Book Release
Finding My Citadel Of Joy: My Mirror and Me – Hari Baskaran, PGP 1976
About the Book
Finding My Citadel of Joy is a candid account of a corporate executive’s rise from shaky and unsure beginnings to a successful leader. The author’s search to find himself was played out in the rough and tumble of the corporate world. Hurdles and setbacks were a stepping stones for development and progress, and the path to gaining self-assurance, confidence and inner tranquility. The author traces the twists and turns of his life with honesty and candour making it a valuable guide to managers at any stage of their career.
About the Author
Hari is a Business Leader, Mentor and Executive Coach with a long track record of achievement. He has groomed and developed high performance teams and mentored team members who now hold responsible positions in several leading companies.
Hari is an avid cyclist and trekker and is interested in photography, philosophy and travel. He enjoys participating in long distance cycling events and dedicated his last 250 km ride at the Desert 500 event, in Rajasthan, to care and rehabilitation of disadvantaged children affected by cancer. His books cover thrilling experiences of his travels across the globe; a moving account of his family all of whom are victims of cancer and a ring- side view of a path breaking outsourcing project.
Hari is an alumnus of the Indian Institute Of Management, Bangalore, India and the College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, India. He was the Executive Director in Xerox India and the Executive Vice President in HCL Infosystems Ltd. Prior to his retirement.
Hari studied at St. Mary’s Anglo Indian High School, Chennai and lived the formative years of his youth in Royapuram.
Book now available on Amazon.
The 10 New Life-Changing Skills: Get Them and Get Ahead – Rajesh Srivastava, PGP 1988
About the Book
The earlier 3 Industrial Revolutions (3IRs) created blue collar and white-collar jobs, which required people to carry out instructions, not question authority and follow time tested systems and processes.
Now, we are in the midst of the 4th Industrial revolution (4IR), also called Industry 4.0. It is creating ‘green collar’ jobs, which need people to ‘think, reflect and act’. To develop these abilities and perform the green collar jobs efficiently, it is critical that professionals develop certain skills -the 10 new life-changing skills:
1. Creativity
2. Innovation
3. Critical Thinking
4. Framing the Right Question
5. Smart Problem-Solving
6. Lifelong Learning
7. Storytelling
8. Influence Without Authority
9. Humanness
10. Entrepreneurial Spirit.
This book will introduce readers to these skills, which they can apply in their businesses and professions to come up trumps.
About the Author
Rajesh Srivastava is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore. He has over three decades of corporate and academic experience. At United Spirits (now Diageo India), he played a significant role in creating some of India’s most recognized, beloved and enduring alcohol brands that include McDowell’s Signature, Royal Challenge, Bagpiper and Blue Riband Duet. He later became the president of J.K. Helene Curtis Ltd, where he re-energized the company and the deodorant category
by relaunching Park Avenue deodorant as a perfume. Today, ‘perfume’ has become a generic benefit for the deodorant category.
Since 2008, he has directed his focus towards teaching and conducting corporate workshops. As an educator, he has taught at IIM Indore and SP Jain School of Global Management. As a corporate trainer, he has worked with prestigious companies like Siemens India, Mercedes-Benz Research Centre and Reliance Industries, among others.
Throughout his career, his writings have appeared in various publications, including Outlook, the Telegraph, Mid-Day, Business Standard and Mint.
He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Shaily, and their son, Kautuk.
Book now available on Amazon.
Kathakusumasaurabham – Nityanand Misra, PGP 2007
About the Book
Kathākusumasaurabham the ninth book by Nityānanda Miśra, a well-known Sanskrit scholar and author. The book teaches introductory Sanskrit the practical way: through short stories in Sanskrit with their Hindi and English word-for-word meanings and translations and a Sanskrit commentary. The stories chosen for the book are the 25 stories (most of them fables) in the work Kathākusumam (“the flower of stories”) of Pandit Ambikādatta Vyāsa (1858–1900). The Kathākusumasaurabham (“the fragrance of the flower of stories”) presents the 25 stories in the Kathākusumam with 9 fragrances. Āmodaḥ (“a very far-reaching fragrance”) offers word-for-word Hindi translation. Suvāsaḥ (“an agreeable fragrance”) presents Hindi prose translation. Gandhasāraḥ (“the essence of a perfume”, also a word for sandalwood) presents the essence of the story through a popular Hindi verse, aphorism or proverb. Samākarṣī (“a far-spreading fragrance”) offers word-for-word English translation. Nirhārī (“a diffusive fragrance”) has the English prose translation. Mahakkaḥ (“a wide spreading fragrance”) presents the essence of story as an English proverb or aphorism. Parimalaḥ (“an enchanting fragrance”) is the Sanskrit commentary on the story. Adhivāsaḥ (“a superior fragrance”, also a word for application of perfumes) presents the essence of the story using a Sanskrit quote or subhāṣita. Ghrāṇatarpaṇaḥ (“a nose-satisfying fragrance”) has versified summary of the story by Pandit Maheśa Jhā. In addition to the nine fragrances, each chapter has a Gandhasaṃskāraḥ (“education of fragrances”) section, which introduces the reader to inflections and conjugations of an example word and an example root from the story, and a Ghrāṇaparīkṣā (“the smelling test”) section, which has exercises that test the reader’s understanding. Each story has an illustration to pique the interest of young learners. Foreword by Prof. Radhavallabh Tripathi (in Hindi), Prof. Madhav Deshpande (in English), Prof. Balram Shukla(in Sanskrit).
About the Author
Nityananda Misra, a scholar of Sanskrit and Hinduism, is an IIM Bangalore graduate and a finance professional based in Mumbai. He is a professional onomastician who provides consultation on Sanskrit names to parents and business owners. He regularly writes commentaries on Sanskrit names on Facebook and Twitter.
Book now available on Amazon.
THE HOUSE UNDER A NEEM TREE – Pashupati Davella, PGP 1998
About the Book
Revisiting an era gone by, even if it was just a few decades ago, tells us of the sweeping changes that our country has witnessed during this period. How was it like growing up in one of the less developed parts of India, in a middle-class household during the seventies and the eighties? This was the period when things were scarce but hearts were large, opportunities were limited but dreams were big, economic inequality was less stark, but information asymmetry meant that one required that much extra effort to break through the glass ceilings and spread one’s wings.
Nostalgic to those who lived in the era, and insightful to ones who are nebulous but keep hearing about it from the earlier generation, this book covers the life and times of nearly two generations of a typical Indian family, through a hundred episodic stories. From early growing-up days to entry into professional life, dreams and progression, travel, avocations and reflections on various aspects of social-cultural aspects, it is a subtle commentary on more than 4 decades of transition. The book is semi-autobiographical, but the reader can relate to it as if it were his or her growing up days.
Book now available on Amazon.
Ardh Shatak Anubhav – Sumit Kapoor, GMAE 2016
About the Book
The experiences of our life expose us to a range of emotions and continuously shape our personality. The poems enclosed in this book are a collection of many such sentiments. This collection of poems, describing the feelings related to self-analysis, inner conflict, love, separation, respect, self-love and bravery etc., is an attempt to understand our thoughts and present them in a meaningful form.
About the Author
Wing Commander Sumit Kapoor is an alumni of the National Defense Academy and served in the Indian Air Force for 21 years. After completing Business Management Studies from IIM Bangalore, he has been working as Chief Operations Officer in an aerospace startup since 2019. In addition to writing poetry, his interests include theatre, photography and golf.
Book now available on Amazon.