In the middle of unpredictable seasons

I often begin these posts by describing the weather and my surroundings at the time of writing. It's partly because I want to document how things around me look and feel right now, and how they are changing. But it's also because a journal of weather slowly becomes the journal of climate change.

Over the past couple of months, the weather here has felt like that of Roshar from the Stormlight Archive Books series. In other words, it has been erratic and unpredictable, with localised seasons of cold or warmth that last for only a couple of weeks.

Summer seemed to have arrived. We had to use the fan on full speed. And then, in a single day, the temperature dropped to below 10 degrees when the rains started. And this cycle continued a couple of times.

I read the news articles about people dying from heatwaves in other parts of the country, while I was sitting in front of a blazing fire because it was too cold outside. Even the plants in our backyard garden seem confused - some shedding leaves due to stress, others flowering even before reaching full growth.

In Himachal, where the major source of income for most people is farming, everyone seems to be planning for the worst harvest season. And today, once again it's too hot outside and we are all hoping for a bit of rainfall ( while also being scared of what kind of destruction the monsoon will bring this year).

In a way, although our weather has become like that of Roshar, none of the plants, animals or people have had time to adapt to this pattern.

Meanwhile, at our Lab

While the weather has been doing its unpredictable dance, our team at SoftCircuits Labs has been busy working on the PoC for the next round of the Jal Shakti Hackathon.

It was the first time that our team spent so much time in a Biotechnology lab. While the electronics and firmware part for this project were finished quickly, the molecular biology work was an entirely new domain for us. Dr. Preeti and Athira did all the heavy lifting for this lab work, and we were really fortunate to have strong support from the Biotechnology department at our partner University.

Alongside this, we have been handling firmware development for a customer device, a lot of documentation, planning future projects, coordinating with vendors and traveling across Himachal, Dehradun, Delhi and Faridabad.

There was a time when juggling such a diverse range of tasks felt so tiring. But after doing end-to-end product development for 10 years, shifting gears from one role to another has started to feel almost effortless.

Still, by the end of the day, I feel a quiet need to step away from it all and just be with nature.

So, every day, after going through this unpredictable weather and the demanding work, we go to the rooftop. We watch the beautiful sunset and let the cool mountain winds wash away our fatigue.

And it reminds me, every single time, that shifting our lab to this hilltop was definitely the right call.