From birth, till date 🙂 – this is my timeline!
| When | What | Really? |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Aug 1980 | Born | Named ‘Amit’ after Amitabh Bachchan (Yes, I am a big fan of Big B) |
| 1989 | Saw microcomputer in my school | The only air conditioned room and highly restricted area |
| 1992 | Dad bought my brother and me our first computer | Wipro 386 DX2. 4 MB RAM, 80 MB HDD. Cost: 1,20,000 INR along with TVS dot matrix printer |
| 1992-1996 | My brother Vineet learnt programming languages like C, C++ | I only played games. Wolf 3D, Prince of Persia, Syndicate – you name it, I played it |
| 1995 | Won “All India Camel Painting Contest”, First Prize | I did not paint, I sketched with 6B pencil (And I sketched Mahatma Gandhi) |
| 1996-1999 | I learnt C, C++, VB, SQL, FoxPro, etc | Joined Aptech, 3 yrs Diploma |
| 2000 | MCP, MCDBA, SQL Server 2000 | Started working part-time (did many more Microsoft Certifications. But all I was doing was fixing people’s broken computers, a hardware geek) |
| 2000-2002 | Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave, etc | Part-time web development, graphics, multimedia presentations, animations, etc. Performed live computer animation during school & college festivals in almost all schools of Calcutta. Built multimedia presentations for corporates. (In college circuit, I was already a geeky celebrity) |
| 2002 | Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) | First MCT of India |
| 2002 | Worked as a Trainer in Kathmandu | First exposure as a Trainer, came back to India in 3 months (don’t ask me why) |
| 2002 | Worked in Doha, Qatar at ExecuTrain | 2nd exposure as Trainer, came back to India in 3 months (don’t ask me why, again) |
| 2002-2003 | Built a decent-scale VB/.NET application for a friend’s company | Worked on COM/DCOM |
| 2003 | MCSD.NET Early Achiever | First in India |
| 2003-2004 | Applied with Infosys, Cognizant, Accenture, Wipro & many others | Rejected by all (don’s ask me, ask them) |
| 2004 | Selected by New Horizons India as a Trainer. Offered me INR 25000 per month. Job location Delhi | Upon reaching Delhi, New Horizons India changed their decision to pay only 15000 INR per month (probably they thought, that’s what I was worth of). I came back |
| 2004 | With my brother, floated & joined eDominer & Peopleware India | Now I work in the same company as a Director |
| 2004 | Worked extensively on .NET & SQL Server | Also ventured into sales/marketing |
| 2004 | XML training for Lexmark, Calcutta | First corporate delivery |
| 2004 | .NET Greenfield training for Accenture, Mumbai | Life changing experience |
| 2004-2005 | Training/consulting for multiple biggies (.NET & SQL) | The same biggies that rejected me (doesn’t it feel good?) |
| 2005 | SQL Server 2005 launch & Hands-On-Labs delivery for Microsoft India across India | Became vendors to Microsoft India |
| 2005-2006 | Training/consulting for multiple biggies continued… | Came across one Technical Lead who rejected me, now I was about to train his team 🙂 – times change! |
| 2007 | Selected as Hands-On-Labs proctor at TechEd North America 2007 | My first US visit, My first global TechEd |
| 2007 | Awarded as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional on SQL Server | Still holding the award |
| 2008 | Speaker at TechEd North America 2008 | First Time as a speaker at a global TechEd Watched Bill Gates Live, it was mesmerizing |
| 2008 | Speaker at TechEd Europe 2008 | First Time to Barcelona |
| 2008 | MVP Summit 2008 | First Visit to Microsoft Redmond Campus |
| 2008 | Part of SQL Server 2008 certification process | Visited the campus again, first visit to the Boeing Factory First & the only SQL MVP from India to participate in a Microsoft Certification Development process |
| 2009 | Speaker at TechEd India | It’s always a pleasure to be part of TechEd India |
| 2009 | MVP Summit again | Got a chance to speak to Steve Ballmer |
| 2010 | Launched SQLServerGeeks.com | 30+ authors, 40+ events, 1+ million page views per month |
| 2011 | TechEd India, TechReady Redmond | More and more conferences |
| 2011 | Junior AB born | |
| 2012 | Speaker at TechEd North America 2012 | Voted in Top 5 sessions in SQL Server category |
| 2013 | Speaker at TechEd Europe 2013 | Voted in Top 3 sessions in SQL Server Category |
| 2013 | Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server | Only SQL MCM in India (outside Microsoft) |
| 2014 | Speaker at TechEd North America 2014 | Voted in Top 10 speakers at TechEd overall at 4th slot, out of 650 sessions Voted in top slot in SQL Server Category |
| 2015 | SQLServerGeeks Annual Summit 2015 | Asia’s First SQL Conference. A massive debut. A game changer. Many had written this off even before the debut, but it turned out to be a blockbuster. |
| 2015 | Microsoft Regional Director (Hon) | Bestowed by Microsoft Corporation, a highly coveted status, for demonstrating unmatched technical expertise, community influence and business acumen – heavy words for me! |
| 2015 | Speaker at PASS Summit | World’s biggest Data/SQL/Analytics conference focusing on Microsoft Data Platform. Happens every year in Seattle. |
| 2015 | Speaker at Microsoft Ignite. | TechEd renamed to Ignite. First year of Ignite and I was a speaker :). At Orlando, Florida. |
| 2016 | SQLServerGeeks Annual Summit 2016 | The second edition of Asia’s Only SQL Conference. Bigger. Better. |
| 2017 | Speaker at PASS Summit | Seattle |
| 2017 | Speaker at MS Ignite | Orlando |
| 2017 | Speaker at SQLBits | After a long gap. At Telford, England. |
| 2017 | DataPlatformGeeks Community launched. SQLServerGeeks Annual Summit renamed to Data Platform Summit. | Things change with changing times… |
| 2017 | Data Platform Summit 2017 | Third edition. Inaugurated by Karnataka IT Minister, Shri Priyank Kharge. |
| 2018 | Microsoft Regional Director | Second Term |
| 2018 | SQL Saturday Event | New Zealand |
| 2018 | SQL Saturday Event | Australia |
| 2018 | Data Platform Summit 2018 | Fourth Edition. At Radisson Blu. Bangalore. DPS elevated to a completely new level. |
| 2018 | SQL Saturday Event | Singapore |
| 2018 | SQL Saturday Event, Denmark | Happens to be the Biggest Pre-Con (in-terms of attendance) in the history of SQL Saturday Denmark |
| 2019 | Speaker at Difinity Conference, New Zealand | Pre-Con & Couple of Sessions |
| 2019 | SQL Saturday Event | New Zealand |
| 2019 | Speaker at SQLBits | This time Pre-Con too 🙂 |
| 2004-Till Date | Consulting, Training, Content Development, SQL Support, SQL projects, POCs. | Travelled the length & breadth of the globe and depth of India 🙂 120+ customers, 500+ assignments Cognizant, Infosys, Accenture, Wipro are now my esteemed clients 🙂 |
Some Highlights:
Only MVP from India to feature at 6 global TechEDs as a speaker
Only MVP from India to feature in Top 10 TechEd
Only SQL MCM in India (outside Microsoft)
First Microsoft Certified Trainer in India
Only SQL MVP from India to participate in SQL certification development process
Top-rated speaker at TechEd NA 2012, TechEd Europe 2013, TechEd NA 2014
1+ million pages views for SQLServerGeeks.com per month
Amazing achievements!
You are an inspiration for generations to come
Looks like a perfect script 🙂
I envy you and I am sure I am not the only one 🙂
I am glad we have you train our people
Feel privileged to attend your session
You leave a mark wherever you go, I remember I attended your teched session in Orlando and it was one of the finest session I ever attended, thanks!
Truly inspiring. You laid the path which many will follow. Awesome achievements Amit.
Proud to have known you!
Amit I was amazed with your life story. I was so nice to see all those who rejected you are depending on your training. You are one of the best speakers on SQL I have ever seen. Thanks a ton.