My journey with WordPress started at the 2015 Mumbai WordPress meetup — one I attended with some hesitation back in 2014. At that time my understanding of WordPress was limited. The experience turned out to be transformative.
13 Llama eventually adopted WordPress as its primary technology stack after experimenting with various frameworks. Having found WP, it really did feel like home.
A Decade Later
Over the years the WordPress community in Mumbai developed steadily, with certain members becoming consistent leaders. Some work directly with WordPress professionally; others just use it to build interesting things.
After closing 13 Llama’s development operations I stepped back from active WordPress involvement, focusing on Homeville, where I implemented WordPress as a headless CMS. That experience convinced me headless architectures offer significant advantages for product organisations that need to move fast without being tied to a specific frontend.
The Event
Following the pandemic’s long disruption, the Mumbai WordPress community finally organised WordCamp 2023. Reconnecting with familiar faces after nearly a decade felt genuinely rewarding.
I presented on headless CMS implementations and was surprised by the level of interest — the topic remains less understood than I expected, even among experienced WordPress professionals. Apparently there is still a lot of ground to cover.
Beyond my own talk, I attended sessions covering template parts, custom templates, WordPress contribution methods, public speaking, and India’s DPDP Act — a mix that reflects how broadly the WordPress community thinks about its role.