Slack Conversation
Mystifly:Hey Nithin, Congratulations! You have been selected as the Mystian of the Month for April 2018. We’d love to feature your story onour blog. Can we catch up sometime this week?
Nithin: Hi, thanks for considering me. But, I don’t think I am the right candidate for this honour.
Our Mystian of the Month, does not just talk the talk, he lives it. While he usually lets his work speak for him, we managed to catch up with the kind and humble, Nithin KR. Here’s his story:
1. What was it like growing up? Take us back to your roots...
Born to humble parents in Kannur, I spent my early childhood in KGF, Kolar. Bred in a small colony of BEML employees, we lived as a close-knit family. Of course, there was the infamous Malayalee Colony, that’s where Rajeev Kumar (Mystifly’s CEO) and I spent most of our time. We were more than just neighbours. As childhood friends, our families often interacted and kept in touch. Coincidentally, I completed my Computer Science Engineering from Golden Valley Institute of Technology, the same college from where Rajeev graduated.
Looking back, maybe I was born and brought up at the right place at the right time… Or, maybe I was always destined to be a Mystian… You decide.
2. How did it all begin with the Mystifamily?
Soon after my graduation, I went on a job-hunting spree for three years. After a short stint at an IT firm for nearly two years, Rajeev offered me an opportunity at Mystifly. I joined Mystifly as a Database Engineer (DB) on the 3rd of January 2011. Employee No: 65, I was a one-man DB team directly reporting to Jagat, the then CPO.
Mystifly didn’t restrict me to a mere designation and that was the biggest advantage. It gave me a ton of exposure, offered an abundance of possibilities, and threw challenges at me that kept me intrigued.
3. How has your journeyat Mystifly been so far?
The journey so far has been phenomenal. In my tenure of 7.5 years, I spent most of my time in office. Mystifly has become my second home, a family away from family. It gave me the opportunity to spread my wings and develop my skills in various fields. Over a period, I moved on from Database Administration to Cloud Administration, took up several roles that the company required and tried my hand at nearly everything in the Tech Team. In fact, the only thing I haven’t tried yet in the Tech Team is Software Development.
4. What does a day in the life of Nithin KR look like?
I wake up with the sun at 6.00 a.m. hoping to hit the gym, but that never works out. I spend my mornings with my family especially with my little daughter, Sanskrithi. After a little father-daughter time, I plan my day ahead. Besides the two-hour ride to office, I spend most of my quality time at work. Once home, I relax and spend the night with my family. After a quick check on work, I hit the sack and call it a night.
5. Mysti-Shout outs?
Of course! A huge shout out goes to Rajeev, for giving me this opportunity. One of the major reasons that kept me here at Mystifly for this long is the encouragement I have received from him and my colleagues. The team is super supportive, be it the manager or the subordinates. The leadership team always lends a listening ear to my queries and opinions.
Special mention goes to Rajeev MV and Jagat, my former leads who entrusted me with larger roles and responsibilities and pushed me beyond my capabilities. From day one, Preetham has been my mentor. He’s very cool. He’s more like a brother than a manager, I’m very comfortable around him, so much so that we often converse in Malayalam in the office.
6. Your Ups and Downs?
Keeping the system stable during the world’s biggest online shopping day – Double 11 sale, was certainly a highlight moment for me at Mystifly. We were doing a regular 40 RPS at that time and to be able to manage the system at 100 RPS was an achievement of sorts for me as well as the team.
The most challenging time for me at Mystifly was when we migrated from Softlayer to Azure Cloud Service. Back then it was a challenge to keep the system stable, the response was slow and searches that take us 20 seconds now used to take us a good 1-2 minutes back then. That period saw a lot of escalations and client complaints, but we overcame them and learned our lesson – never do things in a hurry!
7. Your pillars of support?
My pillar of support has always been my family. Coming from a typical middle-class set-up, they have struggled to get me to where I am today. My wife, Rachana Chandran, has been my backbone for the last four years. She steers the ship at home. My friends envy me, they often ask me how I’m this calm or never fight with anybody. Well, you need to ask my wife this, I hardly get into fights, I choose to stay mum. I love my wife. The way she manages our work-life balance inspires me.
Going back to my baby daughter after work is all I look forward to in life. After a hectic day’s work, the smile on her face means everything to me.
8. Who do you consider as your life exemplars?
There are two people who have greatly influenced my life. My father – his calmness and composure make him my role model. I’ve never seen him lose his temper, whatever be the situation, he takes his time, analyses and acts on it.
The other exemplar is right here in the office, you don’t have to go out looking for inspiration. Right from the early days, Rajeev used to be everybody’s inspiration in the Malayalee Colony. Every mother in the colony wanted their children to become like him. His accomplishments in life inspires me to give my fullest at whatever I do.
9. Your go-to mantra?
Hakuna Matata, which means no worries. Life will keep throwing challenges at you – embrace and overcome them. Live one day at a time and make life a masterpiece.
10. What does the future look like?
The roadmap at Mystifly looks bright. The change in the system means that there will be better clients and bigger teams. Personally, I will continue to focus on Cloud Infrastructure. There are new trends and technologies being introduced every day. Currently, Cloud Infra is big in the market and I would like to invest all my time and energy towards learning and mastering that field.
You’re a learner, seeker and more than everything, a good human being, Nithin. Keep smiling and spread the cheer at Mystifly.