Hi I’m Shirish and this timeline charts the experiences, both grand and tiny, that have shaped who I am today.

2008: Big Interviews, Big Troubles: As student reporter, I interviewed two of Nepal’s most prominent figures: the Prime Minister and the President. My compliment to the Prime Minister on writing an autobiography “nobody’s as big as you” mayy have been misinterpreted, as he was famously tall. Ahh youthful naivete. Never give ambiguous compliments.

2008: Small guy, big, not-funny jokes:: One of the most embarrassing days of my life. I squirreled my way into the inner circle of the Nepali President as a high school student in Uniform. I told him I wanted to ask questions for the school paper. My question was: “What would you do if you became the president, and now that you have become one, did you actually do it?” It…felt funny, and ironic and weird at the time. Ugh.

2010-2011: A TEDx organizer: My friend and I co-organized TEDxKathmandu events two years in a row, to much public interest. Two sold-out large halls every year.

2011: Taking the Stage (and the Reviews) in Stride: I played a key role in Edward Albee’s “Ballard of the Sad Cafe” in Kathmandu. The reviews weren’t stellar (“Best part? When the power went out”). I’m not gonna give up on my Hollywood Dreams, UNIVERSE!

The same year (2011) I gave a 30-minute BarCamp presentation on Nepali film posters. I’d been documenting them for half-decade at that point. [(https://prezi.com/xtigclcjiuc5/nepali-film-posters/)] Just need to figure out a way to download my Prezi data from the website without paying them…

2009-2011: OLPS Oops: My friend and I campagined strongly for the OLPC project in my high school in Kathmandu. It was well-intentioned (and thankfully) rejected. Read more here Link

2012: A Scorching Summer in India: The scorching Indian summer provided an unfortunate background for research with a consultant group working for MIT Mobility lab. We explored five Indian cities researching the Jaipur Foot mobility project. The trip also involved a weeklong residency with a prominent Indian venture capitalist.

2013: Study Abroad in Ghana: Spent seven eye-opening months in Ghana as a study-abroad student. Setup custom social-media monitoring tool during my internship at the University of Ghana Accra’s Ethno-musicology department.

2014: Sky-high Internship: A Boston-based tech private equity firm’s now-MD interviewed and hired me for an internal tech internship. He also mentored me career-wise in my early career.

2016-2017: Masters superfast: A two-year Master’s program in Computer Science completed at UMass-Amherst in a mere 14 months! All of that, without a drop of caffeine!

2017 (and Beyond): The Art of Fermentation: Started my fermentation hobby and a passion for experimentation, which continues to this day. I’ve documented my journey and lessons (here)[https://www.shirish.me/fermentland].

2018: Interviewing for the Unexpected: The interview circuit took some unexpected turns. Two separate interviews led to bosses one of who became a close associate of the British Prime Minister, and another who soon became a U.S. Congressman. Small world!

2020: The year that changed everything: A trip to Nepal and Singapore just before everything changed. In the uncertainties and confusion of early-covid times, I decided to shift towards writing more professional essays, some of which you can find here.

2022 and Beyond: Perpetual Learning: The pursuit of knowledge never ends! Currently enrolled in the Certificate in Engineering Leadership program at UW-Seattle. Additionally, exploring creative pursuits with art, dance, and crafts courses at Seattle Central College, making it my sixth university/college experience!