I never planned to be in tech.
Growing up in Mumbai, I loved acting. Directing. Theatre. That was my life. Tech wasn't even on my radar.
Then my brother moved out and left behind his computer. Out of curiosity, I started tinkering. And something clicked. Not "oh this is cool" clicked. More like "wait... I actually love this."
My professors noticed and encouraged me to switch fields, from business school to science degree in IT.
Graduating Into Nothing
I graduated right into a recession. No jobs. Like, no jobs.
I was lucky to land one. It put me into an R&D group working on clouds. This was 2009. Cloud computing was still viewed with a lot of skepticism in India. Senior folks stayed away from it. But I saw the potential and dived in.
"Get Married First."
In 2013, I was 25. AWS was hiring in Cape Town, South Africa.
The first thing I was told?
Get married first. You can't go alone.
In my culture, women don't just move to another continent by themselves. You go from your parents' house to your husband's. Moving abroad alone wasn't even a question.
But I couldn't let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I fought.
I begged.
And I joined AWS, the company I'd been reading blogs from, attending webinars from, and learning from for years.
I landed in Cape Town as a Cloud Support Engineer with two suitcases and knowing exactly one person there: the HR representative who hired me.
Over the next decade, I grew through multiple roles across continents, including becoming a Solutions Architect supporting customers throughout Asia.
Finding Community on Weekends
The part I loved most wasn't in the meeting rooms.
I'd go to meetups on weekends. Talk to people. Answer questions. Share what I was learning. I started writing blogs, creating videos. I helped grow AWS User Groups across South Asia. I spoke at large-scale events throughout the region.
Nobody asked me to do those things.
I just loved helping people understand something that felt difficult.
And community gave back. Those meetups gave me confidence. Mentors. Friendships and opportunities I never would have found alone.
The Role That Was Meant for Me
When the opportunity came to become a Developer Advocate, I couldn't say no.
Everything I'd been doing on evenings and weekends had been pointing in that direction all along. All those meetups weren't a side hustle. They were a signal. My career was telling me where I belonged before I had the title to match.
Coming Back and Learning Out Loud
Then I went on maternity leave. When I came back, the world had changed. AI was the topic. And despite 15 years in the industry, I felt left behind.
So I started a series called Learning AI Out Loud. Just sharing what I was learning, what broke, and what I'd figured out.
And community responded. They welcomed me back and told me it made them feel less alone.
A pause is not a full stop. Your timeline isn't behind. It's just yours.
I Did End Up on Stage
If you're reading this in the middle of your own storm... wondering whether the break you took, the detour you made, or the time that passed has cost you your future...
It hasn't.
I went from a girl in Mumbai with an uncertain future to representing one of the biggest technology companies in the world. I've lived and worked across continents, built communities, spoken on stages, created content, and helped thousands of developers along the way.
None of it happened according to plan.
The funny thing is, I did end up on stage after all. Just not the one I expected.
💜
Top comments (10)
If you're reading this in the middle of your own storm... wondering whether the break you took, the detour you made, or the time that passed has cost you everything...
It hasn't.
The road you're building by walking? Someone else is going to need it someday. Keep going. 💜
Really inspiring post Rohini!
Thank you Jess!!! 💜
I really hope it inspires atleast one person to trust in themselves and keep doing amazing things!
The detour is not something you overcome, it is where the range comes from. Theatre, a recession start, years of unpaid community work: a straight-line CS grad walks in with none of it, and that is exactly the edge. The work you do when nobody is paying is the most honest signal of fit there is. The title just confirms it late.
The part that stopped me wasn't the Cape Town decision, it was the maternity
leave part. Fifteen years in, Developer Advocate at AWS, and you still came back
feeling behind. I'm a freelancer in Indonesia building small systems for local
businesses, and I assume that feeling is because I'm small and self-taught.
Turns out it doesn't go away with a title. That's oddly reassuring.
Your answer to Mia about English not being your first language landed too. I
write in Indonesian mostly, and I've been treating my English as the thing
holding me back from talking to people here. Maybe the simplicity isn't the
handicap.
Thanks for writing this one.
Appreciate your comment! I have huge respect for freelancers, however small you think your work is. Putting yourself out there like this, and working hard is not easy!
Lots of people with decades of experience are struggling right now, we all have same fears, some are just better at hiding them. Imposter syndrome hits us all at some point in our lives!
So true, simplicity is not the handicap, its a skill! Let's stop shrinking ourselves!
Such an inspiring story! How do you feel your background in theatre and acting shaped the way you present and communicate complex tech concepts today as a Developer Advocate?
Thank you Mia!
First of all, no stage fear! Lot of folks I know who are genius and definitely smarter than me are scared to speak in front of people. For me, I already had overcome that early on, embarrassed myself on public stage and lived! So, I dont worry about that. I always worried about my content more, than standing in front of people.
Secondly, I am not shy of using my hands, or expressions while being on stage, it helps story telling.
Early on I used to be worried that English not being my first language puts me at a disadvantage, because I dont use superior complex words.
But a colleague helped me understand, that the world needs simplicity. Thats the job of presenting to public, making complex concepts simple and easy to understand! So, I just applied my skills to tech!
good
Thank you so much for this post!