As a person who’s been living here for 3 years. Here’s the gist of what i truly feel about this city. Lets start with the place that welcomes you and bids you farewell👋.

RAILWAYS🛤️

Chennai Central, Hmm… what should I even write about this place? That even though it’s huge and filled with people from everywhere, 24/7, it still manages to stay clean? Or that it connects you to almost every corner of the city? Or that it has one of the most functional, hygienic, and classy underground metro systems? Or that it offers some of the most affordable local trains, covering all the well known areas like Chepauk, Velachery, Tidel Park and more? Or maybe that it truly lives up to the name “Greater Chennai”?

And the list just goes on…

CLIMATE🌦️

People say Chennai is too hot to handle and maybe that’s true. But so are the people here, warm in a way no weather can explain.
You know what? Chennai doesn’t believe in being a mediocre. It lives in extremes, as if being ordinary was never an option.

When the sun decides to show up, it doesn’t just shine it just takes over completely. You’ll be drenched in sweat before you know it. SPF, scarf, umbrella. Nah bro, who are they? But right when you step into a bus, and suddenly, it feels like heaven. Most buses have AC, and the prices are surprisingly reasonable.

When it rains, you might need a boat to travel😉, because water is everywhere. Umbrella, raincoat.. still not enough. Wait, staying at home might help, though🤔. But if you find yourself along ECR during this time, pause for a moment. Because there, rain becomes something else, something beautiful❤️.
The rain falls elegantly on the beautifully built, squeaky clean tar road, bouncing back in tiny sprinkles. The long palm trees, standing there longer than memory itself, sway gently to the rhythm of the cold breeze. And all of this unfolds right beside the beach, making the whole scene deeply satisfying to watch, like a beautiful woman dancing gracefully in the rain.

You might wonder why there’s no discussion about winter.
Winter? What is that? Is it even a season? How does it feel? Chennai wouldn’t know.

CULTURE

You know what? Chennai always feels like home.(just with people speaking a different language😁) because, chennai and its people are so culturally rooted, that’s why everything here feels familiar. You’ll find at least one temple in every street, sometimes two in a single street though (like the street is making sure your prayers don’t miss attendance🤞) and that “flower fever”🌼 is very real. When you step out, the most common sight is women with flowers in their hair and men in lungis (dhotis), just like back in my native. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why this city feels like home.

Even though the city has developed so much with metro lines, tech parks, food streets, and IT companies. It won’t make you feel like you don’t belong here even if you come from a village. I think Chennai is one of the few places where you can experience both urban and rural lifestyles in the same city, sometimes just in different streets like one turn gives you glass buildings 🏢and the next turn takes you straight back to simplicity.

MUST EXPERIENCE

• Chepauk Stadium and its surroundings, especially during the IPL season. You don’t have to be inside the stadium to experience the vibe like in other places. Standing outside the gates itself is more than enough here. You’ll get to experience the THALA FEVER. The only color you’ll see is yellow across the streets. It feels like you’ve entered a mango farm in peak season, where trees are filled with fully ripened mangoes, yellow fruits in the midst of green leaves. That’s exactly how it feels.
• Marina Beach and the walk from Chepauk to the beach. It feels lively to see families everywhere. Kids playing and running around, a never ending row of shops. It almost feels like those shops are connected to another beach right after Marina, that’s how long the stretch is. The nights at Marina feel surreal. If you prefer cleaner beaches with less crowd and a more pleasant environment, you should try Besant Nagar Beach or Blue Flag Beach.
• Ahh, the last one. It’s not in Chennai, but if you get a chance, you shouldn’t miss visiting Madurai Meenakshi amman Temple. The place looks divinely beautiful, and for someone who has watched Arjun (Telugu film), the temple visit will definitely feel special.

FOOD
- Kalan chat
- Karupatti coffee
- Biriyani. (Don’t eat it expecting it to taste like what you have in your native. If you want to try something different, give it a try.)
- Spring potatoes at the beaches
- Chicken rice (My personal favorite, I like this more than biriyani here)
- Last but not least, Sambar. As a south Indian every dish that has made with dal is already special. But chennai’s sambar hits different, its insanely tasty. (That said, as a hostelite, eating it every single day… let’s just say even love needs a little break sometimes.)

And Finally,
If you ask me Did I ever regret choosing this city? Yes I did, sometimes. But, if you ask me If would go back and choose it again? I would. because this place has given me so much that i cant explain in a single blog.
I’ve met some wonderful people and made some good friendships. I had learnt to find peace in being alone and doing things on my own.

Thats it, Thank you for reading till the end.

— Divya Lochana…❤

Thank you for being kind, especially when I wasn’t kind to myself.

Across all the years of my life, you stood out in ways I never expected. Because of you, I met a new version of myself. Not someone completely different. I’m still the same person, but the fear that once stopped me from believing has faded. I’ve become a little more confident now. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this feeling before. A heart filled with gratitude, not for just one thing, but for where I am and who I am in this exact moment.

When I look back, this year feels like it had two distinct halves, the first half was full of confusion, risks, self-doubt, rejections, setbacks, and even failures.

And the second half? It was full of surprises, acceptance, confidence, reassurance, and some beautiful wins. If someone had told my “April self” that this is where I would stand today, feeling what I’m feeling now, she would’ve laughed and called them crazy for talking nonsense.

Let me tell you about the tiniest things that ended up meaning so much…

Earlier, I used to go to the office by walk since it was just a 20–25 minute distance. On days I felt too tired, I’d take a rapido. And every time I saw office cabs or vans picking up or dropping off people, I vividly remember that girl who wondered, “Will these things ever happen to me?” It wasn’t about lacking anything. It was just a small, unspoken wish. A tiny feeling I didn’t know how to express.
And cut to today, I go to the office exactly the way I once dreamt of. Every time I board that vehicle, a tiny smile appears on my face because I realize that today I have something I once quietly wished for. And this is just one moment out of so many.

Yesterday, while returning from the office, I heard a few lines from a song and I couldn’t relate more. Here’s how it goes…

Mundhugane theliyadhuga
Asalu sisalu brathuku nadakaa
Samayamu kadhaladhuga
Appudo ippudo kalatha kanupapanantaka
Anubhavaala prathipaatam
Jariginaake kanugontaam
Sare kaani anukuntaam ..haa

Etugaa velithe em dhorukuthundhani
thelupani jevitham
Thanathopaatu thalavanchi kadhilithe
panchadha amrutham

In that moment, it felt like these lines were written for my year. For everything I feared, everything I waited for and everything that finally unfolded only when it was meant to.

And now, I want to save the most special part for last since i’ve always had this tendency to keep my favourite things for the last, whether it’s eating my favourite piece of food or talking about something close to my heart. So, last but not least…

Dear Lord,
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you for being kind, as you have always been, and for opening a space where I could pour out everything without ever feeling judged.

Thank you…
Not just for the times I danced to joyful music with my whole heart, but also for the times I sat quietly, staring at the sky while listening to motivational songs.

Not just for the moments I laughed with the people I love, forgetting everything for a while, but also for the moments I spoke to no one, just me and my thoughts.

Not just for the ability to do the things I love and be with people I cherish, but also for the things I couldn’t finish and the people I had to leave behind.

Not just for the days filled with satisfaction, appreciation, and peace, but also for the days when these emotions felt too far away to reach.

Dear 2026, I’m not sure what you are bringing along, and that’s completely okay with me. I just hope you’ll be kind too…

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Thank you so much for spending a few minutes.

Read Part 1

These are the technical topics that were frequently covered in my interviews — along with a few example questions that were actually asked to me:

Technical

• Constructor & Destructor : This one’s not just about theory. Interviewers often go beyond the basic definitions and expect you to explain how they work practically — sometimes by writing code, and sometimes by debugging a snippet they provide.
   — Virtual constructor and destructor.
   — Write a working code by following 3/5/0 rule.
• Inheritance and polymorphism
   — Method Overloading : How do C and C++ handle it differently?
   — Method Overriding : Which function gets called when a base class pointer points to a derived class object?
   — Multiple inheritance :
  Lets say, A is the base class and B and C are two classes that inherit from A. Now D is another class that inherits from both B and C. Do you see any problem here? If yes, how do you resolve it? (I was asked to explain this with a working code example!)
• Synchronization Mechanisms in Multi threading
   — Questions around race conditions, condition variables, deadlocks, and thread lifecycles.
   — What problems can arise while working with threads?
   — How would you resolve shared resource conflicts?

Lets move to Coding!
What I’d suggest is: keep your basics strong by solving array and string problems. That gives you way more understanding than jumping blindly into hundreds of random questions.

Yes, trees and graphs are also important, but if you can confidently solve array and string problems, trust me — half the battle is already won.
 — Write a program to print the smallest positive number that is not present in the array.
 — Delete the nth node from linked list.
 — Given an array of n digit numbers, count how many numbers have consecutive repeated digits.

Non-Technical

Questions related to previous work experience:

I must say, this is the most essential part of the interview. Be very confident about each and every point you mention in the experience section — lots and lots of questions will boom in!

For my case, I’d heard that having percentages in your work experience section increases the chances of your resume getting shortlisted. So, I included some good percentages in that section. And here comes the plot twist — in one of my interviews, the interviewer asked how I came up with those percentage numbers and on what criteria. Funny, right? (haha) But not really 😅 So, make sure you have a valid explanation for everything you put in!

That’s all for now! I hope you found something useful here, and I’ll be really glad even if this helps just one person.
Good luck with all your upcoming interviews. You’ve got this!
Cheering for you all 🤍✨

Feel free to drop your experiences or questions in the comments — I’d love to hear from you!

— Divya Lochana | C/C++ Dev.

view on linkedIn

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by!

I recently went through several interviews while making my first switch from a service-based company to a product-based company. With ~3 years of experience in C/C++, I noticed that no matter the company, some topics kept repeating again and again.

I know there are plenty of resources already out there, but I thought of sharing the topics that were consistently asked in my interviews for 2–3 years experienced roles. Hopefully, this helps anyone who’s preparing for a similar journey.

• Memory Management — dynamic memory, memory layout, storage classes, stack vs heap, memory leaks, and how to prevent them. Understanding how it works under the hood is not just important — its essential.
• Variables — different types of variables and where they are stored.
• Pointers — raw vs. smart pointers, and tricky cases like dangling, wild, or null pointers.
• File system calls — e.g., fopen vs popen vs open and fstream.
• Scope Resolution Operator — and why it matters.
• Structures vs Classes — the key differences.
• Constructors & Destructors — includes copy, move and virtual with their real-world usage.
• Copy operations — shallow copy vs deep copy and rule of 3/5/0.
• Move semantics — rvalue references, std::move and performance optimization through moves instead of copies.
• OOP Concepts
• Virtual Functions — understanding vtable concept is must.
• STL Containers — working differences with their complexities.
• Internal working of STL containers — e.g., map vs unordered_map.
• Debugging methods — how to trace memory crashes or leaks.
• C Arrays vs C++ Vectors
• Exception Handling
• Lambda Functions
• Templates
• Multithreading

Topics like OOP and Multithreading are very vast and deserve their own space. I’ll cover them in detail (along with some frequently asked interview questions) in my next post. Stay tuned!