Remembrance: Dhyanesh

Dedication to Dr. Ashok Chandra

I’m Dhyanesh. I had the honor of working on Ashok’s team at Microsoft Research. Words fail me miserably in expressing who Ashok was, the principles he stood for, the qualities he espoused, and just the incredible and extraordinary human being that he lived as. So, I’m just going to share with you, who Ashok was to me.

Ashok was my teacher – he taught me the power of intuition in problem-solving. He said to me, “When solving a problem, it is important for you to first build your intuition, and then use data and experiments as a means to validate that intuition, rather than doing experiments first and then building your intuition.”

Ashok was my guide – he guided me on the importance of composure in being successful at negotiations. He said to me, “In a negotiation, the person who loses his calm, loses.”  

Ashok was my philosopher – he imbibed in me the philosophy of how to induce positive change in people. He said to me,“Be gentle with people, because if you are gentle on the person, you can be harder on your message.”

It is rather ironical that, organizationally, Ashok was my manager at Microsoft Research, but not once did he act with even a hint of assumed authority. Instead, he was my teacher, guide, and philosopher – all in one.

While words may fail me miserably in expressing who Ashok was, perhaps it is in the very lack of the ability to express in words, that there lies deep meaning about Ashok’s character… and perhaps it is the very absence of syntax that communicates profound semantics about Ashok’s unique personality… and perhaps it is because I can’t say enough here about Ashok, that speaks volumes about who he was, and what he meant to me, and to all of us.