Forem: Sima Rai

Placed but Homeless

Sima Rai — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 18:21:23 +0000

It’s been a week since I got placed. A whole week where I thought the pressure was finally over, that I could breathe. Placement was supposed to be my big relief, right? But no. Every new responsibility comes with its own kind of pressure. And the world? It doesn’t go easy on you.

For the past few days, I’ve been stuck to my screen, scrolling endlessly through rental websites. Clicking, bookmarking, shortlisting, only to find that nothing actually works out. And you know why I’ve been doing all this? Because yes I got placed. I thought that would solve half my problems. Instead it opened the door to new ones.

And today I finally stepped out. No more hiding behind websites and pictures. I went flat hunting in person. And god, it felt like stepping into a battlefield.

First, the rents. Skyrocketing, even in a tier-2 city. Add a fat security deposit and a 50% brokerage fee on top, and suddenly the cost of living feels higher than my future salary package. How do you even survive that when you’re just an intern?

Second, the “families only” rule. Some landlords look at a single girl and shake their heads. No, not allowed. As if being single automatically disqualifies me from living. And the alternative? PGs, where instead of debugging code, I’d be debugging who stole my Ramen bowl.

Third, the hidden costs. The endless autos, the cabs. Just today, half my monthly pocket money went to tuk-tuk bhaiya, the rest to a cab ride that ended at another dead end. I came back empty-handed, with no flat and no energy left.

But what hurt more than the money or the walking were the words. Some words sting more than bugs. Bugs at least admit they’re there. They give you an error message, they tell you where to look. But people? They throw words like stones and don’t even realize how heavy they land.

I thought becoming a developer was hard. But this messy, unpredictable, unfair thing called adulthood is a whole different kind of debugging. And life, unlike code, doesn’t come with a debugger.

Day 10: When Rest Days Become Learning Days

Sima Rai — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 18:04:53 +0000

The sky was painted in shades of calm today.It was supposed to be a rest day. But how can one remain still when the sky itself whispers of movement, of quiet progress, of journeys that never really stop?

I told myself I would create one piece of content today, and I did. I sat with my projects, worked on them patiently, and it felt good to keep my own word. And when it was done, I rewarded myself with a plate of momo.

Today was supposed to be a rest day. Instead, it became a learning day. And I’m grateful for that.

Day 9 : Lets Start from Zero Again

Sima Rai — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 18:36:36 +0000

It’s actually been a long time since I last posted here.
Some of it came from emotional breakdowns, some from figuring out life decisions, and sometimes just being stuck in the same loop over and over.

Right now, I’m juggling many things at once:

Preparing content ideas for YouTube [yes,I started creating content]
Appearing in interviews
Sitting for multiple placement exams

Most of the time, I don’t have it all figured out. I just try to keep moving.
There’s a saying: “If you follow confused people, you become confused.”
But what if you are that person who is confused? What do you do then?

Should I focus on one project or explore everything?
Should I prepare more for interviews or just build projects?

The trap is in overthinking.The reality is making a “wrong” decision and adjusting is almost always better than making no decision at all.

So here I am back after the break, continuing from Day 9.
Not because I know exactly what to do, but because I’d rather figure it out while moving.

Day 7 & 8: When you got the chance but couldn’t grab it?

Sima Rai — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 19:46:12 +0000

Date: August 2

Got the mail for the Amazon ML Summer School exam.
Happy? Me? Of course, I was.
But you know, not everyone’s weekend wraps up inside a cozy room staring at screens.
Sometimes, you’re out running around handling offline chaos.

Me and my never-ending Aadhar card saga

This was the second time I stood in that exhausting queue — just for verification.
Last time? Didn’t even make it in.
This time? I got inside the office. Progress? Maybe.

Guess what? The server was down.
“Come back tomorrow,” they said.
Mind you I’d traveled all the way from Himachal to Chandigarh.
I was pissed at them, at myself, at everything...
And just when I thought that was enough for one day, I received another mail, this time from a placement drive.
Plot twist: The Amazon ML exam and the company’s exam were scheduled at the same time.
I know not every day is a good day… but in my case, it's every time. Lol.

Date: August 3, 9:30 AM

Today was supposed to be my productive day.
Instead, I found myself back in front of the Aadhar card office.
They finally accepted my Aadhar card enrollment. One less thing off the list.

Exams?
No electricity all day in the hostel. No network either.
Still, I hustled with my own hotspot. But then my laptop battery looked at me and said, “Not today, darling.”
And just like that, none of the exams went well.

But here’s the thing:
Progress isn’t always linear.Some days aren’t about winning ,they’re just about showing up.
And at least… I showed up.
See you TOMORROW la!

Day 6: What progress did you make this week?

Sima Rai — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 20:40:53 +0000

If I talk about mine it wasn’t some massive achievement, but I did notice a shift in myself.
My sleep schedule? Still a complete mess (lol, working on it).
But despite that, this week felt different in the best way.
Here’s what I managed to do:

Procrastinated less,finally!
Showed up with more consistency
Made solid progress on a few automation workflows
And yes,pushed myself on LeetCode and kept grinding

It wasn’t perfect. A little messy, a little chaotic…
But it’s still a win, and I’m proud of it.

Now it’s your turn:
What’s something you did this week that made you feel proud even just a little?

Day 5 :Caught Between the Pages of Progress

Sima Rai — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 19:45:51 +0000

There's something uniquely frustrating about transition periods. You're not where you were, but you're not where you're going either. You're stuck in this middle space where productivity feels forced like trying to squeeze juice from a dry lemon..
Tomorrow's the reset though. Planning to wake up at 6 after sleeping at 1 (yeah, I know the math on that sleep). The plan is to revise SQL and knock out two DSA problems.
Not every day is a win, but every day teaches you something.
See you TOMORROW la!

Day 4: Built a Lead Form Automation This Wednesday

Sima Rai — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 19:59:27 +0000

Another morning started with my relationship with the alarm clock ending in betrayal.

Lead Form Automation

Platform: n8n
Purpose: This automation will take the form request from the project leads form and then send me an email notification that I got a new lead.
It will properly label the email depending on what the project budget is.
For example: if the client picks the highest project budget, the automation will label that new lead as "high budget lead", and if the project is low budget, it will label the new lead in my email as "low budget lead".

Workflow

Form

Result

This is a basic workflow for exercising your hands with the n8n tool hehe (I am still exploring).

Still Figuring It Out

There’s nothing fancy to brag about , I’m still at the beginning of this whole journey. But I’m showing up, learning little by little, and doing what I can.
I’m also planning to start content creation soon. Why?
Because I want to unlock the best version of myself this year whether it’s to share creativity or just document the chaos.
But as usual, I must say......
See you TOMORROW la!

Day 3: When You Finally Kick Off Procrastination and Make the Day Count

Sima Rai — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 19:30:32 +0000

Started my day at 10 AM not the proudest start, but definitely better than letting the whole morning slip away.
I spent the 29th of July revising STL and reinforcing the basics before diving into core DSA. STL feels like magic when you're mentally exhausted from DP or backtracking chaos.

The Night Check-In:

It wasn’t a day worth bragging about in terms of productivity, but you know what?
I'm ending it without that annoying cloud of regret.
See you TOMORROW la!

Day 2: Avoided DSA for So Long, Now It Avoids Me

Sima Rai — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 18:58:29 +0000

Day 2 update: Nothing groundbreaking today, just revision.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: DSA
I've been dancing around it like someone avoiding their ex at a party. But here's the thing, some encounters are bound to happen. The universe has a funny way of making sure you face the things you're trying to dodge.

DSA is the gatekeeper of every placement process.

Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and dive into the one thing you’ve been avoiding. Now it's my main goal .
I am locking in.Because I know once i crack this, everything else will follow.
And honestly ?
I know I can.
See you Tomorrow la!

Day 1 : Who needs rest? I built an AI Automation this weekend.

Sima Rai — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 19:55:49 +0000

Day 1 update: Started my day late, but as they say,better late than never.

What is an Ai Agent?

An Ai agent is a digital worker that can understand instructions and take actions in order to complete tasks.

5 Ai Agent Components

LLM (brain)
Prompting (instructions)
Memory
External Knowledge
Tools

Weather Report Automation

I dedicated my entire weekend to this project. Along the way, I learned the difference between AI automation and AI agents in detail.

In a Gen Z way think of it like this: AI automation is like knowing you should show love to your partner but not knowing how or when .You might just do it on autopilot, maybe even at the wrong time. But an AI agent is like knowing exactly when to shower your partner with attention or when to just listen quietly. It’s smart and adaptive, hehehaha.

I built this project on the n8n platform. In this automation, I learned how to use the HTTP Request node. Used the Code node to run custom JavaScript code and make the automation more powerful. I also set up a database in Airtable to store and track my data.

Here’s what my project does: I can select a location from a dropdown list, and the automation fetches today’s high and low temperatures for that location. Once I get the data, I map those values to my Airtable database, so I can track all my past runs and keep a history of the weather data.

WORKFLOW

Airtable Database

What's next?

Building more AI agents not because it’s innovative or world-changing, but because I genuinely want to work with real clients.
The weird part isn’t that I’m doing it ,the weird part is that I’m actually enjoying it. My peaceful life of endlessly scrolling until my eyes hurt is experiencing serious FOMO but somehow, this chaos feels....better.

Who knows where this leads, but at least it’s not boring.

See you TOMORROW la!

Day 0 : Documentation for My Future Self

Sima Rai — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 19:31:12 +0000

This blog marks the start of my journey to track my growth. I want to document my learning, struggles and mindset shifts.

I have realized it's easy to consume tutorials passively but real growth comes from reflecting and applying.
Lately i've been checking out way too many things . It's not because I have unlimited time- it's the opposite. I don't have time to fail, so every opportunity feels urgent.

The Juggling Act:

1.DSA
2.AI Agent Building via n8n
3.Final Year Project

How do you deal with that tension between planning and just starting?
See you TOMORROW la!