The beginning of 2024 was, in one word, stressful-not because I was still in grad school, or because I hadn’t worked a full-time job yet, or even because my mom had officially given up on me waking up early—but because I had, once again, missed the NVIDIA stock jump. Twice. All this while working in the hardware space, and constantly reminding friends of how challenging it is to build a software stack like CUDA for new hardware accelerator startups. The whole Bogleheads investment philosophy of passive investing was starting to look pale in front of my dad’s handpicked stock portfolio.

NVIDIA Stock Drama


Setting Up the (Defense) Date

Grad school was a wild ride from day one, and the final year was no exception. Telling people I was graduating in 2024 felt like jinxing it. My cousin gave a key advise: “Set a date.” Now, in the current context of things, this would mean something entirely different (yes, I mean dating), but in this case, it meant setting a B-exam date. This was pivotal as it not only formalized the process of wrapping up my research, but more importantly, gave me a hard deadline. Nothing quite shouts a deadline like telling your entire extended family about it. Now, I had to graduate.

From Research to Resumes

Once I realized graduation might actually happen, I started applying for jobs. My research—at the intersection of compilers and computer architecture—gave me the flexibility to apply for roles across both fields. Many of the roles I applied for were in ML compiler development, focusing on code optimization for specific hardware backends. I applied to the usual suspects: Qualcomm, Apple, Meta, Waymo, AWS, Microsoft, IBM, NVIDIA (third time’s the charm?), and a few startups.

Interviews are tough. Try explaining your research without actually explaining it because it’s either under-the-wrap unpublished research or NDAs (fun!). My interview at IBM was hilarious. I kept tossing around terms like compilers, hardware prefetchers, and my personal favorite, HW/SW co-design. Thankfully, the interviewers pieced together my ramblings and even invited me to their campus. Apple had six rigorous rounds of technical interviews. Meta leaned into algorithmic leetcode-style coding questions. Two months of this circus later, I was fortunate enough to have several exciting offers on the table.

Solar Eclipse: A Dark Experience

In April, I got to witness a solar eclipse. Ithaca was right on the edge of the totality path and as is tradition, was pretty cloudy-the sun was already kinda.. eclipsed. We drove up north, away from the clouds and into the path of totality. During the three-minute eclipse, everything went dark, and the birds, clearly just as confused as I was, stopped chirping. The eerie silence and sudden darkness gave me goosebumps. Experiences like these makes you wonder about the tiny spec of a dust that the planet is. It leaves you carefree, just grateful to be present, at least for a few minutes until you remember about the conference deadline in two weeks.

Graduation Festivities

In May, I attended my graduation ceremony, before my defense in June. Cornell, and I’m sure many other schools, are gracious enough to acknowledge the uncertainties of grad school by allowing you to walk in the ceremony as long as you promise to schedule the defense within a semester. It’s great, but the technicality can be hard to convey to family members who think you have already graduated and should be traveling to Hawaii next month. Nonetheless, the hooding ceremony was surprisingly fun, and having so much family around made it even better. And let’s be real, I now had visual proof of graduation for my committee.

My defense prep involved countless practice sessions (and timers). Phil gave me so many useful suggestions for my defense slides that I had to dedicate an entire slide to him. The defense went smoothly, and the snake was defeated. Shout-out to Rashida Sawyer cupcakes, which I believe did 23% of the heavy lifting.

Graduation and thesis defense


Getting Active Socially

Got back to tennis after a long time, courtesy the wonderful Mission Athletic Club—or as I call it, Multiply Accumulate (a poor MAC joke, I know). Watching tennis all this while didn’t translate into playing skills. Shocking.

I also got into pickleball, which let me just say, is not just for retirees. It’s also for young people who just want to show up on the court, play roundrobin doubles matches, grab Chipotle after and crib about their knee pain. Highly recommend.

Running is a mental reset button. My all-time favorite running trail is around Lake Union in Seattle. This year I ran the most along the Cayuga waterfront trail in Ithaca and the Embarcadero trail in SF. In the spirit of trying new things, I joined the Midnight Runners club. It’s supposedly the new way to meet and date people as well. It’s an electric atmosphere with 200+ runners every Wednesday on the Embarcerdo, and I’m probably on a few Instagram stories of bystanders by now. Hi there!

Travel is Aptly Rated

This was a fun travel year! My parents stayed with me in San Francisco for a couple of months. They enjoyed walking along Embarcadero, especially on Saturday mornings to visit the Ferry building farmers market. They had me do some blindfold A/B testing for farmers market fruits compared against Trader Joe’s, and spoiler alert: Farmers market won. Trader Joe’s is great for snacks, but it turns out apples should actually taste like apples.

Few of my friends got married so I got to travel to different cities and hear aunties ask me about my marriage plans. I handed them my thesis to assert dominance but they didn’t seem impressed. They were looking for real doctors.

Here are some excerpts and pictures from a few places..

Dubai Mall has an aquarium, a Chinatown, and a gold souk. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if they also had an underground Hogwarts.

Pro tip: Do the popular desert safari but with someone who’s scared for their life—it’ll be double the fun. Sand dunes and terrified screams in a Jeep Wrangler, hits the spot.

Dubai


Chicago lakefront in November? Rookie mistake. Don’t leave your jacket open unless you enjoy suffering. Skip the deep dish and head straight for the ramen.

Comedy Cellar nights are best followed by fried cauliflower and chickpea kathi rolls. Carry $5 bills before you head to Joey’s pizza. You’re welcome.

San Diego downtown has actual people walking the downtown streets, which is surreal coming from SF. Also has great beaches, if you didn’t know.

US cities


2024 was a pivotal year marked with graduation, job applications and moving to a new city. It felt like a déjà vu from 2018, when I graduated from IIT Bombay, applied for grad schools and moved countries. If I somehow find my way back to school, I’ll be sure to stock up some $NVDA, just in case 2030 brings another déjà vu.