On this day

The first day of July marks the beginning of the second half of the year. This day is celebrated as National Doctor's Day in India - a day to commemorate the importance of people who have recently come to be publicly acknowledged as warriors. It was on this day that the United States issued its first postage stamp in 1847. While the day is celebrated as the National Postal Workers Day in recognition of postal workers, the people of Canada celebrate it as Canada Day - the day when the British North America Act came into effect and Canada was formed. It was on this day that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) - the second largest professional accounting & finance body in the world today - was established in 1949.

As a kid, I had always looked forward to July first - for my summer vacations would start on this day and continue for one entire month. Assam witnesses the onset of summer sometime in March with the temperature soaring in June before the monsoons take over. With the mighty Brahmaputra flowing across the state, the entire region faces tremendous rainfall and subsequent floods thereby demanding the schools to schedule a delayed summer break. My school was on the northern edge of the river and I used to wonder if the increase in water levels would have caused my school to be flooded as well - and if our vacations would get extended!

Back in 2010, this day was when I joined Facebook. Is it really a milestone for me to remember? Definitely not - but some dates stick around one's head for no apparent reason. Those were the times when one would thank their friend for a tag and put up posts and photos every other day. Today, a decade later, Facebook is more a digital advertisement platform than social media. Nobody tags their friends in posts for entertainment. Albeit my friend list has a significant percentage of folks who I have practically known, the number of posts I see from my friends is a very small segment as compared to the vast chunk of advertisements - either explicit showcases or via various pages and groups.

Four years ago in 2016, I had completed my B.Tech in May and after a good vacation of about forty-five days at home, I was set to join Arcesium - my first full time employer. It was on this day that I first travelled to Hyderabad - a couple of days before my scheduled joining date. This also marked the first time that I travelled to the southern part of India - a region that continues to surprise me with their different languages - all of which sound greek to me (such irony!). While it marked the beginning of my engineering career (more on that later), my stay at Hyderabad - which was followed by Bangalore - clearly pushed my travel limits closer to the equator by few latitudes.

Although it isn't something I would remember July 1st for, today also marks six months of my first post on blogger. On the 1st of January, through a sudden impulse, I had gained enough courage to write publicly. After an overwhelming response, I remember my fears on the following day when I couldn't think of how long I would be able to continue this and what topics would I write - for I couldn't think of any. However, with the passage of time topics started to pop up in my ever traversing mind and I have been able to continue the streak for straight 27 weeks! Being able to write every week has been a challenge - and hence having accomplished it feels like an achievement. While this is a journey that I wish to continue, I would certainly like to acknowledge my gratitude to folks who I know have continued to read through the last six months - through my ups and downs - and guided me to improve bit by bit.