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Have “solve it” not “code it” attitude.
Hi 👋,
I am a full stack software developer at Microsoft, specifically working in development team of Trivia experiences for Bing. I have experience in following areas:
.Net, typescript, javascript, React, C#, C++, python, git, SQL HTML, CSS
Check out my Linkedin Profile and drop me a message there.
ए बुत परस्तों, ज़रा सब्र करो जो संग-ओ-खिश्त तुम्हारे सिर पे बरसते हैं उन्हें उठाओ और तराश के बना लो उन्हीं से अपना खुदा उन्हीं से बना लो अपने दैर के दर-ओ-दीवार भी इसके बाद भी अगर कोई पत्थर बच...
बारिश की हर बूंद को दरिया मान लिया था उनकी बातों को ही मोहब्बत जान लिया था दुख में किसने साथ निभाया इससे हमने अपने और परायों को पहचान लिया था जैसे ही आज़ाद हुआ पिंजरे से पंछी अम्बर छूना है ...
बिछड़ने पे उसने ये सौगात दी है मुझे तो गमों से भरी रात दी है ये महँगी मोहब्बत खरीदें तो कैसे मुझे तो खुदा ने न औकात दी है हैं सदियों के गम और लम्हों की खुशियां मुझे ज़िंदगी ने ये खैरात दी है...
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो तो एक बवंडर बन जाना किस्मत का रोना तो प्यारे कायर ही रोया करते हैं गर रक्त भी निकले वीरों का फिर भी आहें ना भरते हैं तू साध निशाना दुश्मन पे इक बाण धनुष का ब...
मेरे जीवन में चुप्पी ने है बेहद उत्पात मचाया थोड़ा थोड़ा डसके मुझको जहर रक्त में रोज मिलाया इस खामोशी के सहरा में शोर का पानी और चाहिए मुझको केवल शोर चाहिए घर में पसरा है सन्नाटा चीजें बिखरी...
हमेशा के लिए मैं इस नई नगरी में आया हूँ मैं घर की रोटियाँ और कुछ दुआएं साथ लाया हूँ न वो छत है, न वो आँगन, न उस मिट्टी की खुशबू है मैं कुछ पाने की चाहत में, बहुत कुछ छोड़ आया हूँ मैं इस ...
मुसीबत देख के मुझ को खुद अब रस्ते बदलती है जो तेरा साथ है तो साथ में किस्मत भी चलती है ये कैसा राग छेड़ा है, ये कैसा सुर लगाया है सभी हैं रक्स में पागल, जवानी फिर मचलती है कहाँ हम रोज मिलते ...
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engi...
father son duo on a boat ride My father came for the first time to Hyderabad, in-fact this were so many first timers for his life as well which include, first time sitting in airplane, first time...
Chrome extension link Git hub repo link I am a big fan of reading urdu poetry from Rekhta. None of my days goes without reading a ghazal from Rekhta before sleeping, it helped in my good days an...
Shah Alamgir, that high and mighty king, Pride and renown of Gurgan Timur’s Line In whom Islam attained a loftier fame And wider owner graced the Prophet’s law God chose from India, That ...
बारिश की हर बूंद को दरिया मान लिया था
उनकी बातों को ही मोहब्बत जान लिया था
दुख में किसने साथ निभाया इससे हमने
अपने और परायों को पहचान लिया था
जैसे ही आज़ाद हुआ पिंजरे से पंछी
अम्बर छूना है उसने ये ठान लिया था
उस महफ़िल में जब भी खाली जाम हुआ तो
हमने उनकी नज़रों का एहसान लिया था
उनकी ज़हरीली तकरीरें सुनकर हमने
किस बस्ती में आग लगेगी, जान लिया था
रफ़्ता रफ़्ता उनसे बातें करके हमने
उल्फत कितनी गहरी है ये जान लिया था
बिछड़ने पे उसने ये सौगात दी है
मुझे तो गमों से भरी रात दी है
ये महँगी मोहब्बत खरीदें तो कैसे
मुझे तो खुदा ने न औकात दी है
हैं सदियों के गम और लम्हों की खुशियां
मुझे ज़िंदगी ने ये खैरात दी है
मुझे दोस्तों से नहीं मिलने देते
मोहब्बत ने यारी को फिर मात दी है
ये किसका मोहब्बत भरा खत है आया
बयाबाँ को किसने ये बरसात दी है
ए बुत परस्तों, ज़रा सब्र करो
जो संग-ओ-खिश्त तुम्हारे सिर पे बरसते हैं
उन्हें उठाओ और तराश के बना लो
उन्हीं से अपना खुदा
उन्हीं से बना लो अपने दैर के दर-ओ-दीवार भी
इसके बाद भी अगर कोई पत्थर बच जाएं तो
उन्हें संभाल के रखो
क्यूंकी गुनाह के हाथ फिर से बढ़े आएंगे तुम्हारी तरफ
तुम्हारे मंदिरों को उजाड़ने के लिए
तुम्हारे खुदा को मिटाने के लिए
मगर तब तुम्हें डरना नहीं है, घबराना नहीं है
क्यूंकी वो वक्त सब्र का नहीं, पलटवार का होगा
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
Dead Poet’s Society
What does euphoria feel like? I asked myself few years back, I read the definition which stated something like “intense excitement” but how intense, I was not satisfied with the answer. That question was answered yesterday only when I wrote Ghazal which was technically correct (in meter: which can be sung). Yeah, and I really felt like what intense meant in the dictionary. Its when you cannot sleep, continuously being elated about what you just wrote, and more than that the extreme satisfaction that you feel that yes you can do something more humane other than just coding. Every pursuit in life demands hard work and it has its own usefulness in society. But again, when you search for meaning of life, no quotation answer it better than one from this “Poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
My first Ghazal
On a personal level when I ask question that why haven’t I felt the same excitement before for other achievements as well? Its because it brings me emotionally closer to the people I love and care about. Completing 10 KM run, learning to swim for the first time, doing 20 push ups for first time were all the “firsts” in my life which bought elation but not as the same level as when I completed my first Ghazal. One of my close friend, when I shared the same recitation with him that I shared here, he started crying he said reading it make him remember how valuable people around him are. And once they are not here it is difficult to imagine life without them. Well I got my answer there right away, it is this precise humane touch which makes the moment very special. Other achievements were kind of selfish, with focus being just me and me alone. On the other hand, if I have written something which people can relate to and feel the love, sadness and emotions that I am trying to convey then it is different and worth more than anything.
मैं तो ग़ज़ल सुना के अकेला खड़ा रहा
सब अपने अपने चाहने वालों में खो गए
कृष्ण बिहारी नूर
Also, reading poetry especially Ghazals has made me more empathetic towards not just other people but myself as well. Understanding them more, if they are not happy then what might have been they going through in life. And beyond that the language of subtext that people speak, the unspoken language the one you to guess through their behavior or expressions. One of the best sher on sub text I like is by Habib Jalib:
जो हो न सकी बात वो चेहरों से अयाँ थी
हालात का मातम था मुलाक़ात कहाँ थी
हमेशा के लिए मैं इस नई नगरी में आया हूँ
मैं घर की रोटियाँ और कुछ दुआएं साथ लाया हूँ
न वो छत है, न वो आँगन, न उस मिट्टी की खुशबू है
मैं कुछ पाने की चाहत में, बहुत कुछ छोड़ आया हूँ
मैं इस बस्ती में सालों से बसा हूँ फिर भी जाने क्यूँ
न ये बस्ती हुई मेरी, यहाँ अब तक पराया हूँ
यहाँ मैंने बहुत शोहरत बहुत इज्जत कमाई है
मगर वो गाँव की नदियां वो गलियाँ छोड़ आया हूँ
मुझे वापिस बुलाने की सदाएं आती हैं लेकिन
यहाँ मैं खुद नहीं आया, मैं किस्मत का बुलाया हूँ
मैं भी कब तक नकाबों के सहारे ज़िंदगी जीता
मैं सारे झूठे रिश्ते झूठे नाते तोड़ आया हूँ
वो जिनके साथ मैं हर रोज खेला करता था क्रिकेट
गली के दोस्तों को मैं अकेला छोड़ आया हूँ
Shah Alamgir, that high and mighty king,
Pride and renown of Gurgan Timur’s Line
In whom Islam attained a loftier fame
And wider owner graced the Prophet’s law
God chose from India,
That humble minded warrior, Alamgir,
Religion to revive, faith to renew.
An Abraham in India’s idol-house
In all the lines of kings he stands alone
His tomb is witness to his saintliness.
When reading these lines one might have started having the perception that how great a ruler Alamgir was? Since Allama has called him saint, he must be admired across the India with the people across religious divide praising him for his good deeds. He must be the ruler of people. Noone in his reign must have slept hungry, everyone was free to worship whichever God he liked. But alas, none of this was true. In fact the truth is exactly opposite of what Allama is trying to portray here. The glorification of all the religious hatred and bigotry committed by Aurangzeb against Non-Muslims (especially against Hindus and Sikhs) is terribly awful, although not surprising since it is coming from Iqbal who was known throughout 20th century for spewing venom against Non-Muslims. The list of crimes by Aurangzeb on Hindus and Sikhs is long and it will take more than a blog to elaborate but let me start with some of the more famous ones.
Now coming to one of the worst Sher by Iqbal from “Zauq O Shauq”, for his second love of life Ghazanvi
क्या नहीं और ग़ज़नवी कारगह-ए-हयात में
बैठे हैं कब से मुंतज़िर अहल-ए-हरम के सोमनात!
Are there not any more Ghazanvi in this world,
The idol of somanath is waiting for a long time (to get broken).
Now this is the lowest of all any human being can fall. Disgusting would be an understatement for this sher. This shows the kind of wicked mindset Allama had, how he is aspiring to have a sadistic pleasure in destruction of gods and killing of “infidel” worshippers. In 1026 Ghazni robbed and murdered thousands of people in Somnath during his raid to India. As clear from this sher, that instead of Somnath waiting it was Iqbal deep desire to see Somnath again being destroyed, but “sadly” he died without seeing his dream fulfilled.
So this is Iqbal in a nutshell, another religious bigot and extremist wishing for infidels to get wiped off from the face of this earth. This is not surprising why Pakistan is still struggling with extremism, when your founding father has such a divisive and extremist view this will get reflected in the nation-state as well.
मुसीबत देख के मुझ को खुद अब रस्ते बदलती है
जो तेरा साथ है तो साथ में किस्मत भी चलती है
ये कैसा राग छेड़ा है, ये कैसा सुर लगाया है
सभी हैं रक्स में पागल, जवानी फिर मचलती है
कहाँ हम रोज मिलते थे, कहाँ यादों से जीना है
नहीं जल्दी से आशिक की कभी आदत बदलती है
हजारों रंग हैं इसके, हजारों खुशबू हैं इसकी
मोहब्बत रोशनी है वो जो हर दिन रात जलती है
मोहब्बत इक पहेली है जिसे सुलझा नहीं सकते
कहीं चुप चाप बैठी है, कहीं खुल के निकलती है
मेरे जीवन में चुप्पी ने
है बेहद उत्पात मचाया
थोड़ा थोड़ा डसके मुझको
जहर रक्त में रोज मिलाया
इस खामोशी के सहरा में
शोर का पानी और चाहिए
मुझको केवल शोर चाहिए
घर में पसरा है सन्नाटा
चीजें बिखरी पड़ी हुई है
प्रियतम तुम भी दूर गई हो
अकेला मुझको छोड़ गई हो
तुम थी तब तो बात तुमही से
दिल की अपनी कर लेता था
दिल भी अब कमजोर हुआ है
और अब इससे सहा न जाए
भार मौन का सह लेने को
दिल भी एक कठोर चाहिए
मुझको केवल शोर चाहिए
मुझको वो पल याद हैं आते
जब बच्चे खेला करते थे
कभी गेंद और पत्थर से वो
खिड़की तोड़ दिया करते थे
मुझको कोलाहल लौटा दो
जितने भी घर में शीशे हैं
उनको अब वापिस तुड़वादों
बचपन का फिर मोड चाहिए
मुझको केवल शोर चाहिए
टिक टिक करती घड़ी बोलती
“घर के शोर में कभी तूने
न मेरी आवाज सुनी थी
देख समय भी बदल गया है
तू बस मुझको सुनता जाए
मैं तेरी इकलौती साथी
ले मैं थोड़ा साथ निभादूँ
जो भी तेरे साथ हुआ है
वो तो सब कुछ याद है मुझको
ला मैं तेरी थकन मिटा दूँ
तुझको काल की सैर कर दूँ
फिर यादों की भोर चाहिए
तुझको केवल शोर चाहिए“
इतना माँगूँ मैं बस तुमसे
या तो शोर दो या फिर भगवन
स्थायी चैन मौत का देकर
मुझको प्रियतम से मिलवा दो
इस अनचाहे जीवन की अब
कट जानी फिर डोर चाहिए
मुझको केवल शोर चाहिए
Chrome extension link Git hub repo link
I am a big fan of reading urdu poetry from Rekhta. None of my days goes without reading a ghazal from Rekhta before sleeping, it helped in my good days and it helped me during my bad days as well. It is a pacifier for me, the calming agent which makes me more human, more receptive to other people’s emotions, impart more empathy in my behavior. And while reading and understanding the ghazal require an immense vocabulary, since you don’t always know the meaning of all words beforehand, Rekhta has made this task more easier by launching Rekhta Dictionary website. Rekhta Dictionary provides a wonderful access to meaning of the word in English Hindi and Urdu. But the real issue comes when we surf the internet, if there is an urdu word for which we don’t know the meaning then we have to go through this cumbersome process
Saket searches for the query “urdu zabaan ki ibtida” on google but alas he doesn’t know the meaning of “ibtida”, he selects the word and a suggestion pops up for him whether he wants to search the meaning from rekhta
And after clicking it he gets the meaning at the webpage itself, he is very happy now. 
Also the bottom popup allows him to know the meaning in Hindi, English and Urdu as well.
When the user selects some text we should be able to provide him best result possible for urdu language. Google results are very generic, urdu is a very rich language but that richness is not captured by the google results. For people interested in poetry other info like origin of word, phrases and idioms related to the word are also immensely helpful which are not provided by google dictionary result. Therefore, to satisfy the user needs of the urdu poetry lovers, my aim was to create an extension which gives them result as fast as possible.
Consistency is more important than hard work: Its not useful if you complete half of the work in one day and next day you feel so exhausted and demotivated that you don’t even want to pick up the work again. Rather doing 1% of work every day and shipping it on the 100th day is way more productive, because well you have at least ship the product. Always remember half work is equal to doing no work at all, because at the end you are not making any impact.
Getting out of comfort zone: I am a developer so other domains like product management, design and marketing are not my cup of tea, also I am not that high on budget. Therefore there are things I have to manage by myself. Which means for sure I have to get out of comfort zone and learn those things.
Joy of driving open source initiative: The emotions that you feel while driving a community based initiative is top notch. There are so many successful open source projects signifying what humans can achieve when they come and work on a problem together even without capitalistic support.
This is an open source project which means a community driven initiative where anyone can contribute. There are plenty of opportunities for anyone who wants to improve the extension requiring knowledge not necessarily about programming and software but UX, design and even about marketing to improve the reach. It can be a great learning opportunity for you as well to improve on your skills.
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो
तो एक बवंडर बन जाना
किस्मत का रोना तो प्यारे
कायर ही रोया करते हैं
गर रक्त भी निकले वीरों का
फिर भी आहें ना भरते हैं
तू साध निशाना दुश्मन पे
इक बाण धनुष का बन जाना
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो
तो एक बवंडर बन जाना
शीशे पत्थर कीलें काँटे
पैरों में चुभते जाएंगे
जितना तू चलता जाएगा
फिर घाव भी बढ़ते जाएंगे
इन जलती तपती राहों में
तू खुद इक सहरा बन जाना
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो
तो एक बवंडर बन जाना
पत्थर भी तैरा करते हैं
जब नाम हो उनपे मेहनत का
दरिया भी शीश झुकाता है
फिर देख के पौरुष मानव का
सेतू को निर्मित करके तू
फिर पार समंदर कर जाना
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो
तो एक बवंडर बन जाना
बीती बातों को याद न कर
माज़ी पर रोना छोड़ भी दे
इन इच्छाओं की बेड़ी को
अपने संयम से तोड़ भी दे
गर तुझे सिकंदर बनना हो
तो एक कलंदर बन जाना
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो
तो एक बवंडर बन जाना
रातों को भी जगना होगा
खुशियों को भी तजना होगा
अमृत को चखने से पहले
विष पान तुझे करना होगा
कष्टों की ज्वाला में जलकर
तू सच्चा सोना बन जाना
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो
तो एक बवंडर बन जाना
काँटों में हाथ बढ़ाकर ही
खुशबू फूलों की मिलती है
तब जन्म शिशु भी लेता है
जब माँ पीड़ा को सहती है
इस जीवन की रणभूमि में
संघर्षों से मत घबराना
गर तूफ़ानों से लड़ना हो
तो एक बवंडर बन जाना
father son duo on a boat ride
My father came for the first time to Hyderabad, in-fact this were so many first timers for his life as well which include, first time sitting in airplane, first time experiencing film set, first time in South India, first time a proper trip with his son. And this was a proud moment for me as well, the reason being the role and responsibilities of planning and management for the trip have changed, when I was kid it was my mother and father who used to manage all the trip related challenges like where to stay, what to eat, which transportation to take, how many days to take leave, how to optimize the cost. Now, this was the first time when I was managing these things for some body other than myself. During our childhood, there was no responsibility both of them took care of everything and only thing I had to do was enjoy and relax. If the reservation for train is not there, I don’t have to worry because dad will go to the reservation counter and book tatkal ticket (remember the less prevalence of internet in those days), my mother will take care of cooking when we were leaving for the trip because at least we can have hygienic-home made food for at least once because eating train’s food is nothing but a torture. Now all these things I had to manage and I will be honest although there was proud feeling at the end but there were moments of frustration and irritation as well when things don’t go according to your plan. For e.g. while in Srisailam we earlier plan that we will visit famous Akkamahadevi caves as well. We planned for our trip for just one day and booked our return tickets at night the same day we reached but when we arrived we got to know that for you to visit the caves one has to book it 6 AM in the morning by being physically present at the ticket counter and the venue will be open to visit from 9AM to 11AM the same day. Alas, our bus arrived in Srisailam at 11:30. The lesson I learned was to properly plan ahead keeping crucial details in mind like When the venue remains opened, how to book the ticket, what are the restrictions in booking for e.g. do we need to physically present in order to book the ticket or we can book online as well.
Both of us on a cycling ride
Apart from this event management learning lesson, one thing that is unforgettable is the time we spent together. Although we father son duo doesn’t talk much with each other and wherever I took him he generously agreed to go and never raised an objection that I don’t want to go here or there. I will never forget the smile on his face when he visited Srisailam dam, dam was overflowing and the bus was going through a zig zag route, the 8 out of 12 dam gates were open and it was having a snowy effect and what we were seeing that water instead of going down and merging into downward flow, it was coming upwards and on the route which was approximately 50 feet above the ground water level there was artificial rain. And while in the bus, he was moving from one window side to other window side for viewing overflowing dam as bus was taking turns on zig zag paths. The excitement was clearly visible in him and it felt like he is living through his childhood once again. He had never seen the overflowing dam in such a charming beauty, and he was definitely awestruck with the view.
Rainbow on a overflowing srisailam dam
Although, one thing I deeply regret is I didn’t talk much with him, this could have been a good opportunity where I could have got a step closer towards him but I couldn’t, either this is generation gap or the distance that we both have maintained for a long time. It is the way our relationship has developed and maybe it is difficult to change now. Also, it is not like we didn’t care for each other, in srisailam there was a paatal ganga ghat near river Krishna for which you have to climb down and up 500 stairs, also going down is comparatively easier then climbing upwards. Climbing upwards in the afternoon with heat at its full intensity, you get sweaty and tired easily. And being closed to 55 years of age, he was getting out of breath after every 20-30 steps, so we decided that we will go at a slower place taking enough breaks in between, drinking proper water and continuing the journey. Similarly, I got hit in my knee during journey and he became extremely worried and kept on checking me if I am alright or not. So despite being caring for one other we didn’t talk much why? That part I still haven’t figured out. One more incident that I feel really sorry about is how I rudely I behaved with him for him not taking proper photograph of mine. I wanted to take him the close up photo with dam in the background but he didn’t take it as expected. After that I got really pissed off for such a small issue. I behaved like a small kid and despite him saying again and again that he will take the correct photograph this time, I gave him silent treatment and went away from him on the other side, leaving him alone. I now feel really sorry for that behavior and want to say sorry to him but haven’t done so yet. Holding these grudges for small things do nothing but ruin the enjoyment for both the parties in trip. The life is full of incompleteness and we must accept it in whatever form it manifest, if the photograph is not good it is okay because the emotions behind those are real, the effort that he was making was real and must have been appreciated from my side.
photo for which I hold the grudge
sorry papa