On July 5, 2004, I embarked on my professional journey. These past 20 years have been nothing short of adventurous and fulfilling.

“Learning is a natural process, and it matures by sharing”

I’ve had a wealth of learnings throughout these two decades, as I worked on over 50 projects spanning various domains and technologies. I’ve had the privilege of directly working with over a thousand individuals from diverse backgrounds across different organizations. My learning has been sharpened through my experiences, leading me to write over 120 articles and participate in more than 60 events in roles such as judge, speaker, panelist, or guest lecturer. I may have impacted over 50,000 individuals through these endeavors.

Also authored and foreworded books, received few patents, and awards. As time passes, these stats may continue to accumulate, but reflecting on the past becomes a vital aspect of charting the future.

In this article, I present 20 reflections of past 20 years that have shaped my path, and continue to guide me.

1. A Luxurious start…but destiny prevails

After graduating from NIT Kurukshetra, I, along with Vineet, Vishnu, and a few friends, joined Quark Media House near beautiful city Chandigarh. The office offered 5-star facilities: mornings began at the gym, followed by a royal breakfast, and work was complemented by stocked pantries and excellent lunch options. Evenings were spent in swimming pool or play ground.

Before I knew it, a month had passed, and with my first salary, I bought my first motorbike. Months flew by as I worked in R&D on Java and CORBA interoperability projects and explored nearby hill stations on weekends. Soon, we celebrated our first work anniversary.

As time passed, I realized the need to learn more and grow, just like everyone else. During this period, I met Ritu, and it felt my time in Chandigarh was meant to meet my life partner, while my professional journey would eventually lead me to the NCR region.

2. A small co-relation can take you far…just find it

While exploring various work opportunities, I landed an interview at Nagarro. After a few technical rounds, I met the co-founder, who surprised me by asking about Apollo and Appoly, the canteens near the boys’ and girls’ hostels at my college. Soon, I realized, I was speaking to Vikram Sehgal, an alumnus and gold medalist from my college. This unexpected co-relation led me to leave other options behind and join Nagarro, a small company with few hundred employees at the time.

Transitioning from the luxurious life at Quark to a more modest environment at Nagarro was challenging. However, I was not accustomed to that level of luxury, and my primary motivation was the responsibility of supporting my sister’s education and uplifting my family. This sense of responsibility gave me direction and purpose.

Little did I know that I would contribute quite long here, help Nagarro grow multifold in the coming years.

3. Building strong bash…don’t miss the fun

My journey at Nagarro began on a high note, thanks to strong techies like Deepak Nohwal, Amit Chawla, and Ashish Manchanda, who constantly encouraged me with challenging problems. I focused on building core strengths and become an exceptional troubleshooter. During this time, I delved deeply into Java, JVM internals, and JEE, mastering software development practices for complex and demanding projects.

Amidst all the hard work, we never missed out on fun. I was part of a team that firmly believed in working hard and partying harder. Around this time, Ritu completed her engineering and started her professional journey in Gurgaon at another company. She joined most of our Nagarro parties, adding to the joy and camaraderie.

4. Balancing work and married life

As my work responsibilities increased, so did my life responsibilities. Balancing married life and work can be challenging, but in my case, Ritu joined Nagarro soon after our marriage, and we became colleagues. This unique situation blurred the lines between work and life for us. We traveled together, ate together, stayed late at the office together, watched movies at work, partied together, and commuted home together.

This close-knit routine helped us focus well on our jobs. We realized that balancing work and life is just a state of mind. We enjoyed both work and life together while fulfilling our family responsibilities. I continued supporting my sister’s engineering and medical education, and one sister got married soon after her education during this time.

By keeping an open mind and embracing our responsibilities, we found a harmonious path forward.

5. Leading the path by expanding the horizons

I was guided onto the leadership path by mentors like Sharad Narayan. They encouraged me to be flexible, push beyond boundaries, and embrace diversity in technology, work, and life. I expanded my expertise beyond Java, diving into C++, PHP, and more to apply engineering practices broadly. This helped me deal with my first recession in IT industry in 2009-10.

In this period, I established myself as a T-shaped professional, leading multiple complex projects. I became an early adopter of continuous integration concepts, build scripts, and more.

Some of complex projects required me to revisit my engineering mathematics textbooks to meet the demands of a client with a PhD in statistical analysis. This overwhelming experience broadened my perspective in multiple directions.

6. Embracing multi-cultural experiences through travel

Traveling to different countries and places broadens your horizons and exposes you to diverse cultures. My first onsite visit was a delightful experience, especially flying business class. Most of my early business travels took me to Germany for an aviation domain client, but I also had the opportunity to explore various parts of Europe with colleagues.

Ritu and I have traveled together to many domestic destinations but our first international trip together was to Malaysia and Langkawi. We discovered that travel and tourism offer the best learning experiences, expanding our perspectives on people and their cultures. These experiences enhanced our acceptance of diversity and inclusion, embracing different cultures, people, and practices.

7. Growth takes on a new meaning

The concept of growth transforms when you become a parent. Welcoming our first child, Lakshya, was a profound turning point for us. Suddenly, all our thoughts and priorities revolved around him.

Lakshya introduced a new sense of responsibility, while fulfilling the existing responsibilities. My another sister completed engineering, and got married. Professionally, I was thriving, leading multiple teams and projects, and gaining the confidence to mentor others. Nagarro was well recognising my work. This personal and professional growth created a richer, more fulfilling journey.

8. Establishing a foundation for sharing, caring, and growing

We set up an Architecture Group for Java technologies at Nagarro, which became a platform for building standards and practices, mentoring, and training people. It also supported sales and fostered innovative concepts. Manmohan Gupta and Archna Aggarwal were instrumental in establishing this foundation, supported by talented colleagues like Amit, Rajneesh, Piyush and more. This initiative allowed me to work beyond project boundaries, operating at a higher level as a consultant and trusted advisor for the clients.

During this time, I supported multiple consulting assignments at client locations and expanded my expertise in Enterprise Java Technologies, including ESB, BPM, and ODM solutions. Our focus was on creating a group dedicated to learning and sharing with a wider audience. This period marked the beginning of my sharing journey, starting with my first international session at JavaOne. These experiences established me as an enterprise architect and consultant.

9. Fostering innovation with centers of excellence

Building on my experience of leading the Architecture Group, I led initiatives to establish innovation centers within the organization for emerging technologies like IoT and AR/VR. This opportunity allowed me to explore various untapped tech domains beyond software, including agriculture, wind energy, oil fields, power plants, manufacturing, and automotive.

We developed interesting showcases and prototypes for connected workers and Industry 4.0 use cases, and supported numerous clients. I attended various conferences and hosted showcases, including partnering with Google for their Glass event in France, accompanying Kanchan Ray. These enriching experiences helped me cultivate entrepreneurial leadership skills and furthered my professional growth. It took me around the world, helped me to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, and experience extreme weather conditions and the associated fun. Not to miss that our kids started joining the fun at our team outings!

10. Material wealth is important…but it’s not everything

Material wealth is also a symbol of growth and can provide great satisfaction and stability, especially when it comes to owning a home. Amidst the hustle and bustle of life, we finally took possession of our first flat in Gurgaon. Juggling between office, daycare, and getting our new home ready was challenging, but after months of effort, it felt entirely worth it.

Soon, we also bought a new car, which gave us the opportunity to enjoy traveling even more. While the happiness derived from material possessions is significant, it is important to remember that it is temporary. True fulfillment comes from within, a lesson I learned from my Guru. This teaching was reinforced by an unexpected episode, which I will explain next.

11. Prioritising health…the greatest wealth

We often realize the importance of something only when we lack it. All my achievements and material wealth felt insignificant when I was diagnosed with Pott’s Spine, a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine. It was hard to believe since my only symptom was acute back pain during sneezing or coughing, which I had dismissed.

After months of seeing specialists with no clear answers, a general physician at a small hospital insisted on thorough tests after I visited for a fever. The diagnosis was shocking, and I had to be hospitalized immediately. Overnight, I became well-versed in Pott’s Spine and its treatment, seeking multiple opinions to confirm the diagnosis. Leaving all work behind, I drove myself to the hospital and was admitted for 15 days of intense medication, but this treatment left me so weak that I could barely walk. I was prescribed two months of bed rest, over a year of TB medication, a spine support belt, and a high-protein diet.

My workaholic nature made staying in bed doing nothing incredibly difficult. The treatment felt so long that I often questioned whether I was actually getting better. Thankfully, I received tremendous support from my family and Nagarro. Special thanks to Vikas Burman, whose guidance and personal experience with a more severe condition kept my spirits up and strengthened my belief in recovery.

This episode taught me that true wealth is health, and taking care of it should always be a priority.

12. Becoming a generalist before a specialist

My doctor emphasized that starting with a general physician can provide a more comprehensive understanding and guide us to the right specialist when needed. This inspired me to focus on being a generalist before specializing in the technology domain.

During my recovery, I expanded my knowledge breadth while maintaining depth. Despite wearing a spine support belt for months, I didn’t miss out on fun or work events. I continued leading the IoT/ARVR Center of Excellence with Umang Garg, supporting clients, and giving demos with devices like Hololens and Google Glass, often resembling a superhero with my medical gear. Soon I resumed traveling.

The support and humor from those around me made this challenging time enjoyable and highlighted the value of a broad perspective in both health and professional growth.

13. Embracing bigger roles and responsibilities

I assumed the role of Technology Director and took on the additional responsibility of delivering a highly complex project involving the implementation of machine learning algorithms for aviation forecasting and estimation.

The scale of this project was immense, requiring the management of over 200 microservices that needed to work harmoniously day and night, processing multiple gigabytes of data in a short span of time. This role provided deep experience of cloud-native architectures and numerous challenges to overcome, find some key lessons here.

This experience also prepared me for even greater responsibilities that were on the horizon.

14. Growing together and celebrating milestones

My wife, Ritu, was also advancing in her career at Nagarro and embarked on her first business onsite to Germany. I later joined her with our son, marking his first plane ride and making it a memorable Europe trip.

We never missed opportunities to connect with friends and family on various occasions. We were blessed with the arrival of our second child, Lovynash. I was at a workshop with a client when I received the news and made a quick trip home from Germany to meet the new addition to our family.

Life was changing rapidly, bringing new joys and challenges along the way.

15. Change is the only constant

As life took its turns, we realized that growth often requires sacrifices. With the kids needing more attention, Ritu made the tough decision to take an extended maternity break and focus on being a homemaker for a while.

As the saying goes, “change leads to changes.” After a long tenure at Nagarro, I recognized the need to step out of my comfort zone and explore new horizons.

This led me to Thoughtworks, a company with an inspiring ideology, a people-centric approach, minimal hierarchy, and a culture focused on social values. The emphasis on thought leadership, community contributions, democratic decision-making, and agility was particularly appealing. I was eager to see how these values played out in practice and felt confident that it would be the place to evolve into the next version of myself.

The next few reflections will explain how this move became a great milestone for me.

16. Understand your why, discover yourself

Right after joining, I traveled across offices, met people, and learned about Thoughtworks’ purpose. This immersion gave me immense learning and a deep understanding of the culture.

I noticed that many Thoughtworkers write and share a lot, both internally and externally, which inspired me to start writing book reviews and self-reflections, eventually setting up my own blog, thinkuldeep.com. I discovered a love for reading, particularly books authored by Thoughtworkers.

Initially testing water at Thoughtworks and Thoughtworks testing me. I was able to apply my microservices knowledge in my first project, building an enterprise blockchain platform. I quickly started engaging with the community, sharing technology learnings, and participating in events.

I felt, I traveled and learned about india more than ever before, and I was able to give more time to myself and my family.

17. Crafting your impactful stories

Thoughtworks’ culture provided me with ample space to grow. I embraced TW’s engineering practices, which became second nature to me. I found a community in AR/VR and began sharing knowledge both internally and externally through various events with people like Raju, Neel and more. As I mentioned in my article “Two Thoughtful Years”, these experiences were transformative.

I focused on building the brand within and outside Thoughtworks and participated in various leadership trainings. Thoughtworks instilled in me a deeper understanding of human behavior, biases, and brought a sense of peace. I detailed these changes in impactful change stories.

We learned Unity, C#, and XR development, and established the XR Practices publication to share knowledge, and were there in most flagship event of Thoughtworks. Our efforts were well recognized by clients. We excelled in creating high-performing autonomous teams. Working with such talented people is always rewarding.

18 Finding opportunities amid adversity

Opportunities often arise from the most challenging situations, and nothing exemplifies this more than the Covid-19 pandemic. As we faced lockdowns and had to leave our routines behind, we have to embrace the change that came our way.

I viewed this as a year of transformation—a change that would be remembered for a lifetime—and aimed to create positive memories. We adapted to celebrating remotely and seamlessly transitioned to remote work. I took the opportunity to work from my native place, spending quality time with my parents and family. It was a touching experience, cycling through nature and staying busy by renovating the home and exploring new innovations at work. We even celebrated our wedding anniversary by recreating our wedding scenes.

This period taught us to accept change, even when it’s difficult, better find the ways to navigate the new normal. We were uncovering hidden talents and realized we could do much more than we ever imagined.

19. Everything will pass…good or bad.

We were preparing for the post-Covid world, the focus was shifted to make enterprises pandemic-proof. I returned to the workplace, it coincided with another Covid wave, but this time, I was better prepared and ready to exploit more of my potential.

I contributed significantly to the community, delivering webinars for students and universities, and enhancing my skills in technology, business, and leadership. My articles and contributions were featured in renowned platforms such as the Economic Times, Tech.de, Thoughtworks Insights, NASSCOM, XConf, SIH, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and more.

I become accidental product manager, collaborating with experts like Dinker Charak and Sachin Dharmapurikar. Together, we explored innovative product management and its lifecycle, discussing what truly matters and should be measured, adhering to 4KM and EEBO concepts. This enriched my technical skills and helped me become a true Tech@Core of Business persona.

As the world started opening up post-pandemic, we also hit the Taj and nearby hills. In this duration My father retired from government service leaving great work life lessons for all, and I dedicated a new, larger home in Gurgaon to him on this occasion. The process of making over this new home provided lessons akin to corporate learnings, marking yet another chapter of growth and adaptation.

20. Directing the technology world as a professional author and innovator

The world has moved past the COVID pandemic, but its impacts linger. Some struggle to return to the old ways of working or hybrid models, while others explore new approaches. I can say these new ways are bringing better diversity and inclusion, my wife resumed her professional carrier due to remote working in her comfortable hour at DesignersX.

I was presented with the opportunity to take on the additional role of Engineering Director for Thoughtworks Gurugram Engineering Center, working alongside Sumeet Moghe, who pioneers async-agile ways of working, his book ‘The Async-First Playbook’ is a masterpiece. We practiced the async-first approach, challenging many of my established beliefs about brainstorming, in-person meetings, and agile practices. This shift allowed me to free up my calendar significantly, fostering a habit of deep work over shallow tasks and focusing on value-driven work rather than busy work.

These experiences enabled me to manage my time efficiently and share my guiding thoughts through a book, “My Thoughtworkings”, I also became a professional author by writing “Exploring the Metaverse : Redefining Reality in the Digital Age” with BPB publisher, now available globally on Amazon and BPB online. I also reached the milestone of contributing to 100 articles and 50 events, and shared how to overcome your obstacles. I now have a patent granted for my work. These accomplishments have been incredibly fulfilling and will continue to propel me forward.

What’s Next?

With this, I conclude my 20 reflections on the past 20 years of work. The future, however, remains uncertain for everyone. We can never be 100% sure even about our next breath, so plans are just plans. Nothing is permanent—not us, the things around us, technology, businesses, or the work we do. Everything will change with time. Today, we are exploring ways to use AI, and tomorrow, AI will explore how to use us. It’s crucial to stay aware of technology and use it responsibly and ethically. Living fully in the present is the best way to hope for a better future.

By the way, I am now writing another book, “Jagjivan: Living Larger Than Life”, based on my grandfather’s life. I believe he lived life to the fullest, and we can learn a lot from him.

Keep in touch and stay tuned! Thank you.

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