Book Release by IIMB Faculty & Alumni

“Each new book is a tremendous challenge”

–  Peter Straub

Prof. R. Vaidyanathan is a highly experienced teacher, who recently retired after being a part of the teaching staff at IIM, Bangalore for almost thirty years. He was immensely popular among his students and is a committee-member of many regulatory bodies, such as RBI, SEBI, PFRDA and IRDA. He has very recently launched a book named – ‘Black Money/Tax Havens’.

The issue of tax havens is perhaps even more misunderstood. Most people fail to see the connection between tax havens and black money. Black Money and Tax Havens is the first work that discusses both of these issues in depth and offers a 360-degree view to the reader.

In this work, Prof. R. Vaidyanathan provides the reader with a brief overview of black money—its generation, its estimates and how and why it is spirited away to tax havens. He also lays bare the danger that is posed to world financial well-being on account of the lack of political will to tackle them. A unique and timely work that packs in much information in an accessible manner.

Prof. Vaidynathan is also a part of the boards of many corporates. He comments regularly on matters concerning the nation’s economy, in a number of popular newspapers. Prof. R. Vaidyanathan is now Cho S. Ramaswamy Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Sastra University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

Find the version of this eBook on Amazon.

Tony Varghese Francis, EEP 2007, a novelist, media professional and a sought after public communicator has recently launched a book named- ‘The Autograph Seeker’.

An  alumnus of St. Xavier’s College Calcutta, Alliance Business Academy and the IIMB, he lives with his family in Bangalore. Tony was a charter member of Star Network’s Radio City when private FM came to India and the force behind Bangalore’s launch of 93.5 Red FM’s Hindi Music format. He is now a Senior Director at WPP, the world’s largest Media Investments group.

The plot of the book travels back to eighteenth-century British Calcutta and revolves around the San Souci Theatre which was once the Kohinoor of Bengal theatre but now diminished in stature and facing bankruptcy. The story runs across cultures and highlights basic yet divergent human elements such as ignorance, passion, love, and obsession. While the author claims that all the characters portrayed in the story are very lifelike, one particular relationship stands out intriguingly well enough.

The Autograph Seeker chronicles the India of the 80s and 90s through Tony’s hilarious narrative, as he and his motley gang of friends unearth the story behind the steep climb and resounding fall of what used to be the greatest theatre in the country.

This following interaction can be of a really great resource for the upcoming new writers as you get to hear a story from a successful writer on what has or hasn’t worked throughout the entire writing process.

Q: What made you to write this book (The Autograph Seeker)?

Growing up in Calcutta, structures at every corner had traces of the Colonial past, but what got me intrigued with the subject was a ‘First day Cover’. When I got hold of it, I did some digging and what I found had me fascinated. It was a story I had to tell but in an interesting way and The Autograph Seeker was conceived.

Q: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

If I need to write a happy chapter, it has to be in the morning as I notice, gloom sets into my writing by evening. Evening is great when my character are going through their struggles.

Q: How long did it take to write this book?

When my EGMP program was comin to an end at IIMB in 2008, shooting began on campus for 3 Idiots. I remember meeting director Raj Kumar Hirani a few months before the cast started staying on campus near LSQUARE.I think his Masterclass on script writing blew my mind. His tenets of creating a film scene became my commandments. Write for yourself using triffers from life. Find a Unique story Idea. Every chapter has to make you laugh, cry, or should be dramatic. It took two years to write and once it was ready, the efforts were then to get the best editor and a great publishing house to reach readers. It’s been a long journey for sure.

Q: What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

When you start of, the writing is like the initial water that flows out of a brand new water purifier. You need to throw the water away initially. It was the same initially when it came to my writing. Discipline is important. I gave us on television, going out for movies and a lot of other distractions to focus on writing. Sometimes I would finish a whole chapter in three hours and other times a page would be a struggle. You go through these phases.

Q: Has the IIMB education helped you in any way as an author?

The executive programs at IIMB is a reminder that you have to keep reinventing yourself. An MBA program done six years ago becomes irrelevant and you need to constantly reskill yourself. I think it was the combination of the friends I made here and the shift in mindset that has been the two great gifts from this institution. There something about the place that makes you want to do more. So I’m very proud to have served as the Secretary of the Alumni Association and to be part of the team to have started the IIMB Orators Toastmasters Club which is one of the longest running initiatives of the Alumni Association.

The Autograph Seeker was launched at the sixth edition of Bangalore Literature Festival on 28th October 2017, which came out to be a grand success.