Srikanth Technologies

Looking back at 2020

Here is summary of events in my life in the year 2020. At the end of each year, I would like to look back and share important events of my life through this blog.

Entering into 2020

As usual it was small gathering at my place.

We shared our plans for upcoming year. No one would have imagined even in the wildest dreams the way the year has unfolded.

I set my goals in the form of number of books to read, number of countries to visit and courses to be created for Udemy etc. Well, I never set goals for financial matters. I want to live by my means. I want to be happy with whatever I get. Some batches get better than expected response and some much worse than expected. I take everything at par and give my best to each batch irrespective of number of students.

I wanted to visit at least two new countries. But I could manage only one. What mattered in 2020 was to stay safe and keep doing the best I could do.

At home on 31st Dec Night

Trip to Bali

We (Padmaja, Praneeth, Pranav and I) visited Bali, Indonesia from 12th Jan to 16th Jan. Praneeth came from US in Dec, 2019 and we wanted to have a trip together. Our choice of Bali was perfect. We had a great time. Praneeth went back to US on 20th Jan to continue his Masters.

Fortunately, Covid situation was not severe and we could come back before it became worse.

Well Bali was nice and peaceful. Though there were many tourists, it didn't seem chaotic. We had a pleasant stay and enjoyed our family time.

We enjoyed a few slightly adventure activities like Banana boat, Flying fish etc. Vehicles were neat and drivers always arrived before scheduled time.

We had to spend good amount of time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airport due to long transit time. When we are with loved ones, time just flies. AirAsia had huge number of flights in our terminal. During lockdown I kept wondering how deserted the Airport would have been, which is otherwise so lively with so many flights flying like birds and passengers from all over the world.

Banana Boat Ride

At Water Sports

At Tanah Lot

In Monkey Forest

At Mount Batur

On Swing in Ubud

Trekking in Kambalakonda

Though it is not a very long or tough trek, I enjoyed being part of trekking at Kambalakonda. There were some challenging spots where one should be careful because of rocks and their slippery nature.

Connecting to nature in any form is always great and fulfilling.

After lockdown was eased, I had been to beach on many Sunday mornings and watched awesome Sun rising over sea. Mountains and Seas both always thrill me.

My desire to do a full trek in Himachal Pradesh didn't materialize this year. I am eagerly waiting for that experience.

Trekking at Kambalakonda

Trekking at Kambalakonda

Trekking at Kambalakonda

Moving to Online Only Classes

I knew lockdown was coming and decided to move all classes to online by 16th March. But for a few days I took online classes from Office. But from 22nd March, I had to move classroom setup completely to my home as lockdown was imposed from 23rd.

But Internet connectivity was an issue at home as I didn't need high bandwidth before. So first think I did was to upgrade my ACT Broadband plan. But with only one Internet connection, I was never sure of uninterrupted Internet. So as soon as JIO Fiber was available I went for that also so that I can be 100% sure of my internet connectivity with two broadband options and one mobile data option as well.

Online training was not new to me as I have been offering hybrid (classroom and online) model since 2016. Even in the past I had some batches completely online and some corporate trainings were also completely online. So, my transition was very smooth.

I understand the hardship people were going through. I wanted to make learning more affordable. I did something that I never did before in 22 years of existence of Srikanth Technologies. I offered 33% discount during lockdown for all courses. I am very happy that I could work all through the lockdown period and could share and help people to learn and make the most of free time they got.

It was important for us to make the most of free time that was available due to Covid. Many students spent time to develop new skills. Many just threw away time doing nothing. It is believed, if you don't learn from crisis, you wasted it. Every crisis is a lesson.

I enjoyed taking classes from home. I got more time for everything as I didn't have to dress up and spend time on commuting.

Enjoyed spending time with family. Every Sunday some of our flat mates would meet on the terrace and spend time talking and eating different snacks.

Also watched more movies as almost every Saturday we would watch a movie in Prime or Netflix.

Got time to do some new video courses and enhance material for some courses. All in all, I know it was tough time for all, but I have every reason to be happy to get opportunity to keep working all through lockdown non-stop. I am always of the opinion - work is a blessing. Thanks to Internet and students trust in me. They kept me busy with something worthwhile all through.

My Classroom at Home

New on-demand video courses in Udemy.com

The following are new courses I added to my existing courses in Udemy.com.

Apart from these new courses, I have significantly enhanced my C Language for Beginners course by adding more lessons.

Building Web Applications using Django Framework

I added a new on-demand video course - Building Web Applications using Django Framework - to Udemy.com. It is a course aimed at people who know Python and want to build Web Applications using Python. You can't build Web Application only with Python, so you need to use one of the frameworks related to Web Development. Django is the most comprehensive framework available.

There are courses that I didn't offer very regularly. For such courses, I created on-demand video courses so that I could reach every corner of the world. I am happy to have reached many through my courses.

Building Web Applications using Django Framework

Java Interview Questions

This course is to help students who are preparing for Java Technical Interview - oral or written.

It has objective questions to help students understand what kind of questions may be asked in Interviews. This course can be used to assess your knowledge of Java Language and prepare for Certification exams.

Java Interview Questions

Corporate Training

Before my classroom training started, I had to handle an onsite corporate training for K12 Techno Services for Python and Django.

Enjoyed interacting with 25 interns and sharing my knowledge with them. I am sure most of them will become developers and I am happy I had a small role to play in their journey.

K12 Techno Services Interns

Back to classroom

From 14th Dec, I started allowing students to come to classroom. I started offering Hybrid only for C Language course, while the rest still remained completely online.

Small trips and important events

Here are small trips and important events that took place in 2020.
  • Visited Hanuman Temple near Korukonda, Vizianagaram. Enjoyed watching laser show there.
  • Pranav on his 18th birthday, became a major on 9th October. So we have all majors at home. We celebrated this occasion with small get together at home with close friends and family members.
  • Had been to a place near Srikakulam to visit some fields. I always find green fields beautiful and serene.
  • Had been to Araku to spend two days there and enjoyed every minute.

At Ramanarayanam Temple, Korukonda

Pranav's 18th Birthday

In fields at Gurumur, Srikakulam

At Araku

Blogs

Here are blogs posted by me in this year in all categories.

Videos

The following are the videos I uploaded to YouTube in this year.

Books Read

I have exceeded (read 30 books) my target (20 books) for books this year. Needless to say it was courtesy of lockdown. I had more time at my disposal to read. I wasted a lot of time reading Atlas Shrugged. Many rated it very high, but I felt I wasted time reading it.

Well on the other hand I read some really good books:
  • That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea - Randolph, Marc
  • The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company - Iger, Robert
  • Man's Search for Meaning - Frankl, Viktor E.
  • Go Kiss the World: Life Lessons For The Young Professional - Bagchi, Subroto
  • Coders: Who They Are, What They Think and How They Are Changing Our World - Thompson, Clive