A few months back, I was laid off. It came as a shock. I had worked incredibly hard throughout the year, consistently putting in 10+ hours a day, including weekends with on-calls, only to find myself on the chopping block near the end of 2024. When it happened, I had mixed feelings. Deep down, I felt a sense of relief, but the pain of being let go overshadowed everything. I decided to visit my hometown for a month, telling my parents I had transitioned to WFH—a lie I told because I couldn’t bring myself to share the truth. I didn’t want to be the cause of their worries and sadness.
Returning to Bangalore was difficult. Living alone, I struggled to find motivation. Despite having all the time in the world to study and prepare, I just couldn’t utilize it well. It felt like, “When granted everything, you can’t do anything.” One night, I stumbled across a post on LeetCode where someone mentioned watching Naruto during their tough times. I checked the number of episodes and quickly gave up on that idea but decided to start with Demon Slayer instead. Each night, I would cry myself to sleep after watching the struggles of Tanjiro, the main character. Somehow, his journey resonated with mine. I would replay Rengoku’s final words every single day. For reasons I can’t fully explain, those words became a source of strength—something I longed to hear.
During this time, I pretended to be employed. My parents would call, and I’d tell them I was at the office. If they video-called during "work hours," I’d deliberately miss the call to avoid suspicion. Even my house cleaner would comment, “You don’t go to the office?” I’d say I work from home nowadays.
Slowly but surely, I started to regain momentum. I began preparing for interviews, though the initial failures hit hard. I got rejected in first 10 companies. Being out of touch made it difficult, and I struggled. Then came my Google interview. It consisted of four rounds: three DSA rounds and one Googliness round. Out of the four, I bombed one of the DSA rounds badly. Thankfully, my recruiter offered me another chance to redo that round. The remaining rounds went well, and based on my assessment, the ratings might have been 2 Strong Hires, 1 Hire, and 1 Lean Hire after the redo. I poured my heart into preparing for that second chance, and it paid off.
The day I received Google’s offer, I was overwhelmed with joy. My parents told me how proud they were, and suddenly, relatives who hadn’t wished me a happy birthday in years were calling to congratulate me.
To all those going through a challenging journey, I want to say this: No matter how devastated you may feel by your own weakness or uselessness…
Set your heart ablaze.
