Introduce yourself and your work
I am a Software Developer Engineer in the Data Platforms team at Blinkit. Tech tools and programming are what I live for. My job is to build user-friendly tools for developers, data analysts, and data scientists reliable tools so that they can complete their work at scale accurately and effectively.
I think that everyone at Blinkit is competing in a relay race to make quick e-commerce a reality and my team and I are playing a critical role in reaching that goal. We bridge the gap between product and technology by developing a low-latency and high-throughput feature store for developers, providing business analytics tools for data analysts to query production databases. In addition, we model pipelines for user segmentation for the product/marketing teams and dispense real-time business metrics.
Share your journey as a woman in tech
Ever since my school days, I was always intrigued by what a simple piece of code could do. My first interaction with coding was in the 8th standard when I started learning HTML to design beautiful websites. Back then, it was primarily getting ‘Hello! My name is Ratula’ printed on a browser with the address ‘localhost:8080’. A few years later, in 11th standard, I wrote my first JAVA program, a calculator on Net Beans, with a GUI. Later, I completed my first ‘full stack’ project, a Railway Ticket Booking system powered by JAVA and SQL. It became evident (to me) that I wanted to pursue a career in Computer Science.
In college, I learnt many languages, including C, C++, Python, JavaScript, and PHP, and a wide range of data structures and algorithms. During my third semester, I discovered that Data had become the new gold, so I enrolled in an online class in addition to my regular coursework to study data tools like Hadoop, Map-Reduce and Machine Learning (ML). I started helping one of my professors with her thesis concurrently. I read blogs and research papers and discovered how we could use data to solve real-world problems if leveraged correctly.
Post college, I joined a service-based company, where I learned to translate business problems into coding problems. I also explored a great deal about cloud infrastructure, AWS, and started to build data lakes and warehouses to power product metrics and customer-facing analytics.
Later, I joined Blinkit and got introduced to microservice architecture and an abundance of open-source tools. It will soon be a year here, and I can confidently say that not a single day goes by without intriguing challenges and new learnings. Writing APIs, deploying microservices, and developing ETLs have all been great experiences that I hope to continue in future!
Important learnings from this journey
- Ownership. Ownership. Ownership.
- Make an effort to answer rubber duck inquiries. Imagine saying the same thing to a yellow rubber duck before you ask a question. Frequently, you can figure it out on your own. Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't understand; instead, be assertive and voice your questions and ideas.
- Accept constructive criticism, reflect, identify the underlying issues, and make necessary improvements.
Three things that helped you grow in tech
- I follow writers who frequently discuss new tools, libraries, etc. in their blogs and newsletters. Christophe Blefari, one of my favorites, can be found online at blef.fr. He compiles news and articles for data products and publishes a weekly blog.
- I read extensively about the software and product life cycles. It supports the development of an intuitive product and assesses user acceptance.
- I make it a point to be confident all the time. I try never to feel intimidated by others. There will be people who’ll know more, but that doesn’t mean you know any less.
“You don’t have to be somebody different to be important. You are important in your own right.” - Michelle Obama
Constraints you face as a woman in tech
It's possible that you frequently feel alienated and unwelcome. The ice between coworkers could take some time to melt. If people were kind to one another and regarded each other as equals regardless of gender, I believe there would never be a constraint. If that's not the case, don't hesitate to approach and start a discussion. People will eventually start to warm up to you, and brainstorming will become simple and easy.
Book/Movie reccos on gender parity
Jane Austen is one of my favourite writers. I grew up reading her, and I can't imagine the fortitude she must have had. Even though she received criticism for her writing, she never altered who she was for anyone. She possessed a strong will and consciously decided not to let patriarchy rule her life because she was the only one doing so. Pride and Prejudice is an absolute must-read. I learnt about feminism through this book and gained the confidence to stand up for my convictions. It contends that being a feminist entails having the freedom to choose without facing criticism or disapproval. In the book, Lizzy always stuck to her guns and made the unusual decision to reject a wealthy man at that time. She questioned and rebutted social biases against women, and she battled for the right to equality.
“He is a gentleman, and I am a gentleman's daughter. So far we are equal.” - Jane Austen
Your inspiration/role models
To pick only one is challenging. One can acquire leadership, empathy, courage, and a wealth of coding skills from many powerful women.
Nana Janashia inspires me. She creates tech content, serves as a CNCF Ambassador, and uses social media to communicate her knowledge of DevOps. Additionally, she runs the "TechWorld with Nana" YouTube channel. I adore the way she expresses and organizes her ideas. It makes complex architectural designs simpler to comprehend.
I also hold Malala Yousafzai in high regard. Reading her memoir was an eye-opener for me. It made me more sympathetic to the plight of many young girls who are denied an education due to gender. It helped me appreciate my family's support and gender-neutral upbringing.
One message to all women in tech
“Work and you’ll get what you need; work harder and you’ll get what you want”
I follow this rule, not because I am a woman; I believe everyone should do the same!