Do Not Pray For A Simple Life - True or False?

Right, here we are, readers. I quite don’t have a charming topic to regale you all with but having just watched a quintessential, terribly British netflix series called Seven dials I am inspired. Seven Dials is a novel by Agatha Christie that features Superintendent Battle and the plucky Lady Eileen, also known as Bundle. Why is she called Bundle, you ask? Well, you will be glad to know I looked it up, and the rationale was that she is a very spirited and energetic - one of those very rare people for whom the world works the way they want it and if it doesn’t, don’t acknowledge it. And she is very witty and pretty - goes without saying, but does not hurt to enlighten the readers - not you, but others who might not grasp it.

This character, Bundle, is also similar to Flavia de Luce, an eleven-year-old chemistry prodigy and amateur sleuth who solves mysteries. It is a series of witty, well-plotted cosy mysteries set in the idyllic English countryside.

You see, reader, I find myself attracted to witty, plucky girls who like thrills and danger, who do not shy away from them, in fact go looking for them and find them and have a gala time at them too. I have never understood why I have that trait - if something is easy, then why do it? Recently, I took on a role which is messy and has a lot of knotty variables that need to be fit into a neat little equation. I have no doubt that it will, but it will take a few nights grappling with the problems. You know that feeling when your subconscious is trying to solve something, and suddenly it clicks.

This is probably why I love programming/Software engineering - code can be tricky, and it tickles a part of the brain that loves the knottiness of it all. You see, my dearest reader, I was coding in the language BASIC when I was in first grade - thanks to my dad, who was also in technology. At that age, I did not know that I had fallen in love - but I had. In fact, coding was my first love, maybe after Phantom - but I digress. I grew up not realising I was in love with coding until I started working, when it dawned on me that coding would get boring. I knew the fundamentals so well that new languages and projects rarely offered me a chance to explore anything new. But, like your first love, it leaves the nostalgic longing - you quite know that you can never be together, but it is still endearing.

In the meantime, I switched to people management, etc., and I stumbled into Data when I intentionally made a switch to become an application (a technology asset) owner, as I have always wanted to own a P&L (Profit and Loss) for an organisation. Unlike programming, Data was quite annoying and frustrating. Think of it as you get data/files from various folders in your computer - working with data is working with millions of such folders with millions of files with multiple users. So, something as mundane as moving files from one folder to another can be a profession of its own. And somewhere along the way, I had acquired a taste for data and found myself thinking about it, defending it, trying to understand, and slowly marvelling at its intricacies. Before I knew it, I had acquired a taste for data, so much so that my following roles would be in data. And in my current role, I am the data expert - now, in complete transparency, I feel like an imposter. In software engineering, I studied and earned a degree, whereas in Data, I learned in the trenches. So, I know what it feels like on the ground, even if I do not have formal training. And as my husband pointed out, there was no data profession when I was growing up. Just like relationships, I was subconsiously attracted to Data while unwillingly working with it because it has qualities that I like - what are they, you ask, my reader? Wait for the next blog - I say.

In the interview, when asked why I chose the role, I quoted Bruce Lee - ‘Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to lead a difficult one.’ And I find myself having a kinship with Flavia and Bundle, who understand what that means.

Until then, I leave you with a question about your first love and subsequent loves.