Don't be misled by the title. This is not just about a dreamer and his dreams. This is a heart- warming life journey, the trials, travails and triumphs of a doer, who went on to implement the big dreams and how.
In one's lifetime, how often does one encounter an opportunity that has the potential of deeply impacting and empowering teaming millions spread across the country and changing the narrative for a nation?
Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda (Sam) was presented with one such opportunity and he made it his life's mission. This is Sam's amazing story who wrote his own destiny amidst abject poverty and deprivation. He was aware of the challenges of the obstinate Indian bureaucracy and red tape, yet, he was keen to contribute to India's development. As the founder and first Chairman on India's Telecom Commission, he is credited with digitally connecting India by laying the foundations for India's Telecommunications and Technology revolution of the 1980s. The inner binding of the book in black and yellow is perhaps purposeful. It epitomises the bright-yellow PCO/STD booths that sprung across India in the 1980s when the telecom revolution under Sam hit all corners.
Inspired by the birth of his granddaughter, Aria, this endearing autobiography takes us through the journey of a young man from Titilagarh (a non-descript village in Odisha) to Chicago, where he lives now. Dotting this extraordinary passage of sorts are life events that seem like a roller coaster ride. Going up to dizzying heights of personal and professional achievements, plummeting downward in a hopeless spiral of despair (faced false charges of corruption, ill health and was almost financially bankrupt) and then, once again, climbing back up with a renewed sense of purpose. Emerging stronger from the experience each time.
Over the five decades, Sam has become an internationally respected telecom inventor, entrepreneur, development thinker and policy maker and holds around 20 honorary PhDs, close to 100 worldwide patents, and has published five books and numerous papers and lectured widely all over the world.
It is not surprising then that his book makes for an enthralling read. A clutch of family pictures interspersed with a few other formal/official ones betrays his deep bond and source of delight. However, the most fascinating part is that, at times, he has not shied away from putting himself in a vulnerable place by being candid and honest with his point of view. As if to suggest that he wants the reader to understand and connect with him, just the way his PCO/STD booths helped connect millions of Indians.
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