Becoming a Technical Leader

Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach

the book by Gerald M WeinBerg , i have been reading, borrowed from office library
This is my second book from Gerry , and he does not disappoint me again .

In Short , The Book Rocks ......... ! This would change the way you look at what Leadership is all about ,

If you are one of those Technical Problem-Solving Leaders ( or wannabes )

This is one of the books You Should OWN it

If you are in india and want to buy this book , check this for best price

Statement of Purpose

Although not many knew i wanted to do doctoral program ( Yes Indeed i wanted and applied for 28 Universities all over Europe and Canada ). By now i got rejection mail from the last university too .

The point i want to make here is not that my application got rejected , The point is what i wrote in my statement of purpose , Yes the very statement why i wanted to do a doctoral program .

Any way who wants to copy some one's SOP whose application got rejected .

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Statement of Purpose – Sashank Dara

After a good academic track record and six years of exceptional industrial experience my thirst for creating more meaningful products which have an impact on masses of the mankind is not satisfied .


I have strong passion for researching and creating products which make an impact on this world , which can change the way people live , for much better world , for much better economy.

In my honest opinion , either Industry or Academia should thrive for such research ,
should work for such products which would make a difference in this world.
Unfortunately I sense there is a gap between industry and academia , most of the products produced by industry perish or don't make sense because of lack of research and most of academic research does not impact human life as there is lesser chance to make a meaningful product out of them and i want to do my part to bridge such gap.
I have strong passion for solving problems , real problems which can change the way we live ,in this age of computers and communications, there is not a problem that can be solved which can bring such change. At the same time , a strong passion in creating products of such solutions .

Coming to my interests in Doctoral Thesis I have chosen ,

1. Algorithms and CS theory , A real world application of a well researched algorithm
can have huge impact on our daily lives , it can be anything including economy , health or well optimized usage of our valuable available resources, It would be very challenging to do such research.

2. Networking wireless and Communications , Modern Days communications have
revolutionized the way we communicate , it reduced the distance between people at the
same time it complicated our relations too . So well researched networking application should add to the well being of such human relations, I would love to put my heart and soul in such research.

3. Security and cryptography , Its our responsibility , I mean computer science engineers responsibility to create more secure and meaningful applications , the world can bank on !

Its our soulful duty to save millions of people from the clutches of unending
vulnerabilities our computers have created in their day to day live , it can be their bank accounts or simply put their lives which is full of computers in one or the other form in their daily live . It would be definitely exciting to be part of such research . On a whole i think , i can put my research abilities and strong work experience to a proper use in such research which can create more meaningful Living on this planet !

On a long run , i would like to see myself as a Technology Evangelist and a Teacher , so that we can inspire and make more such research scientists required to make this world a better place to live in .

Idhaa Lokam Idhaa Lokam

ఇదా లొకం ..... ఇదా లొకం ....
ఇదా లొకం ..... ఇదా లొకం ....

అవినీతి కి పట్టంగట్టి ,
నీతి ని మడుగున పెట్టి ,
నిర్జీవమైనా జనంతొ ,
నిర్వీర్యమైనా యువతతొ ,


అవివెకం తొ విఙ్నానము పెంచి ,
వివెకమని దానిని తలచి ,
స్వర్గానికి నిచ్హెన వేయదలచి ,
నరకం లొ మునగ వచ్హి ,


నీ ధర్మం నువ్వు మరచి,
నీ స్వార్ధం నిన్ను వలచి ,
ఇతరుల తప్పులు పట్టి ,
భాధ్యతలు వదిలి పెట్టి,

ధౌర్జన్యం మకుటంగా ,
ధారిధ్రం రాజ్యంగా ,
శంతి ని విడనాడి ,
అశంతి కి అద్దంపట్టి ,


కనులు తెరుచు లొపు మానవ సంస్క్రుతి కనుమరుగు అవునెమొ అని అనిపించు ,
ఇదా లొకం , కావునా కనులు తెరిచి నదుచుకో , జీవన శైలీ మార్చుకో

These lines were written by me almost ten years ago but still hold good , things have not changed much

ninnindalee .. neevallanee ..

Here is a beautiful kannada song and here are its original lyrics .
This song inspired me to write the telugu version of it and here it is*

Nee Vallane Nee Vallanee kalalenno modalayanee ..
Nee vallane nee vallanee manasentho uppongenee ..

you inspire my dreams , you sway my heart

ee chinni hrudayamlo kolaahalam
naa edurochu chirunavvu nuvvu navvitee
aa chirunavvu chindinchu nee pedavilo
naa manasundi poyee .. nee vallanee ..

your little smile cause lot of excitement and
my heart got stuck in your lips that smile

thanuvanthaa jvaramoche ee rathirilo..
nuvvu haayigaa nidurinchu sari kaadu
kalalenno kuripinchu ee samayamlo,
nee kanulu mooyuta sari kaadhu

You got me fever in this crazy night , while its time for all the beautiful dreams
its not fair for you to sleep in peace.


ee maayalo ee haayeeloo
nee kalalanni modalayanee ..
in this strange euphoria , your inspire beautiful dreams

Nee vallane nee vallanee kalalenno modalayanee

pagalenti rathrenti rooju nenu ...
nee dhyaaasalonee gadipenu...
poolanni vikasinchu nee choopulatho..
naa meedhaa choopinchu nee karuna..

Every day and nite , I think of you ,
Flowers blossom with your sight , why dont you show some mercy on mee too , through such eyes.

Nee vallanee nee vallanee thanuvanthaa pulakinchene
Nee vallanee nee vallanee kalalenno modalayane


* Its not exact translation , i took a bit of creative liberty.

If -------

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

--- Rudyard Kipling

Are Your Lights On ?

Such a fantastic book on problem solving by Gerald M. Weinberg

Here are the gospels from it

A Problem is a difference between things as Desired and things as perceived

The funniest one ,

Don't bother trying to solve problems for people who don't have a sense of humor.

Don't mistake Solution method for a Problem definition - Especially if it's your own solution method.

If you solve their problem too readily , they'll never believe you've solved their real problem.

You can never be sure you have a correct problem definition , even after the problem is solved.

Don't leap to conclusions , But Don't ignore your first impression.

You can never be sure you have a correct problem definition , But don't ever stop trying to get one .

Each solution is the source of the next problem.

The trickiest part of certain problems is just recognizing their existence.

If you can't think of at least three things that might be wrong with your understanding of the problem, you don't understand the problem.
( In short , Think of three reason's it won't work ...)

As you wander along the weary path of problem definition , check back home once in a while to see if you haven't lost your way.

Don't solve other people's problems when they can solve them perfectly well themselves.

If it's their problem, make it their problem.

If a person is in a position to do something about a problem , but does not have the problem , then do something so he does.

Try blaming yourself for a change - Even for a moment.

If people really have their lights on , a little reminder may be more effective than your complicated solution.

The source of the problem is most often you.

There are two kinds of people in the world , those that do work and those who take credit. Keep in the first group - there's much less competition there.

No problem too big , no problem too small .

The difficult we do right now , the impossible takes a little longer .

People seldom know what they want until you give them what they ask for .

We never have enough time to do it right , but we always have enough time to do it over or do better.

We never have enough time to consider whether we want it , but we always have enough time to regret it .

The fish is always the last to see the water.

Standard of Living

An uncle of mine , moderately educated , called from a small town , after a bit of chat , he says
in cities like bangalore , hyderabad etc the "standard of living" would be much better than their town .

"Standard of living " this very phrase has been haunting me since the time he put the phone .
Yes , skyscraper buildings , plush cars , posh apartments , multi specialty hospitals ( which has life time memberships*) seems to be so colorful for any person coming from a mediocre town or village .

But still , whats the catch here ? what is standard of living ? breathless , over crowded skyscrapers ? always polluting plush cars ? not even enough ventilated posh apartments ? hours of frustrating traffic ? potholed roads which breaks ur spine ? unhealthy food ? polluted air ? gimme a break ...

Standard of living is hygienic food , clean drinking water , unadulterated air over all simple'city' in life . no wonder how many lakhs you earn , what ever car u drive , which ever apartment u stay .. if you don't have these standards whats the point in living in so called cities ?


*yes its true , check with any big plated hospital , irony , do they expect us to be ill for rest of life ?