Section

Field Notes

Charan's first-person journal from organizing, judging, and competing. The only section voiced as "I."

Now

Pinned · what I am working on

2026-05-07Principle 8 · StorytellingGrowing
Team SPD
How we came back from a 2023 internal-round loss to win Smart India Hackathon 2024 — a participant's account, and a long-overdue answer to the LinkedIn DMs I never replied to.
2026-05-04Principle 7 · No mislabelingGrowing
Ten Coffees in Nuketown
undatedPrinciple 2 · Apples to applesDraft
Judging from the other side of the table
What changed about my mental model the first time I judged instead of competed.
undatedPrinciple 8 · StorytellingDraft
The time I lost because of storytelling
Tighter code, weaker demo. The five minutes of judge interaction that made the difference.
undatedPrinciple 1 · Clear goalDraft
Why I am organizing this one
The launch hackathon framed for the audience the site is about to acquire. Bridges the Manifesto to the live event.
undatedPrinciple 8 · StorytellingDraft
Wins I still think about
Three wins where the deciding factor was not the technical work.