Take Me Home

I was always fascinated to know how businesses work, how do you build a company earning hundreds and thousands of crores in revenues, the way they start building one thing at a time, the way they manage it. I was in Std. 9^th when I knew there happens to be an author who writes such stuff, about the building of an empire which would stand strong for days to come and how do they do it. Her name was Rashmi Bansal. I went to the closest Crossword and searched for her books there, I found a recent launch titled ‘I have a dream’. I flipped through the pages and understood nothing, maybe I was too young to read her books or maybe I had less intellect than students of my age are supposed to have. Whatever, I bought a novel instead. Three years past then, I bought a book called ‘Take Me Home’, by the same author. And I must say, there are stories unsaid, there are heroes unsung and there is so much to learn from them, to get inspired from them and make a difference. 20 real life stories, all set in India, in places so remote, still so impactful. Each story promises to give you a brief of their lives, about their hardships, about their character and of course about the businesses they handle. It feels so proud to know that these people made it happen despite the odds they faced. Some of them barely know English and they handle businesses of over 1000 crores, it is not the ability of not knowing something and still doing something out of it, it is the ability of not letting that hamper your dreams. And that resonates with ever story she (Rashmi Bansal) perfectly tells. Stories are categorized in three sections based on the similarities they pose and it serves its purpose best – to make you realize which category you belong to. Your thinking changes after you complete the book, after the stories that you read made you feel they did it so why can’t I. There is a section called ‘Advice to young entrepreneurs’ after each story by the same person whose story it was which summarizes the whole wisdom of their lives in few simple powerful paragraphs. The author too adds lines which kindles that small hidden spark in you. Flip through the book and you’ll find quotations in bold, even that makes you re-read the whole story again. By the time you end the book, you’ll feel as nice as the people in twenty stories combined. Do read it, all her books. And give your feedbacks direct to the author, she is so kind she’ll reply. I myself got three lovely replies from her, on twitter. Yaay!

Follow Rashmi Bansal on twitter

Posted by Aditya