The big picture

As a lead software engineer at Grab Bangalore, Arnav is passionate about challenging himself to work on large scale projects. His other passion in life is a little more analog. In his blog he explains how he balances the two.

Face it, nobody dreams of becoming a software engineer to end up doing small scale things that probably won’t make a difference to anybody’s life. At least I didn’t! That was one of the things that attracted me to Grab. The kind of work that we do at Grab, the pure scale of it, the impact that it has on real people’s lives, that’s very rare. So when you get that opportunity it’s amazing to be able to take it on and make it happen.

I knew a little about Grab before I joined, but not a whole lot to be honest. But I knew that it had a clear vision of taking Southeast Asia forward and doing it in its own unique way. I admired the sheer belief of the company and have been watching it grow and grow every day. It starts with ‘We should do this’ then becomes ‘Can we do this?’ then ‘We’re doing this!’. I won’t lie, it’s a bit of a thrill!

Right from the very beginning, I noticed that we are encouraged to be spontaneous. What that does is give you a sense of autonomy that, in my experience, is very rare. You’re immediately treated as a valuable member of the team, somebody not just with something to say, but with something to contribute. Which means that everybody does. And everybody works hard at it, but not to the point of obsession, not to the point that it takes over your life beyond Grab.

Which is great, because it gives you enough time to explore your other passions and for me that’s photography. Since picking up a camera about ten years ago I’ve loved taking pictures of people I come across. There are parallels with what I do in work. People’s faces are constantly moving and shifting, new expressions, a split second in pressing the shutter release can make all the difference. That’s the same with work at Grab, you can see the opportunity and, well, grab it right away and you’re left with something beautiful and unique!

I’ve brought my passion for photography to work as well, becoming something of an unofficial photographer for Grab in Bangalore. I think that says a lot about the place. They’re interested in you not just for what you do but for who you are and if you can bring the best of yourself everyday, then you never know what opportunities you’re going to find yourself presented with.

It’s that perfect combination of focus and balance – just like all the best portraits!