August 2025: Watching the Wave Rising To the Sky #429

August Week 1

I just resumed work again after a week of health hazards and had a follow-up with the doctor regarding my test report. The doctor didn’t seem too worried and simply sent me home. That weekend, I also took some interviews… weekends have been quite busy because of these interviews. Sundays feel like they pass in the blink of an eye. That weekend I caught up with one of the girls from my undergrads over a call—she always fills me in on all the gossip I miss out on since I’m not on social media. Our friendship is a little strange; we don’t see each other often, we don’t exchange gifts, memes, or even casual small talk—yet we end up spending the whole night giggling over silly things and feeling nostalgic about the days when life was so much simpler.

As the weekdays rolled in, I had to mentally prepare myself for work. But my physical weakness kept me doubting…

Work-wise, I was struggling to keep myself afloat and moving forward. My team was going through a re-org, so I was yet to discover how things would change—for better or for worse?

Week 2

As soon as the second week started, I finally gathered enough courage to travel to work.

My usual seat was already taken by another territorial person like me, which forced me to hunt for a new “good” seat.

Work-wise, things started looking slightly more encouraging… I wanted to make the best out of the situation—but whether I’d succeed or not still remains a question.

On the family front, chaos struck when our fridge broke down. It took us two whole days to realize that everything in the freezer—5-6 tubs of ice cream, meat, fish, frozen veggies—had melted. Even the leftovers had started to go bad.

That weekend, I had to throw away a lot of my favorite ice creams. They had turned into a foamy liquid with a foul smell (mostly because of the cut fruits inside). Then there were frozen blueberries, cheese—rare things I buy only once in a while because of their cost, meant for trying new recipes.

I was honestly heartbroken to throw away all these foods that I had once bought to share with the family. And to top it off, there was an endless amount of cooked meals, milk packets, cut fruits, and vegetables. My father has a thing for hoarding, so at first glance our fridge always looks like it’s stocked for an emergency—even though in reality, we live right next to a farmer’s market where fresh produce is available every morning.

The only good thing that came out of the broken fridge was ten kilos of ripe mangoes my dad had bought and stored. It took us two days to notice that everything in the freezer was turning slimy. Normally, we brush it off as a power cut—when electricity goes out for 4–5 hours, the ice melts, but once power returns, everything usually goes back to normal. So the first time we saw the ice cream melted and the meat half-thawed, we didn’t suspect a bigger issue.

Naturally, everyone at home was upset about the mangoes—not because they spoiled, but because they hadn’t been eaten earlier. Even though they looked like a lost cause, once peeled and processed (cooked on high heat for a few hours and then dried in the oven on low heat for 10+ hours), they turned into the best dried mango sheets of the season. (This was already our fourth batch! I want to give myself a pat on the back for baking them meticulously to perfection and cutting them into little diamond-shaped pieces!!)

Meanwhile, one of my aunts (my dad’s youngest sister) came to visit. Seeing her after more than two decades hit differently—especially since she resembled my late grandmother, who passed away when I was just a kid. My aunt loves to chat about anything and everything. Now retired, she still feels nostalgic about her school friends, college days, teachers, and neighbors—everyone who touched her life at some point. Her son and daughter-in-law were also around, though staying at a non-Airbnb rental, and needed to visit the hospital often, so I didn’t get to talk with them much.

Regardless of the chaos at home, I still went to work a few days that week. I also took interviews over the weekend—the usual drill.

Week 3

Just when we finally got our fridge fixed, one of our water purifiers broke down. Honestly—what is wrong with all these appliances!

I continued with hybrid work—some days at the office, some days at home. After a long wait, we finally heard back from our professors. The summer break had stretched on forever.

The fifth semester rolled in with a mountain of challenges ahead. Since I’d already finished my mandatory credits for theory coursework, I now had to work on a capstone project. I picked a project almost at random and prayed for guidance, since all the topics felt equally foreign to me.

Over the weekend, we were assigned to professors, and the first round of introductions to available projects happened. I had to cancel office interviews to attend the classes. That whole week, I felt a heavy cloud of anxiety—I had hoped to manage both classes and office work, but our professor shared his schedule at the last possible moment, leaving no time to juggle other commitments.

Week 4

The last week of August felt like the calm before the storm. I already knew about the shortlisted projects and had shared my preferences, but the final selection of project, team, and responsibilities was still pending. Even though I’m a mid-senior engineer at work, there are times I don’t feel confident about stepping forward to guide others.

Many of my batchmates already had experience with the tech stack our capstone project required… but for me, it was all Greek. I felt like a history or literature student suddenly thrown into a computer science class. Our professor didn’t seem too concerned about the wide skill gap among students, but my unease just grew day by day. On top of that, interview slots kept clashing with my classes! I couldn’t just refuse to take interviews for the next three months—that might not sit well with the authorities. So, over the weekend, I ended up hopping between class and interviews like a circus monkey juggling too many acts.

Work-wise, things were a mix of hot and cold. I was training one of the juniors, who may or may not be part of my project later. Project work finally became more engaging after months of hopeless scraping, but the future remains uncertain. With the team re-org, our meeting timings shifted, but luckily I’ll still be working with the same group of engineers who’ve been supporting me.

Going into the office in the last week of the month felt unusually peaceful. Most people had already finished their mandatory days, so the space was quieter and less crowded.

In August, amidst all the chaos, I still managed to watch some good shows: Goblin: The Lonely and Great God (2016), Head Over Heels (2025), Coffee Prince (2007), The Trunk (2024), Rain in España (2021), and last but not least—Descendants of the Sun (2016). Then I enjoyed writing my fan-girl commentary on these TV shows… Well I am a fan of Gong Yoo at the moment! 😊

This was the first time I got myself some Lindt chocolates. After being stingy for the whole month- that was my treat to myself. I had these chocolates before gifted either by colleagues or close friends coming from foreign trips. August 2025 was blessed with Mum’s excellent cooking. She made us Basanti Pulao with Navaratna Korma, Fried Rice and a close cousin of Chili Mushroom, then there was Chana Masala with fluffy rotis… The last one is a hearty bowl of Daliya cooked with her special spices.