Weeknotes - 2025-W17
Cover image for 2025-W17
Finally, I am done with GCPP ✅ ✅ ✅. Made the submission on Monday as per plan after putting everything together. Its such a bittersweet moment for me. GCPP is the first time I have opened by mind up to something entirely new after studying computer science for undergrad & postgrad and the experience has been nothing short of humbling. Getting a new pair of glasses to see the world with is really cool, but also lots of hard work - recommended ✨.
If you’d like to read the final assignment I wrote, which I titled “Bridging borders for breakthroughs - A policy to integrate the global diaspora into domestic innovation”, reach out to me, and I’m happy to share the work. I’m warning you in advance: this is the (proud) work of a super beginner policy wonk and I’m sure I got MANY things wrong so proceed with caution.
I’m also super glad that Ramki, who my friends and I fondly refer to as VU3RDD, his old HAM callsign, has joined the week note gang! He’s someone I look up to very much, in the systems programming space. He is quite awesome, although he underplays this MANY times.
I think he had at some point, written about how he was writing a parser for .torrent files (Bencode). I loved the idea so much, that it is an exercise I get all the interested engineers to do, at office.
He’s awesome - add him to your weekly reading if you’re tech inclined. You won’t regret it.
The whole team was together this week, the vibe when everyone works out from the same office - is always totally different. Its something I always look forward to, and enjoy. We made a lot of progress on the next steps for FairMPOS - exciting & challenging days lay ahead for all of us.
On account of the entire team being together, we did a short outing + dinner. I wish there were more places where the team could go and do stuff other than eating & drinking. Such places are still quite less, in Chennai. We ended up going to:
I had a really nice time with the team outside of office. I hope they all did, too.
My parents had been to Kashmir from 16th to 22nd and had just been in Pahalgam 2 days before the Pahalgam attacks. This was really unsettling for me and I was very thankful that even though they didn’t visit Baisaran valley, that they weren’t in the vicinity of the attacks.
It is really heart breaking to read about the attacks where at least 26 Indians were brutally murdered by terrorists. I cannot believe how much of a failure this is, on the part of the Government. Unfortunately, as always, the Muslims will have to bear the full brunt of this and Kashmiri students are already facing this across the country.
We must hold the Government responsible for a failure of this scale. But I’m sure that they are busy finding diversions at this time. My hope, as always, rests in the individual citizens of our country to do the right thing. Although with the right wing propaganda in full swing, even that hope dwindles.
The word you are looking for, is terrorist. If anything else comes to your mind, check yourself.
On Saturday, Prasanna and I went to see Pink Floyd at Pompeii - MCMLXXII and the experience was magical. PF is a band that I deeply love and it was such a thrill to go see a movie featuring them on the big screen. If you are a PF fan, you must watch this.
Some of their tracks, like Us and Them (Dark side of the moon) are part of such core memories in my life, that I cannot listen to them, without a tear in the eye.
If you’re a fan like me, then I strongly suggest you go through this guide written by Chuck. And if you still want more, then check out this playlist collated by Chuck again, about their underrated gems - there are some real crazy diamonds in there (pun intended).