Meeting location was E2E Networks office

It's a saturday and it's raining. When the whole city is drowning, i am scaling the seas to reach pyDelhi at my own office. Yes, i am an employee at E2E Networks and i was recommended to attend pyDelhi by a senior at the company who is also an active member of the pyDelhi community.

As a young lone wolf passionate about software development, i could never register the idea of random people meeting with a common love - Python. Never the less, i did make it to the event. I see that the space is already packed with people with eyes glimmering. Glimmering with a sense of pride to be associated with the collective enthusiasm towards building something awesome using Python.

I occupy a backseat, waiting for the first talk. A few minutes and some introductions down the line, it starts. It's a talk on Django Rest Framework and how to do CRUD APIs in 20 mins. An honest tech me is not thrilled being an active django developer but then i realise that it is being delivered by a college student. It slowly sinks in that even the audience has many college students. Fair enough, says the skeptic me, this event sure is beneficial to college students. Now the professional me is questioning the utility.

Soon after, my senior delivers an awesome talk on django on day 500. It is not technical detail but philosophy regarding end delivery when both application and the team size grow. It captures me. I want to shout out that i relate but i hold. As the talk concludes, professional me feels content. The thought provoking nature of the talk has enriched me somehow. A skeptic is not so skeptic anymore. But am i owned?, certainly not.

It's time for flash talks. Well what? Anybody can come up and speak about anything for 10 mins. That's strangely empowering. I do question the volunteers again, anything at all you say? The reply is a yes. So i commit to delivering one.

My talk is to follow after another talk on how to contribute to open source. It is a good talk and an anxious me has listened to it quite thoroughly. Anxious, because the talk i propose is something that is close to my heart. It is my startup idea that i had pursued quite passionately for 2 years of my college life. As my thoughts about contributing to open source and my own talk muddle together, it is already time for me to take the podium. I don't even realise that another talk has taken place which is about the success stories of python.

I connect the HDMI and i put up the pitch deck on the 55 inch display. As soon as i see it, i am lost in nostalagia. I deliver the same pitch i had through and through to an audience who is looking hopeful to hear something enriching. Questions are raised, answers are given and it concludes in an applaud from everyone in the room. To get a platform to share my journey is enchanting. The skeptic me is melting at this point. The believer has arisen.

pyDelhi is not only a platform for a display of tech interests but a platform that empowers you. It provides you a platform to meet like-minded people, find a job or find people to hire. Maybe you'll find a startup idea or a founder to kickstart your own. But you will most certainly find belief in how community can enrich you. So, my fellow reader, i hope to see you at the next.