'i came upon a lighthouse' - Not a Book Review

 

When I was in college, my ultimate goal was to become an entrepreneur. My friends and I used to sit together on the age-old staircase behind the extended area of our college and used to talk about new ideas, changes, the economy and whatnot. We all had that sparkly eyes when we used to share our dreams, our desires, and our goals. And that phase helped me a lot in phasing the different situations in my life. 

Being an entrepreneur has its pros and cons. I've grown up watching traditional entrepreneurs, who were so damn greedy and think about accumulating money as much as they can, without thinking anything else in their life. They used to exploit their employees by not giving them the perks they deserve. They used to exploit their customers by quoting the high price of the products which aren't easily available in the market. Not everyone was like that, but some of them around me were doing that. Black marketing, scams, and all that dark stuff was so common (and is still common) in my growing years that I have doubted my decision to become an entrepreneur, not once but millions of time. 

All the books I've read anyhow convinced me to become an entrepreneur and keep searching and discovering new ideas in the field of business I'm in. Honestly, no man whom I've personally met has ever succeeded to convince me to see the bright side of entrepreneurship. And about the successful entrepreneurs, I've read about always ends up disappointing me. Their idea of entrepreneurship is somewhat changing the track and after some point in time, I stop following them. 

Let me share my idea of entrepreneurship.

For me, entrepreneurship is not a win-lose game. It's a medium through which you finds a win-win situation for you, as well as your client. It's a medium through which you actively pay back to society, no matter how small your business is. Paying back to society not always mean charity. It's about creating a smart module thorough which everyone moves upwards. It's about creating opportunities for everyone your business touches - without exploiting or pressurising a single party. It's about investing in your dream and investing in someone else's dream, provided it is also for the betterment of everyone. 

So after reading innumerable biographies and autobiographies in my late teens and early twenties, I recently got this book which opened a different realm for me.

This lovely book which I'm holding in my hands in the picture is called 'i came upon a lighthouse'.

The book is a memoir written by Mr Shantanu Naidu, in which he not only writes about his journey down the years, but he beautifully writes that how his life overlaps the life of none other than Mr Ratan Naval Tata.

Naidu worked as a Design Engineer in Tata Elxsi, when he co-founded Motopaws' which is an initiative to reduce animal deaths and injuries (specifically dogs) caused by vehicles hitting them. In Motopaws, they brought forward a unique idea of radiant dog collars. This simple idea brought down these accidents by 31 per cent. 

My dear readers, this one was the first reason I picked up this book. As a person who gets along with dogs, more than with humans, I was excited reading about that unique idea. 

When Ratan Tata came across this simple idea, he called them in his office and with that a unique bond between Mr Tata and the author formed.

Mr Tata became his guardian angel and stood by him as a teacher, as a parent, and as a friend in every situation. 

The author decided to go on with his higher education and went to Cornell University, Ithaca for that. Before leaving he decided to come back to India after his education and work for Tata Trust, which is actively involved in Social Services. And yes, he does come back and become an integral part of the institution. 

But this book is not only about the author's journey. This book is written about the simplicity, vision, and humility of Mr Tata. His way of handling things, his way of looking at things, are minutely described in the book. 

This is one of those books which not only motivates you like those so-called self-help books you see on every bookstall. But this book is a warm hug for those people who love to help others and understand this by heart that Money is a by-product of being an entrepreneur. 

So I picked up the book for some of the reasons which I'm mentioning below:-

1) Motopaws 

I love the mission behind the initiative of Motopaws. Personally, I've lost count of the dogs I've lost in accidents. I have cried and spent sleepless nights thinking about their sufferings. I have spent countless nights cursing myself on my insufficiency to save them. I'll share a story in my upcoming blog.

2) Simplicity of Mr Tata

You can search for books on Mr Tata on Amazon and Flipkart, believe me, you won't find anything authenticated. As a person, he always thought about doing something rather than blabbering much. He has invested in the technology and modernization of every field. Reading about his life is a treat in itself.

3) The Idea of Entrepreneurship

The initial paragraphs of this post cover what I have always thought about Entrepreneurship. Now you might have been thinking that My idea is nothing but Mr Tata personified. In every industry, in every field, you can see Tatas. He is that 'Win-Win' situation personified who talks less but has a genuine hand in nation-building. 

4) Illustrations 

The book is beautifully illustrated by Sanjana Desai, which enhances the reading experience. Reading and imagining go hand in hand. You make a picture of what you read in your mind. And when you see a similar picture on the pages you are reading, it's an indescribable experience. You must try it.

So that's all for my side. I would highly recommend this book to each one of you and you can grab your copies from HERE.

Thank you for reading

Love, Laughter, and Peace

HRN

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"One Arranged Murder" by Chetan Bhagat - Not a Book Review

 In life, one of the most challenging tasks is judging something without being judgemental about it. Let me elucidate.  While Judging something, you have to be neutral in every aspect. You have to keep aside all your past experiences, earlier records, and people’s opinions regarding that particular thing. On the other hand,  when you are judgemental about something, you bring the past performances and other people’s view into the equation. Don’t worry, this theory is created by me. It helps me to bifurcate between judging something or being judgemental about something. I hope that will help you too, as you read this article further.

Chetan Bhagat, who started his career with the books like One night @ the call center, Five point someone, and Three mistakes of my life, was a trendsetter and converted many non-readers into readers. He brought a different revolution in the field of literature. He became the apple of the eye of millions of readers, specifically in India. But with time, and after lots of success, Bhagat started losing his charm when we talk about his books. Most of his books began adapting to Hindi movies. So, I personally felt like he started writing more for the movies’ scripts than readers. His Books like Half-Girlfriend and One Indian girl was somewhat looked like more of a Bollywood script than a book.

And then, his views upon feminism and gender equality were widely criticised across the nation. However, his books were a huge success and always remain at the top of the charts.

I read his recent book – One Arranged Murder.

If we talk about its story, Two friends, Saurabh and Keshav, are not much in talking terms after an episode of misunderstanding.  Saurabh, who is about to get married in a couple of months, is going to her fiancé, Prerna, at his home as she fasted for him on the occasion of Karva Chauth.  He was climbing the stairs to meet her at the terrace but was welcomed with something alarming. He saw a people gathering around a dead body on the ground. Was that an accident or a murder? The story revolves around that. Sourabh and Keshav, apart from working in a corporate, also run a detective agency called Z Detectives. So no points for guessing; they help the police to solve the case.

Honestly speaking, without flaunting my intellect, I could guess the criminal on the 80th page of this book, which has about three hundred-odd pages. That was more of a work of my emotional instinct than my critical analysis. But with each page proceeding, I started doubting myself, and that’s what I consider the success of this book. New theories came in eventually, and that’s the essence of the book.

It has that Chetan Bhagat factor as it mixes up all the variants like his earlier books. It has that tragedy, that romance, and that masala, his x-factor in the books like two states and three mistakes of my life.

On the other hand, I found some parts of the book quite impractical and hard to believe. The characters were behaving quite differently and beyond the boundaries of their portrayal. At some point, I also felt that this book is also written for a movie or a web-series. But that’s again one’s personal opinion, not a fact.

Do I like the book? Oh yes. It’s undoubtedly a page-turner, and I believe that its entertainment quotient is relatively high.

Will you like the book? That will depend on what you are looking for in the book.

Here’s the link to the book, in case you are looking forward to reading it.

I’ll see you soon.

Love, Laughter, and Peace

Himanshu R Nagpal