Abhi Mitra

After months of muscle memory — opening a new tab, typing into that familiar white box — I finally did it. I cancelled my ChatGPT subscription. Not out of frustration, not because of some dramatic failure, but simply because something better came along. That something is Claude. The switch wasn't impulsive. I'd been using Claude on the side for a while, curious but not fully committed. Then, slowly, I noticed something: I was ending up on Claude more and more for the things that actually mattered to me — long pieces of writing, nuanced discussions, tasks that needed careful thinking rather than fast answers. 

When nations race to own the future, can an ancient Indian idea be the missing framework? A few weeks ago I was debugging a smart contract late at night — the kind of session where you forget time exists. But something kept nagging at me beyond the code. The news feed was full of stories about semiconductor export bans, AI chip restrictions, undersea cable disputes, and countries racing to wall off their digital borders. And here I was, building on a blockchain network that by design belongs to no one and everyone. The contrast hit hard. The technology we build is increasingly borderless. The politics governing it is increasingly territorial. And somewhere in that gap lives one of the most important questions of our generation: who owns the future, and who gets left out? Vasudeva Kutumbakam - a Sanskrit phrase from the Maha Upanishad - translates as "the world is one family." It is not a soft platitude. It is a philosophical assertion that the boundaries we draw between us an...

  I just got back from IGDC 2025 and wow, it was epic. IGDC (India Game Developer Conference) 5-7 November is the country’s premier event for game creators and industry pros, and this year it brought everyone together in Chennai. I hung out with designers, programmers, artists, animators and the whole creative crew. Gamers, content creators and developers were everywhere – it felt like a huge community reunion. It was so cool catching up with old friends and making new ones in our gamer/dev squad.  Key Takeaways IGDC was packed with talks and booths, but the biggest moments were the aha’s that I jotted down. Here are my top learnings from the conference: Gaming = Mainstream Career: No doubt, gaming and game dev have blown up into a legit career path now. Industry reports back this up – for example, Meta’s India lead said the gaming market is set to be worth nearly $7.5 billion and create 250,000 new jobs by 2025. As one expert put it, “Gaming is no longer niche. It is mainstre...

When you start your journey in Computer Science — whether as a first-year student just opening your first “Hello World” file, or as a final-year student applying for jobs — one question always lingers: “Should I explore everything a little or master one thing deeply?” This is the classic Breadth vs Depth dilemma. And the truth is — both paths have their place, depending on where you are in your journey. Let’s unpack this. Stage 1: The Explorer Phase (1st–2nd Year) — Go Broad At the start, your goal should be exploration. This is when you taste different domains like- web development, game design, AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, cloud, AR/VR, and so on. Here’s why breadth matters early on: You’ll discover your natural interests instead of just following trends. You’ll understand how different technologies connect — for example, how backend APIs power games or how data structures are used in AI. You’ll build a mental map of the tech ecosystem, which helps you talk intelligently in intervi...

Picture a yoga mat unfurling alongside a dual-monitor setup. You stretch into Balasana , the Child’s Pose, and exhale. That tension in your neck, the lines around your eyes from too many Slack pings—they melt. I’m Abhi Mitra—a software developer weaving blockchain logic and gaming loops by day and rooted in asanas by sunrise. In the digital labyrinth of algorithms and Agile boards, our minds often ping every bit of stress, burnout, and inner unrest. That’s why mental health isn’t a sidebar—it’s the very architecture of well-being. Why mental health matters—especially for tech folks The numbers get uncomfortably real: Over half of tech professionals— around 52% —report experiencing depression or anxiety Talkspace for Business Zevo Health . A staggering 62%  feel physically and emotionally drained after a workday; 42% of them are flirting with quitting soon WebMD Health Servicesnetcomtraining.co.uk . Productivity stumbles too: 71%  say mental health struggles dent their output, ...