2024 Updates

Upon deciding to restart active blogging, I am reviving my dormant personal blog with some updates on 2024. The year has been eventful, with both positive and negative impacts on my life.

I was struck by a layoff at Zoko on the second day of the year. Quite a bad way to start a new year! Though I didn’t get a chance to meet my colleagues at Zoko to say goodbye, I am using this space to relay that I had a great time there. Going through the layoff episode was stressful for me and my family, especially because we were expecting a baby in April 2024.

I felt quite relieved after securing a job at Microsoft and joined Microsoft towards the end of February. I will set aside the details of my interview preparations and my journey at Microsoft so far for another post.

As part of my decision to focus on improving my music skills, I started lessons in Piano and Violin in March 2024. Even though I learned Piano during my school days, this is the first time I am going through a formal course for these instruments.

In April, I was blessed with a baby girl, and we named her Alize. This is a feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning ‘joyful.’ Annie, my elder daughter, is so happy to be with her little sister.

Elsewhere in the world, Israel and Palestine are still at war, and the same is true for Russia and Ukraine. As per yesterday’s newspaper, gold is now more precious due to fears of rate cuts by the US central bank.

PS: After a long break, I picked up ‘The Silent Patient’ by Alex Michaelides for reading.