Hey there! Welcome to my site. I’m Karthik, a fellow stardust, who loves creating things that make me feel alive. I spend my time exploring writing, design, music production, and dreams (I’m a frequent lucid dreamer).
Origins
I grew up in a small town near Coimbatore, Annur, with the magic of 90s like Shaktimaan, Captain Vyom, Tinkle, Amar Chitra Katha, Rani Comics, Siruvarmalar, and nailbiting gully cricket around the town. I draw my strength from my late mom and late wife, my dad, and best friends.
Things I love
My favourite genres to consume (and create) are science-fiction, neo-noir, humour, comedy, and fantasy. I’ve independently self-published a science fiction drama novel called Dischafer (pronounced di-shah-fur) in 2015, and released a revised second edition in 2020.
Besides writing, I love physics, engineering, and the metaphysics of dreams. I have a degree in aeronautical engineering and I enjoy conceptual designing. I’m also a self-taught coder and I love combining these curiosities into helping myself and others learn and smile. Here are some of my projects:
- Geekswipe - A science and tech community that I built. I answer the internet’s most curious questions here. A humble and honourable brag - SciShow cited one of my articles as a source for their video.
- Swyde - World’s first wiki with FAQs. Had over 200 users contributing over 500 wikis. It was fun while it lasted. Pivoting to something else right now.
- WTF Dictionary - A crowdsourced dictionary of honest definitions of everyday terms from life, work, and everything in between. It’s something that I made to channel my work stress.
- Arclind - A company that I founded to experiment with community tools. Under this banner, I’ve created a free crash course platform called Mindspace that got featured in the top 5 on product hunt.
- Discuss - A self-hosted discussion engine for static sites. The one you see on this site. (WIP)
- Lucid - This website you’re reading right now. (WIP)
Things I am open to
- Product collaborations.
- Collaborations on studies related to grieving individuals.
My career
By day, I’m a product builder. I enjoy making products! I previously worked as a software and product developer at Mango Education, an ed-tech startup. Then, as a product manager at Togoparts, a virtual events and marketplace company. Currently, I’m a senior product manager at Signeasy, leading API and developer experience along with expansions.
Thanks for being curious! I’m always open to hear about interesting things, collabs, or product ideas you have. Click any of the following buttons in case you’d like to say hello.