“Well, well! Where have you been?”

That question has a surprisingly long answer. So where was I for the past year. Yes, an entire year without a single blog entry. What the heck kept me so busy? What happened to my dreams? Am I still breathing? This is an answer to all of that.

First of all, let’s pick up where we left off a year ago. It was the month of April. Actually the last day of that month. I published the first blog entry and got busy with my life.

May started badly. First of all, I gave practical examination and later, the end semester. I did not end up with a backlog so I’d say it all went fine. After the exams, I burned all of my summer working on a project, which ended well.

At this point, the next goal was to ace Google’s Apac tests, which for the people who are unfamiliar with it, are the series of test conducted online by Google, which acts as a filter to hire university grads. I was again [barely] balancing my life between programming and college. I could barely code after the tiring days at college. Later in the month of August, the first test happened. I did not perform well.

Next month was goofy. Another Google APAC test happened, the result was the same. Midterms followed just the day after, so the sadness got buried under. The next APAC was to happen in October just after the campus placements. I did prepare for the campus placements even though it was not my priority. I regret my decision.

The next test early in October was BRUTAL. Couldn’t have used a better word here. The rest of the month was depressing until an opportunity came along. It was Zomato!

First solo trip to Gurgaon, Haryana happened. It was a week long experience and I enjoyed every single bit of it. So many first time things happened. The first night away, alone. The first flight. The first day of truly doing “work” at an office. I’d gladly go back and relive it. Every moment of it.

Soon after I landed again in my hometown, everything went haywire. Last APAC happened and I failed miserably. The Google dream ended, right there. Still ICPC was around in the corner. Later, I got to know that we won’t be able to make it to the Regionals, again. Up yours, college.

December was lifeless. Winters in its prime.

January begin and so did the shit show of people, their new-year-new-me fuckery. Right around when I thought I had it all, came the much awaited email. Google was conducting another test this year, because apparently they just wanted to fuck with people. This time I got rank higher than all the previous times, and was actually looking forward for an email reply. I didn’t even got an automated rejection mail. Damn.

Later that day, one of my friends told me about HackerRank. And, for the lack of things I was looking forward to, I applied. Surprisingly enough, after half a month I found myself in Bangalore, interviewing with them. (Yet another solo trip, #2)

I got the offer.

Later that month, another wonderful thing happened. I was angry for uhmm a reason and thought to do something crazy. I applied for Google Paris, France. 2 hours later, I got an email saying – Let’s interview!

I was ecstatic. Gave the minimum-requirements test first of all, second came the phone interview which went surprisingly well. About a week ago, I got a phone call from the Google London office. On the phone was my recruiter.

“Hi Rajat! How you doing? I got the review back from the interviewer and we are positive about you. We’ll move your application forward. So, therefore we’ll be flying you to London for the on-site interview…”

(That line’s gotta stick in my heart & mind for a while.)

In a nutshell, yep, this is it. This is my entire year compressed. So many things happened in such a small span of time. Things that I am grateful for increased exponentially this year. And there is something I realized as the time kept on passing. The days are long, but years are short.

When I look back at memories I made, the moments I lived – they seem so ephemeral. It all happened just like that, in a blink of an eye. I had my fair share of both good and bad days, both seemingly felt eternal. I remember that day when I got an email back from Google that they had accepted my application and wanted to do an interview. I still remember that day when I put every effort still came undone in the last Apac test. Everything, seemed so long, yet it all just went by. Just like that.

If you haven’t understood what purpose this long post holds here it is: This post will stand tall as a constant reminder that bad days will pass. This will remind me of the hard work I put in and got more than what I actually deserved. This will show that sixth time’s the charm. This post will remind me if you need something in life, you gotta reach out and grab it. This post will remind me that, it’s not about the destination, it’s never about the destination. It’s all about the journey and who you’re traveling with.

This is what life is all about. Enjoy the good days, stay strong on the bad ones. Eventually everything will pass. And, work really hard. Everyone wants a secret to success other than this; if it exists, I haven’t found it yet.

And always remember this awesome quote – ** “If you work really hard and are kind, amazing things will happen.” **