This Gandhi Jayanti, we bring you a list of books that highlight the nuances of the man who became larger than life in our national and political consciousness. ‘Every man’s life is a fable’, says Raja Rao. These books help us understand the fable of Gandhi a little better.
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Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1948
Ramchandra Guha
Gandhi || Ramachandra Guha
As one of the most prolific historians of modern India, Ramchandra Guha traces the life of Mahatma Gandhi in the three decades preceding his assassination. Examining archival material, Guha explores the details of Gandhi’s anti-colonial struggle, his take on untouchability, and his desire to strengthen India’s moral compass. This book is a record of not only Gandhi himself but also the people in his life.
An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth
M.K. Gandhi
An Autobiography || M.K. Gandhi
Gandhi’s Autobiography is one of the most widely read and translated Indian books of all time, is a classic that allows us to glimpse the transformation of a well-meaning lawyer into a Satyagrahi and an ashramite. In this first-ever Critical Edition, eminent scholar Tridip Suhrud shines new light on Gandhi’s life and thought. The deeply researched notes elucidate the contexts and characters of the Autobiography, while the alternative translations capture the flavour, cadence and quirkiness of the Gujarati.
The Man Before the Mahatma
Charles DiSalvo
The Man Before the Mahatma || Charles DiSalvo
As the first biography of Gandhi as a lawyer, DiSalvo’s book traces the change of the man from a reticent 18-year-old who left Gujarat to the titan who became one of the biggest thorns in the British colonial side. The book focuses on Gandhi’s legal work in South Africa and his encounter with the racist policies of white colonialists, which left an inedible mark on him and changed the trajectory of his career.
Gandhi Before India
Ramachandra Guha
Gandhi Before India || Ramachandra Guha
Guha’s book explored the lesser known parts of Mahatma Gandhi’s life, spanning the years from his birth right up to when he returned to India from South Africa after his legal training. The book is a rare insight into the shaping of the Mahatma, the childhood and formative years that chiselled his ideological bent and made him the man he turned out to be.
Mahatma Gandhi: The Great Indian Way
Raja Rao
Mahatma Gandhi: The Great India Way || Raja Rao
Raja Rao experiments with narrative linearity and chronological sequence to brings us this unique work on Gandhi that stands out to this day. Using dialogue and anecdotes, Rao maps the progression of Gandhi’s life in a way that contemporises him, making his work and values relevant to the present as well.
The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi
Makarand Paranjape
The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi || Makarand R. Paranjape
Paranjape meticulously studies Gandhi’s last six months in Delhi. He analyses the factors that facilitated Gandhi’s assassination, the meaning of his death and what that reveals about the country at large.
As readers, we love that our world is enriched by books from various languages, cultures, and countries. This has only been made possible by the immense contribution of translators from all around the world. To celebrate World Translation Day, which is celebrated on 30th September every year, and honour the work of translators everywhere, we have compiled a special list of works translated from various Indian languages into English.
Happy reading!
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Chowringhee
Sankar, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha
Chowringhee || Sankar
Set in 1950s Calcutta, Chowringhee is a sprawling saga of the intimate lives of managers, employees and guests at one of Calcutta’s largest hotels, the Shahjahan. Shankar, the newest recruit, recounts the stories of several people whose lives come together in the suites, restaurants, bar and backrooms of the hotel. As both observer and participant in the events, he
inadvertently peels off the layers of everyday existence to expose the seamy underbelly of unfulfilled desires, broken dreams, callous manipulation and unbidden tragedy. What unfolds is not just the story of individual lives but also the incredible chronicle of a metropolis.
Raag Darbari
Shrilal Shukla, translated from Hindi by Gillian Wright
Raag Darbari || Shrilal Shukla
Raag Darbari’s plot is set in Shivpalganj, which is a small village located in Uttar Pradesh. The narrator of this novel is Ranganath, who is a research student of History. He comes to visit his uncle, Vaidyaji, who serves as the head of the village and his supporters are placed at key locations in the village. Vaidyaji is a highly corrupt ruler who has defeated every individual who tried to stand against him. The readers are also introduced to Langad, who desires to carry out dealings in an honest manner. Things take a turn for Vaidyaji when some people try to bring him down from his influential position. The novel exposes the helplessness of intellectuals in the face of a strong and corrupt nexus between criminals, businessmen, police and politicians.
Tamas
Bhisham Sahni, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell
Tamas || Bhisham Sahni
In a city in undivided Punjab, Nathu, a tanner, is bribed to kill a pig. When the animal’s carcass is discovered on the steps of the local mosque the next morning, simmering tensions explode into an orgy of bloodlust. But in the midst of the ensuing carnage, despite the darkness of the times, rare moments of unexpected friendship and love also surface.
Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Sahni’s iconic novel about the Partition of India tells the tale of an unfolding riot from different vantage points. In Daisy Rockwell’s definitive translation, this magnificent work comes vividly to life.
One Part Woman
Perumal Murugan, translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan
One Part Woman || Perumal Murugan
Kali and Ponna’s efforts to conceive a child have been in vain. Hounded by the taunts and insinuations of others, all their hopes come to converge on the chariot festival in the temple of Ardhanareeswara, the half-female god. Everything hinges on the one night when rules are relaxed and consensual union between any man and woman is sanctioned. This night could end the couple’s suffering and humiliation. But it will also put their marriage to the ultimate test.
Hangwoman
K.R. Meera, translated from Malayalam by J. Devika
Hangwoman || K.R. Meera
The Grddha Mullick family bursts with marvellous tales of hangmen and hangings in which they figure as eyewitnesses to the momentous events that have shaped the history of the subcontinent. When twenty-two-year-old Chetna Grddha Mullick is appointed the first woman executioner in India, assistant and successor to her father, her life explodes under the harsh lights of television cameras. When the day of the execution arrives, will she bring herself to take a life?
Lajja
Taslima Nasrin, translated from Bengali by Achinta Ghatak
Lajja || Taslima Nasrin
The Duttas-Sudhamoy and Kironmoyee, and their children, Suranjan and Maya- have lived in Bangladesh all their lives. Despite being members of a small, vulnerable Hindu community, they refuse to leave their country, unlike most of their friends and relatives. Sudhamoy believes with a naive mix of optimism and idealism that his motherland will not let him down. And then, on 6 December 1992, the Babri Masjid is demolished. The world condemns the incident, but its immediate fallout is felt most acutely in Bangladesh, where Muslim mobs begin to seek out and attack Hindus. The nightmare inevitably arrives at the Duttas’ doorstep, and their world begins to fall apart.
Cobalt Blue
Sachin Kundalkar, translated from Marathi by Jerry Pinto
Cobalt Blue || Sachin Kundalkar
A paying guest seems like a win-win proposition to the Joshi family. He’s ready with the rent, he’s willing to lend a hand when he can and he’s happy to listen to Mrs Joshi on the imminent collapse of our culture. But he’s also a man of mystery. He has no last name. He has no family, no friends, no history and no plans for the future. The siblings Tanay and Anuja are smitten by him. He overturns their lives and when he vanishes, he breaks their hearts. Elegantly wrought and exquisitely spare, Cobalt Blue is a tale of rapturous love and fierce heartbreak told with tenderness and unsparing clarity.
A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There
Krishna Sobti, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell
A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There || Krishna Sobti
Delhi, 1947. The city surges with Partition refugees. Eager to escape the welter of pain and confusion that surrounds her, young Krishna applies on a whim to a position at a preschool in the princely state of Sirohi, itself on the cusp of transitioning into the republic of India. She is greeted on arrival with condescension for her refugee status, and treated with sexist disdain by Zutshi Sahib, the man charged with hiring for the position. Undaunted, Krishna fights back. But when an opportunity to become governess to the child maharaja Tej Singh Bahadur presents itself-and with it a chance to make Sirohi her new home once and for all-there is no telling how long this idyll will last.
Part novel, part memoir, part feminist anthem, A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There is not only a powerful tale of Partition loss and dislocation but also charts the odyssey of a spirited young woman determined to build a new identity for herself on her own terms.
Goat Days
Benyamin, translated from Malayalam by Joseph Koyippally
Goat Days || Benyamin
Najeeb’s dearest wish is to work in the Gulf and earn enough money to send back home. He achieves his dream only to be propelled by a series of incidents, grim and absurd, into a slave-like existence herding goats in the middle of the Saudi desert. Memories of the lush, verdant landscape of his village and of his loving family haunt Najeeb whose only solace is the companionship of goats. In the end, the lonely young man contrives a hazardous scheme to escape his desert prison.
While we are at it, how can we forget our young readers? So here’s a special list just for them!
Timeless Tales from Marwar
Vijaydan Detha, translated by Vishes Kothari
Timeless Tales from Marwar || Vijaydan Detha
For centuries, Rajasthan has been a gold mine of oral traditions and histories with Padma Shri Vijaydan Detha being one of the foremost storytellers of all time. Timeless Tales from Marwar gives a new lease of life to his folk tales. Retold in Detha’s magical narrative style complete with imagery, this selection offers some of the oldest and most popular fables from the Thar Desert region. Discover tales of handsome rajkanwars, evil witches, exploitative thakars, miserly seths, clever insects, benevolent snakes and more. Vishes Kothari’s vivid English translation introduces one of the most venerated figures in Rajasthani folk culture to a wider audience.
Tales from the Kathasaritsagara
Somadeva, translated from Sanskrit by Rohini Chowdhury
Tales from the Kathasaritsagara || Somadeva
Do you know the story of Phalabhuti, who narrowly escaped a grisly fate?
Or of the kind-hearted Jimutavahana, who was willing to give his life to save a snake from death?
Or of young Shringabhuja, who married a rakshasa’s daughter?
These are just some of the many tales that make up Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara, a classic work of Sanskrit literature that is full of memorable characters. Within the pages of this book, you will encounter demons and demi-gods, faithful guards and foolish villagers, golden swans, magic pots and even automatons made of wood! Adapted and wonderfully retold by Rohini Chowdhury, this is a timeless classic that will entertain and enchant readers everywhere.
The Final Adventures of Professor Shonku
Satyajit Ray, translated from Bengali by Indrani Majumdar
The Final Adventures of Professor Shonku || Satyajit Ray
In this last volume of Professor Shonku’s escapades, the brilliant and benevolent scientist travels around the world once more to face near death situations. Each nerve-wracking experience is faithfully recorded in his diary. We learn of Shonku being outwitted by his own invention, the Tellus computer; his helplessness when his arch-rival in Rome deliberately misplaces his wonder drug, Miracurall; and the thrilling discovery of a three-and-a-half-thousand-year-old sparkling diamond necklace and a papyrus in an ancient tomb in Cairo.
In 1994, twenty-year-old Gunjan Saxena appeared for the selection process of the fourth Short Service Commission (for women) pilot course. Seventy-four weeks of back-breaking training later, she passed out of the Air Force Academy in Dundigal as Pilot Officer Gunjan Saxena.
In 1999, The Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar, when local shepherds reported a Pakistani intrusion in Kargil. While female pilots were yet to be employed in a war zone, they were called in for medical evacuation, dropping off supplies and reconnaissance.
It was then that Gunjan Saxena proved her mettle. From airdropping vital supplies to Indian troops in the Dras and Batalik regions and casualty evacuation from the midst of the ongoing battle, to meticulously informing her seniors of enemy positions and even narrowly escaping a Pakistani rocket missile during one of her sorties, Saxena fearlessly discharges her duties, earning herself the moniker ‘The Kargil Girl’.
This book is her inspiring story and it’s co-authored by Kiran Nirvan, the pseudonym used by authors Kirandeep Singh and Nirvan Singh. Kirandeep Singh is the former head of the department of management studies, Global Institutes, Amritsar, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in the discipline. Nirvan Singh is a serving officer in the Indian Army, while also being an avid artist, writer and adventurer.
We interviewed Kiran Nirvan about the motivation behind writing The Kargil Girl, the first readers of their finished draft, and more. Read on to find out what they had to say.
Question: What propelled you to co-write The Kargil Girl?
Answer: It has always been our endeavour to write stories of grit and determination, wisdom and valour, of men and women from the Indian Armed Forces and other exemplary men and women of this nation and Flt Lt Gunjan Saxena (Retd) is a pathbreaker who broke stereotypes to achieve her dreams, paving way for future generations of women to do wonders. This book had to be written to celebrate Gunjan Saxena’s achievements, with an aim to inspire others.
Question: Were there any parts in the book that you found more difficult to write about as compared to the others?
Answer: Writing the entire book was challenging. We wanted the narrative to not be jingoistic but measured, sticking to the facts and wanted to educate and entertain the reader at the same time. So, the difficult part was writing about Gunjan ma’am’s SSB process where we had to relate each test to one of the memories from her childhood which ingrained in her the qualities for becoming an airforce officer.
Question: Which is your favourite section in the book and why?
Answer: Our personal favourite part in the book is where we have written about Gunjan ma’am’s training days in the academy. It was simply amazing to learn about the challenges she faced, from following a strict training schedule to getting regular punishments by senior cadets, from being nominated for test sortie with lesser training than others and still being able to clear it to emerging as the best performing flying cadet among her peers at the end of the training, it only shows us what it takes to become a winner. Gunjan Saxena is not the best for no reason.
Question: Who were the first readers of the finished draft of your book?
Answer: A couple of chapters were read by Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, 25th Chief of Air Staff of The Indian Air Force. The finished draft was read by Pragya Narain, daughter of Flt Lt Gunjan Saxena (Retd), Arushi (Nirvan’s fiancée at the time), management students of Kirandeep, Suhail Mathur, our literary agent and of course, our most talented commissioning editor Gurveen Chadha.
Question: If you could give one message to the youth of the country, what would it be?
Answer: Our message to the youth of the country- discipline, determination and perseverance help achieve all dreams, but you must work harder than the previous day.
Since its inception in 1925, the RSS has perplexed observers with its organizational skills, military discipline and single-minded quest for influence in all walks of Indian life. Often seen as insidious and banned thrice, the pace of its growth and ideological dominance of the political landscape in the second decade of the millennium have been remarkable
Relying on original research, interviews with insiders and analysis of current events, Dinesh Narayanan’s, The RSS and the Making of the Deep Nation traces the RSS’s roots and its pursuit for ideological dominance in a nation known for its rich diversity of thought, custom and ritual.
Read on for a look at the evolution of the RSS across a nearly a century of operations.
Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a Maharashtrian Brahmin from Nagpur, founded the RSS on the day of Vijaya Dashami in 1925.
The name RSS was hotly contested. Many questioned that if Hedgewar wanted to unite Hindus, how could it be called rashtriya (nation). Hedgewar prevailed. He conceived the Sangh as an independent organization that bowed to no human. It bows to a saffron flag symbolizing the Hindu nation.
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Hedgewar kept the RSS largely removed from radical involvement in the freedom movement in the 1930s though it was seen as a pro-independence organization
Yet, Hedgewar kept RSS politically aloof from V.D. Savarkar’s Hindu Mahasabha. Aligning with Savarkar politically would have positioned the RSS as a rival to the Congress, which was a more broad-based platform, and Hedgewar did not want to be antagonistic to the Congress of which he was a member.
The RSS || Dinesh Narayanan
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Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, who took charge in 1940 too kept the RSS largely apolitical.
Golwalkar scrupulously kept the Sangh away from agitations and took care to not upset the authorities in any way. His disinterest in politics prompted a large section, including the Bombay province sanghchalak, K.B. Limaye, to leave the organization.
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By the time Madhukar Dattatreya Deoras took over as sarsanghchalak 1973, the RSS had lost a lot of ground, but he undertook a complete turnaround by focusing on work with a ‘social content’.
After he took over, Deoras quickly began deploying the Sangh’s numerical strength and reach, strategically using it to back political movements and agitations. ‘Deoras had seen that a political mind that was distinctly Hindu in character had emerged in the polity. His motto was: seva [service], samrasta [equitability], sangharsh [struggle].
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The anti-Emergency agitation of the 70s galavanized the RSS, laying the foundation for its influential student arm –the ABVP.
The spectacular success of the anti-Emergency agitation and the consequent formation of the first, though short-lived, non-Congress government of independent India, however, demonstrated that agitational politics could be rewarding for organizational growth. There were valuable learnings. Its student arm, the ABVP, the principal agitational instrument in the early 1970s, had 1.7 lakh students and teachers in 1977.
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It could not deeply tap the Hindu political consciousness until the 1980s when it began meticulously planned agitation to mobilize the divided Hindu community around Lord Ram.
The RSS needed a symbol, something potent and with a national resonance, to rally Hindus around. It found it in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, the hero of Ramayana, an epic told and retold in practically every Hindu, and often non-Hindu, household from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
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Strangely, during the economic liberalization of the 1990s the RSS, opposed to globalization seemed more aligned with the left in opposition to its own government.
The Vajpayee government picked up where the Narasimha Rao government had left off and the RSS behaved as if it was still in opposition. It was a curious situation where the RSS opposed several aspects of the economic policy of the government, and in a sense seemed more aligned to the left than to a government of its own.
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As Narenda Modi took charge as Chief Minister in Gujarat, he slowly emerged as the man who would rescue the RSS from the doldrums of the decade of UPA government.
Over the next fourteen years, Modi, the consummate swayamsevak, emerged as someone who could seamlessly merge business and Hindu cultural supremacy, a formula that had eluded the Parivar.
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Although Narenda Modi was initially viewed with suspicion by the RSS, a letter from a friend to Mohan Bhagwat was instrumental in cementing the rift.
Mohan Bhagwat read the executive’s missive with concern. The letter hinted that the rift between the rising star of Hindutva and the RSS leadership was the creation of vested interests within the Sangh. Bhagwat immediately invited the executive to Nagpur for a detailed conversation. In a meeting that went on for hours, the executive further elaborated to Bhagwat how a few leaders within the Sangh and the BJP had created misunderstandings between the RSS top leadership and Modi.
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Destroying all opposition the Modi-led BJP won 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, twenty-one seats more than in 2014, shifting the power balance between the BJP and RSS.
Ideologically, the party and the parivar reflect the Sangh more than ever in its history. At the same time, some RSS leaders who tried to influence political decisions and appointments have been clearly told by the BJP leadership that it was not their place to decide what was in the best interests of the party.
Language can act as a loaded weapon when used with lucidity and eloquence. Shashi Tharoor is the wizard of words, his literary prowess unparalleled. In his book Tharoorosaurus, he shares fifty-three examples from his vocabulary: unusual words from every letter of the alphabet as well as fun facts and interesting anecdotes behind the words.
Today, we are giving you an exclusive glimpse into the exquisite world of Tharoosaurus by sharing five spectacular words from the book with you. Are you ready to impress? Well, here we go!
Agathokakological
Meaning:consisting of both good and evil
Usage: The Mahabharata is unusual among the great epics because its heroes are not perfect idealized figures, but agathokakological human beings with desires and ambitions who are prone to lust, greed and anger and capable of deceit, jealousy and unfairness.
Origin: Coined in the early nineteenth century by sometime British Poet Laureate Robert Southey, best known for his ballad ‘The Inchcape Rock.’
Kerfuffle
Meaning: a disorderly outburst, tumult, row, ruckus or disturbance; a disorder, flurry, or agitation; a fuss
Usage: In view of the kerfuffle around my tweet wrongly attributing to the US a picture of Nehruji in the USSR, I thought it best to tweet some pictures that really showed him in the US.
Origin: Kerfuffle turns out to be quite commonly used in Scots, the language of Scotland, and is an intensive form of the Scots word ‘fuffle,’ meaning ‘to disturb’. The modern word comes from the Scottish ‘curfuffle’ by way of earlier similar expressions that were spelt variously as curfuffle, carfuffle, cafuffle, cafoufle, even gefuffle.
Rodomontade
Meaning: boastful or inflated talk or behaviour
Usage: The politician’s rodomontade speeches sought to conceal his total lack of substance, or indeed of any real accomplishment.
Origin: It originated in the late sixteenth century as a reference to Rodomonte, the Saracen king of Algiers, a character in both the 1495 poem Orlando Innamorato by Count M.M. Boiardo, and its sequel, Ludovico Ariosto’s 1516 Italian romantic epic Orlando Furioso, who was much given to vain boasting.
Snollygoster
Meaning: a shrewd, unprincipled politician
Usage: Though ‘Snollygoster’ is a fanciful coinage in American English slang going back to 1846, it can easily apply to many practitioners of Indian politics in 2020.
Origin: Snollygoster (sometimes spelled, less popularly, snallygaster) was originally, in American English, the name of a monster, half-reptile, half-bird, that preyed on both children and chickens—suggesting rural origins. From its usage in 1846 to describe an unprincipled politician, however, it has come to mean ‘a rotten person who is driven by greed and self-interest’.
Zugzwang
Meaning: in chess and other games, a ‘compulsion to move’ that places the mover at a disadvantage.
Usage: The grandmaster, outwitted by his opponent, found himself in zugzwang and chose to resign.
Origin: Zugzwang, a word of German origin, comes from two German roots, Zug (move) and Zwang (compulsion), so that zugzwang means ‘being forced to make a move’.
Acclaimed tech reporter, Alex Kantrowitz, gives a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the Tech Titans —Amazon, Google and Facebook, playing with the Amazon mantra of ‘Day One’— code for inventing like a startup, with little regard for legacy and prioritizing reinvention over tradition and collaboration over ownership.
Through 130 interviews with insiders, from Mark Zuckerberg to hourly workers, Always Day One reveals the tech giants’ blueprint for success but also posits how the dystopian alternate reality of the popular series Black Mirror actually anticipates modern technology’s dark consequences.
Here are six quotes from Always Day One that illustrate how the Black Mirror is not far off – being slowly but surely shaped by Big Tech.
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The pervasiveness of technology is slowly ‘eroding meaning’ in our lives by altering our personal, financial and faith based equations.
In November 2018, Pew released a study looking at where Americans find meaning in their lives. The top three boil down to: (1) friends and family, (2) religion, and (3) work and money. Modern technology is weakening all three. The screen is warping our relationships with friends and family. We have more virtual friends than ever and fewer real ones, and a growing number of us have no friends at all.
The dystopian fantasy of a handful of AI- powered firms dominating the competition and controlling the economy is scarily similar to how big technological firms are operating even now.
“The dystopia is now,” Barry Lynn, director of the Open Markets Institute, told me. “The dystopia is not in the future.” To Lynn and the growing number of big- tech critics, the tech giants have already grown too big and powerful, and are causing real harm. While making this case in 2017, Lynn got himself, and his institute, ousted from the New America Foundation, which counts Google among its donors.
Always Day One || Alex Kantrowitz
Big Tech is shaping our worldview through their management of information enabled by their monopoly over the advertising revenue which funds news.
Advertising revenue declines have hit small and midsize papers especially hard, hollowing out local accountability reporting across the United States, a boon to local officials who would rather not be watched. Facebook and Google earned 60 percent of all dollars spent in US digital advertising in 2018, according to eMarketer, for a total of $65 billion.
Global dominance is empowering firms to shape the very nature of our reality with their monopoly over the products that are integral part of our lived experience.
Amazon has similarly used its platform power to hamper businesses that sell products through its systems, Lynn said. The company has built scores of its own “private label” brands that compete with its independent sellers, placing these sellers in a rough position: If they don’t work with Amazon, they’ll reach far fewer customers. If they do work with Amazon, the company might eventually displace their businesses.
Scientific research that shapes our future is controlled and shaped by big-tech, meaning that the futuristic dystopia of Black Mirror may be nearer than we think.
Tech companies are buying out not only entrepreneurs, but academics with artificial intelligence expertise as well. This practice is depleting the knowledge students will learn from before they head into the broader workforce. Over the past fifteen years, 153 artificial intelligence professors have left academia for private companies, according to a University of Rochester study.
If AI, which is the chief thrust of Big Tech wipes out a considerable number of jobs, the devastation could be destabilizing—and dystopian
Cowie, who’s spent his career studying how a changing economy is impacting workers, said that when people lose the ability to work and the hope to regain it, their lives are devastated. “If you look at these guys in the rust belt, where the jobs have left, nothing’s replaced them, they really have lost the narrative of their lives,” he said.
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Always Day One gives you a lot to learn about the Tech Titans and what makes them tick!
The Victory Project || Saurabh Mukherjea, Anupam Gupta
The Victory Project is the ultimate guide to surviving and thriving in the professional and social domains, which are increasingly becoming tough, competitive, often cutthroat and deeply political. It delves into a treasure trove of material from global gurus as well as from highly successful Indian and American professionals, and it draws on the authors’ own careers to show how readers can apply these principles to the fields of business and investment, even to life itself.
Here’s an insightful Q/A session with Saurabh Mukherjea and Anupam Gupta, the authors of The Victory Project. Saurabh Mukherjea is the founder of Marcellus Investment Managers and a bestselling author and Anupam Gupta is a chartered accountant, investment research consultant and podcast host.
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Questions we asked Saurabh
What has been your greatest learning while writing The Victory Project?
Saurabh: Every single expert we interviewed for the book spent 1-3 hours with us. During that time period, these experts gave us their undivided attention. For example, we have spoken to Mark Mobius several times over the last couple of years. In some instances our discussions have extended beyond 90 minutes. Not once has Dr Mobius interrupted the meetings to take phone calls or read his Whatsapp messages. In fact, the longer the meeting goes on, the greater the powers of concentration of this 83 year old investment legend who did much to build the asset class that is today called Emerging Market Equities.
When we met Prof Sanjay Bakshi, the managing partner at Value Quest Capital, in Delhi at the Lodhi Hotel to interview him for the book, the meeting lasted for over two hours. Prof Bakshi is a big believer in the idea of intense focus and cutting off all distractions to spend quality time on a single idea. He showed his phone, which had a blank home screen and no notifications. Throughout our meeting, his phone did not beep or light up or ring even once. In those two hours he gave us some of the deepest insights into fierce focus that I have received in my career. Chapter 3 of The Victory Project contains these insights.
Similarly when we interviewed Sanjiv Bikhchandani of Infoedge – arguably amongst the most successful VC investors in contemporary India – for The Victory Project, the meeting lasted for over 90 minutes. During that time, he did not once look at his mobile phone or entertain other visitors.
Do you think there’s an increased acknowledgement of the negative impact of highly stressful professional environments in the present times? What do you think has prompted this awareness?
Saurabh: As we discuss in the Prologue to The Victory Project, divorce and depression rates in our large cities have risen sharply over the past decade. Most Indian professionals can now clearly see that their peers and their friends are at the receiving end of these stressors. Corporate captains can also see that this has an adverse impact on employee productivity. The question is what should be done about it. The superficial corporate response is to organise a helpline for employees wherein they can speak to a counsellor. As our interview with Dr Sharmila Banwat, a psychologist in Mumbai indicates, what is required is a much deeper rethink by employees and employers around how hard working, ambitious professionals can hit peak potential without burning themselves out. This issue is the key focus in The Victory Project and hence the subtitle of the book is ‘Six Steps to Peak Potential’.
How do you relax and recharge after a hectic work day?
Saurabh: My unwind routine is a hot shower followed by dinner with the family which in turn is followed by telling the kids their bedtime story. I usually doze off during the narration of the bedtime story!
How successful have you been in applying the principle of ‘decluttering’ to your own life?
Saurabh: I have had modest success in this regard. I don’t have social media apps on my phone. I make it difficult for people to reach me and for me to reach other people. Other than books, I typically don’t buy anything else for myself. I avoid parties and networking events. It helps that I enjoy sitting by myself and reading for hours on end. The only challenge is that I enjoy writing so much that every other year I end up committing to write another book for Penguin!
Questions we asked Anupam
What changes do you think organisations can introduce at their level to reduce stress at the workplace?
Anupam: The Simplicity Paradigm in our book can work as a guide for organizations as well. If organizations can, for example, find ways to a) help employees towards their specialization b) put them in teams that collaborate cohesively c) encourage creativity among employees – all of this can go a long way in employees and teams working towards common goals and, as a result, reduce stress. Spirituality also plays a vital part here and meditation, as we’ve detailed in our book, can also help in reducing stress and improving productivity.
What role do you think support systems like families, friends, partners, play in ensuring an individual’s professional success?
Anupam: Support systems play an important role within the overall Simplicity Paradigm and hence for an individual’s success. In our book, we’ve written about mentorship as part of honing your skills. Similarly, colleagues and bosses play an important role in collaboration. Friends with whom you can talk on a diverse set of topics can inspire creativity.
What has been your biggest takeaway from writing The Victory Project?
Anupam: Meeting the diverse set of experts has been an inspiration on the power of the Simplicity Paradigm construct. While the books we read for preparing The Victory Project gave us great background material, watching these experts embody the steps of the Simplicity Paradigm and achieve outsized success was truly the biggest takeaway.
Please recommend some of your favourite books to us.
Anupam: I’m a big fan of corporate history so all the books on great companies (mentioned in The Victory Project) are my favourites:
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the age of Amazon by Brad Stone
Ambani & Sons by Hamish McDonald
Disrupt and Conquer by T.T. Jagannathan and Sandhya Mendonca
To You, With Love is the story of Sahil and Ayra who are very different from each other, right from childhood. While Sahil is careless, carefree, ‘new money’ and ‘the brat’, Ayra is sensitive, reserved, shy and not easy to talk to. And that is probably what attracts Sahil to her. Their story progresses slowly and delicately, and things gradually take on a love-tinged hue between them.
Today, we are looking at six moments from the book that are sure to make you wish you too had a love story like Sahil and Ayra’s.
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When Sahil talked about love at first sight and we couldn’t help but nod our heads in agreement
People tell you that love happens in one moment, at ‘one sight’, and the truth is that it actually does! Whether that moment is going to be the first moment when you see her or the hundredth, it cannot be predicted by anyone, but it will happen in one single moment.
When Sahil made us realise that the best love stories start from friendships and we couldn’t help but blush
I realized how we were each other’s first friends, and first friendships are deeper than most bonds in the world.
When Sahil showed us that flaws make us human and loveable
She has her flaws and yet she is the most beautiful person to me, because she is like art—she makes me feel alive whenever I look at her.
When we were reminded that true love isn’t about volatile emotions but a feeling of tranquility
The way she looked at me as she spoke, I felt a calmness sweep over me. The image of her beautiful face was imprinted somewhere deep in my heart.
When Sahil perfectly summed up the feeling of finding the right one
Her entry in my life made something click, like when a key clicks inside a lock and you know that you have found the right one.
And finally,
When we found out the content of Ayra’s heart-breaking love note to Sahil that left us a weepy mess
Life means many things to many people and so does love—neither life nor love can be lived in a way where there is nothing new to add or nothing old to remove. Definitions change with time, place and the people who define it, yet the essence remains the same.
We all have a pre-pandemic people-watching streak! If like us, you miss some casual people watching routines in the café or on the metro – scroll down this post to find out which character you would be like if you were a people-watcher from the (extravagant) world of Kevin Kwan’s latest – Sex and Vanity!
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The Conversationalist – Charlotte
‘Sizing up his outfit of white and blue striped seersucker trousers, crisp white button down shirt conspicuously monogrammed with the initials “MVE” just above his left midriff, navy polka-dot cravat tied around his throat, and Cleverley wing-tips, Charlotte knew exactly how to engage with him.’
If you are a Charlotte, your people-watching skills actually make you a great conversationalist! You are good at gauging people by watching them, their attire, their movements – and know JUST how to talk to them.
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The Storymaker – Lucie
‘Lucie glanced covertly at the people seated around her. She loved checking people out and making up stories in her mind about them. On her left was a young attractive Italian couple, looking longingly into each other’s eyes, on their honeymoon, possibly? To her right were two smartly dressed men—an American guy with dark blond hair in a blue striped t-shirt and navy 63 blazer talking to an Asian guy with a goatee wearing a pair of round 1930s retro-style sunglasses. They looked like they worked in fashion and were here on business.’
If you are a Lucie, then you are a (pretty good) storyteller! The world is your oyster, everyone around you a potential character with awesome backstories!
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Sex and Vanity || Kevin Kwan
The Fashion Critic – Mordecai
‘She’s a Barclay. Of course, only a Barclay can afford to look this unfashionable in Capri.’
‘Who on earth was this woman, and what possessed her to think she could join his group wearing those flamingo pink sweatpants?’
Even if you are not one, we bet you have known at least one Mordecai in your life! A Mordecai will judge your entire lineage, character, ancestry on the basis of your fashion sense.
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The Clueless – Cecil
For us, Cecil incorporates all the folks who need to learn to read a room, with the number of times he has failed to correctly watch and read people. A mortifying flashmob proposal with him singing into a makeshift hotdog microphone is all the visual is all we need to prove that statement!
All the Cecils are the ones who need people-watching lessons!
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Drop us a line below on which Kevin Kwan-esque people-watcher you are (honest answers only!) and don’t forget to compare notes with your friend-groups!
Don’t forget to step into the world of Sex and Vanity for more of absolute fun people-watching.
Friendships and companionship have proven to be crucial human bonds, even more so in these socially-distant times. We had a chat with Shubha Vilas, motivational speaker and author of The Magic of Friendships – about friends, friendships and maintaining human bonds in these times.
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Do you feel friendships have acquired a new and deeper meaning in these times?
Was there a time when friendship was not important? But yes, you could say today it is more important than ever because of nuclear families and working parents. Friends have replaced family too. Friendship is the single most relationship that has the potential to make you or break you.
The Magic of Friendships || Shubha Vilas
As the world has become more virtual and relatively more isolated in the pandemic, how can we maintain and strengthen our friendships today?
The virtual world is an important tool in forming and maintaining friendships. If used judiciously. Imagine your friends are accessible at all times? Isn’t that a boon? We may be physically isolated, but together in consciousness.
Principles of friendship are the same in every era. What changes is the context. You can pick any friendship story from any yuga…any century…any country…any culture…the principles will never change. Friendship as a concept is eternal.
What does it mean to be a ‘good’ friend?
You are a good friend if you can – appreciate the good in others, encourage their potential, respect the differences, tolerate the unchangeable and forgive their mistakes.
Social media is a lot about numbers, but it has also helped us stay connected with the world in these times. What would you say the impact of the digital age has been on friendships and companionship?
The digital age has redefined friendship! Now even though I may not know a person, I can end up being friends on social platforms! Therefore, in my book I mention levels of friendship. Not all friends are in the same category. Some are circumstantial, some are dear while some are soulmates.
What prompted you to write The Magic of Friendshipsand what kind of research went behind writing it?
All my books involve a lot of research because I dabble in non-fiction. The USP of my books is the scriptural connect with contemporary life. That’s the focus of my research.
And why a book on friendship? Because I love people…I love making, keeping and understanding friends – and I thought why not share my insights with the world? There’s nothing more important in life than relationships. And no other relationship as important as friendship. Friendship is the crown of all relationships. Friendship for me personally is what makes life special.
Is making friends easier than maintaining friendships while growing up?
Although it may seem to be easier, it is not really true. Growing up years are full of turmoil and confusion. Kids and teenagers grapple with self-image, self-confidence, identity crisis, bullies, living up to expectations…making friends can become a complex phenomenon. Of course, adults have their own set of challenges. But whichever generation you belong to, friends make life worth living.
Did you have a target reader in mind while writing The Magic of Friendships?
Yes actually I did. This time I wanted to focus only on young adults. But given a universal theme like friendship which crosses all barriers, this book appeals to all those who consider friendship to be important.
As concepts, do friendship and companionship always go hand-in-hand?
As concepts, friendship and companionship are probably merging into each other. Society is changing rapidly and in a world which is a global village today, the distinction between friend and companion is obsolete. Friends are companions and companions are friends. There is no divide.
