Saturday, 25 October 2014

Book Recommendation : Pathbreakers


I like reading interviews and a read a lot of them. I find interviews extremely engaging as they are short, crisp and have a conversational style. Provided the questions asked are good, an interview allows the interviewer & the reader to navigate the mind of the interviewee. 

One of the best series of interviews that I have read was carried out a few years back by Ms. Sucheta Dalal and Mr. Debashis Basu in their magazine Money Life. They had interviewed achievers from diverse fields : like Geet Sethi [Sports], Rajiv Bajaj; K V Kamath, Aditya Puri, Sanjiv Bhikchandani [ Business], Dr R A Mashelkar ; Dr Vijay Bhatkar [Scientists], Meeran Borwankar; R C Sinha [Civil Servants] and many many more.

The interviews encapsulate the determination of a  civil servant who wanted to save the citizens of Aurangabad from a famine [ R C Sinha]. About a business leader who rebuilt his whole company from scratch after being a leader in the industry for decades [Rajiv Bajaj]. About a sports person who was so focused on his sport that the only things that mattered in his life were a billiards table and a cycle that took him to the billiards club [ Geet Sethi].

One of the most inspiring, thought provoking and captivating interviews. Money Life did a good job and compiled all the interviews in the form of a book [2 parts] and appropriately titled them : Pathbreakers.  I strongly recommend that one should read both the parts. They carry a lifetime of wisdom in them.


 [The magazine is offering a 50% discount on the price of the books. In today's times when most of the things are selling above or close to their fair values, these books carry immense value for money.]