Prasad is an alumni from Prachi's undergraduate college VIIT, Pune. He is a young prodigy who is very passionate about programming and software development. Prasad was a Microsoft Student partner and currently is a District Professional Development Director at Rotaract. He has developed applications like: Face Touch Alert App, Health Scan, Data Safe, Easy Text to Speech and Health Tracker. He hosts events in and around Pune, related to Open Source and App development. He is one of the rising stars in the Indian tech world and we are sure you will be hearing a lot more of him in coming time. You can also access to his blogs at - https://prasadseth6.wordpress.com
Before COVID-19
Q: We would love to know you and your journey so far.
P: I have completed my Bachelors in Computer Engineering from University of Pune, India. I like to help people and talk about tech, I have been invited as a Tech Speaker at various meetups & events. I like to share my tech knowledge and event experiences so I write a blog. I organize Tech events and I am a Co-Chapter Leader for Slack Community Pune.
Q: What is your profession? What do you do for feeding your kitchen and your soul? These two may be different as well. You can give us how you spend your typical day if that’s more suitable to your profession.
P: Currently I am working as a Software Developer at Magnus Tech. My day starts with developing new features or solving bugs. My evenings are mostly about helping the youth with Professional Development through Rotaract International Organization (as I am a District Professional Development Director). On weekend I am mostly involved in organizing Tech meetups & developing my personal tech projects (in which my focus is always on developing apps that will help the society).
Q: We would love to know how you came to be who you are now. What were the most important turning points in your childhood that made you YOU?
P: I would say, at a very young age I had the luck to meet & work with professionals & experts from various fields which has helped me a lot in my career. Facing and overcoming obstacles has made me a stronger person. Turning point in my life would be when I decided to be a Computer Engineer because being an Engineer has made me what I am today.
Q: Before COVID lockdown what was the first thing on your mind to do in your business/life? What move you wanted to make to grow? This includes short term goals.
P: I felt a need to get fit due to my sedentary lifestyle. In a way, the lock-down honestly helped me to kickstart this because I have realized that it is very essential to stay fit.
Q: What was your 3-5 year plan before COVID? We would like to know your long term goals before this unexpected phenomenon.
P: Studying further for another year or two and move into a different job role.
Q: Among the people you have worked with who do you admire and why? Past and present people included.
P: I have had an opportunity to work with many great individuals. It is hard for me to pick a specific person whom I have worked with that I admire. Every person I have interacted with professionally are all so different. I admire the uniqueness in all people. All my mentors till date are amazing, who have pushed me and encouraged to break out of my comfort zone.
Q: Any experience with best and the worst bosses/employees? Any story? Don't worry! We'll change the names of those individuals! ;)
P: There are so many good stories, but I always liked when me & my colleagues played Foosball. There are always good and bad days but I can't think of any specific story.
Q: What new culture you wanted to bring to the profession you are working in? (before COVID-19 of course!)
P: Software Development is a very high stress job. I would like to bring a culture of patience and a sense of team or family. When there is stress one should take a deep breath and only focus on the next task, then the next etc etc. One should keep their head cool.
Q: You must be having a list of fun things/soul feeding things you wanted to do before this pandemic changed the world. Your top 5 things on bucketlist? (before COVID-19)
P: Yes, of course ! Tons of stuff ! Some of them are : I always wanted to go on a holiday to Switzerland. I want to learn to play guitar & learn a new language.
After COVID-19
Q: How are you holding up the fort of your home and your profession in these trying times? How are you entertaining yourself if you have more free time on your hand now?
P: The situation is not really reducing my focus on my work. It simply changes the way we work. I have started working on my side projects. One of the side project (Face Touch Alert app) is actually very useful during the current lock-down & work from home situation. This project gained some media attention like it was featured by ABP News TV Channel, Inventors - a London based platform, Radio Nagar 90.4 FM, Newspapers like : Maharashtra Times, Sakaal, Pudhari & Bytes of India. Other than my side projects I have been working out more and trying different types of home workouts. Also helping my mom in household chores & learning to cook.
Q: What changes are you experiencing in your job? What changes you had to make in your working style?
P: No changes except the fact that it is all virtual now.
Q: Everyone is talking about how this virus is going to permanently change the way we live now. What do you think will be the biggest change after this Pandemic situation is over?
P: I wish everyone would appreciate the things, which we usually take for granted. But human beings generally forget about this too fast. There will be a lot of economic changes and the coming crisis will affect a huge number of industries as well as the IT industry. Companies and industries that already had a weak position will disappear even faster. But a lot of new startups will start as well.
Q: Do you think this will affect area/industry you are working in? If yes, why and on what scale? If no, why not?
P: I think the complete scene of Hiring through in-person interviews is going to change. IT Companies have realized that majority of software developers can even work from home and that is surely going to impact a lot of companies profits. Many developer conferences have been cancelled & are going to be virtual now so a lot of company budget is saved. Online learning on the other hand will see boom and will grow exponentially. Businesses will go digital.
Q: Some of us are optimistic that this is just a small bump in our progress story and won't majorly affect how we lived. Do you agree? Do you think we can get back to where we left before this pandemic?
P: I feel the crisis will have a 3-4 year impact on us ! Impact I mean not just economically but a complete lifestyle change for some people. No short term healing possible!
Q: If a kid walked up to asking for your advice for starting his/her venture and you only had a few minutes to give them your best tip, what would it be? Considering the pandemic.
P: I have always believed that the only Quality that Separates the Most Successful Business Leaders From the Rest is Perseverance i.e. persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. And the most important thing is whatever you do, do it with full passion!
Q: Which direction you think that we all - as a world - responsibly need to act and think? You can say in whichever sense you feel is most important.
P: I would like to see that we appreciate some of the things that are really important to us. More respect towards Doctors, nurses & police officers. I think many people believe that if they are not affected (be it anything not just this pandemic) then it doesn’t concern them - this mindset should be changed. We should also focus more on savings & right investment which will help us during difficult times.
Q: Do you think you need to re-modify the bucketlist? Why and how?
P: It is always changing. Things get added or deleted every day.
Q: We should not ignore the silver linings that you noticed in this scare. After all, hope is what makes the world go round. What positive thing you experienced during this pandemic?
P: There is a solution for everything. Whatever comes, people will be able to manage it! We must remind ourselves of our resilience on a regular basis. Keeping a positive attitude improves our ability to solve problems, make decisions and use creative thinking.
Q: Do you think you and the world need to set new milestones? Will sustainability and earth-friendly business practices be an important factor now? How will you ensure you fit in this new picture in your respective profession?
P: I absolutely believe we need to set new milestones. As engineers we have the skill set and ability to come up with solutions that can solve several social problems. The urgency of climate change demands that we evolve how we live and work. We have to get to carbon neutral as much as possible.
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