth; Linga Raju in The Poto; Krishna in Thighs.
A new role, I’m happy that I started it but there is a lot more to learn and be confident about.
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3. Writer
I had been writing a lot of non-fiction blogs till last year. They helped me in being clear. Writing begets clarity.
But, stories beget engagement.
To up my fiction writing, I started attending Hyderabad Write Club (HWC) meetups every fortnight. Few of my writings, I have been said are too dangerous to be shared in public. Others are here: Stories
I continued writing non-fiction as well. But more focused this time. I have a sub-section in my blog called “Anviksiki”. It is an ancient Sanskrit term which means “science of inquiry.” I’m interested in the question of how to be good thinkers. I’ve collected by thoughts there.
I could not write much in Telugu.
I loved writing these letters. Did not miss even one. Looking forward to writing more letters in 2024
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4. Friend/Family
I did bare minimum. Sorry :(
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5. Citizen
I want to evaluate myself as against the Fundamental Duties.
My friend and I had started SamvidhanBot expressing our respect to the Constitution of India and to cherish the noble ideals of the people who fought for our freedom. The bot got 1000 followers this year and we started an Instagram page as well. But I’m not happy with my efforts here. Twitter became X, I lost access to free servers and other hurdles. Not able to imagine newer ways to get this going.
My home and inner-circle has a better Scientific temper and spirit of inquiry. I take some credit for it. I wrote a starter blog and a collection of resources about Scientific Temper in India. Keen to update it. Anviksiki blog is also an attempt in this direction.
With regards to compassion for living creatures I tried being a vegan. Failed in it.
I don’t have opportunities for other duties.
I’ve paid my taxes and voted.
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6. Human
Am I a better human now than a year before? I can’t tell this. I can only tell about the efforts I’ve made in this direction.
I read widely, to learn and unlearn. 34 books this year - my personal best :)
Books I enjoyed reading:
Phantoms in the brain by VS Ramachandran
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
my Hanuman Chalisa by Devdutt Pattanaik
Birthday Girl by Murakami
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Bahudha Bathuku Kathalu by Boodhuri Sudarshan
I tried to harm less as I expanded my ambit of freedom. I did hurt a few people. Often because I over-commit without enough information and then fail to meet the commitments. I will work on it.
I’m polite but not that kind, especially to strangers. Want to develop the kindness muscle. World is better with more number of kind people. I realised that when a stranger gave me a lift deep inside Meghalaya. I started giving lifts as well.
If you know me, you rate me :p
Happy New Year, Fukushin!