A Billion Dreams: Decoding Flipkart’s Growth Story by Varadharaju Janardhanan/M.H. Bala Subrahmanya (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

14^th Book of 2024

Out of many transformations that my generation has experienced in front of them, the evolution of start-up ecosystem is one of them. And it all began with Flipkart in 2007 when E-commerce industry had just begun in India with lots of excitement and doubt among consumers. Author-duo Varadharaju Janardhanan and M. H. Bala Subrahmanya has tried to explore the whole arc of Flipkart’s development in their book named “A Billion Dreams”. This 150-pages short book also has the tagline called “Decoding Flipkart’s Growth Story”.

 

As the title of the book says, it does full justice to it by going deeper into how Flipkart managed to initiate their ecommerce startup in India where there wasn’t even access to Internet to many in the era of 2G internet. Indians, with the habit of touching and verifying products before purchasing, trusted the new website and accepted it with all the new promises the website was making. The book deeps down into the journey how Flipkart became one of the first unicorns of India in 2012 and with all its great strategies, became decacorn within 2 years itself in 2014.

 

One thing that I like about Rupa Publication is its initiative of telling such inspiring and informative stories through their short books which can be finished within a single sitting. Even being a fast read, the authors doesn’t compromise on the story and helps us understand every aspect of the business. They describe how Flipkart went through the investment spree and got big cheques from biggest investors of the world. Further, how they themselves opened a venture unit for investment in new startups themselves once they got established.

 

Similarly, it’s interesting to read one of the best strategies of Flipkart where they started acquiring businesses or getting into mergers and acquisitions to ensure that they benefit from the achievements of the other firms – either in terms of their talent pool or the logistics/network they must have created which Flipkart won’t have to create from scratch. Their Entrepreneurial culture mindset is regularly mentioned in the book which talks about how they groomed and motivated their employees in briefing new ideas which are out of the box. They either implemented the same in Flipkart or helped a group of employees create a new start-up.

 

One amazing fact about Flipkart remains that they created a work culture in such a manner that many of their employees created their own successful start-ups after leaving Flipkart and in many of these cases, Flipkart themselves turned out to be the initial investor to give them wings. This tells a lot about the leadership mindset the firm and its founders have rather than killing the dreams of their employees by adding clauses.

 

The book discusses very well on several challenges that the firm faced in the first few years and how the company found solution for each of them. It serves as a very big example for all the management folks as well as people interested in opening a start-up of their own. Authors have very intelligently added a section after every chapter called “Add To Kart” which mentions the key take-aways that we need to remember from the chapter. The book has a lot to learn from entrepreneurship aspect. I have never been an aspirant of starting something of my own but the growth story of Flipkart definitely motivated me to think something which I can own and nurture like them.

 

The only concern that I found with the book are few repetitive stories of their growth time and again which becomes boring. I feel that authors should have either gone from timeline perspective or strategy perspective and spoken about all the related events in a single space. But authors have been little confused in that sense and spoken about few elements every now and then which makes you skip few paragraphs.

 

Overall, this is a perfect book for younger children and start-up aspirants. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. Definitely recommended!

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WRITING BUDDHA

A Fly on the RBI Wall: An Insider’s View of the Central Bank by Alpana Killawala (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

  

13^th Book of 2024

Whenever it’s about Indian institutions which are regularly in news and closely linked with people’s life and country’s progress, we, the public want to know about it’s internal process- such as DRDO, ISRO, BCCI etc. Hence, it has always been an amazing experience reading APJ Abdul Kalam’s autobiography as we get an insight upon how the intelligent brains work towards creating a missile and achieving their goal through its launch. One such institution is RBI. All of us wish to know how it functions and what actually happens behind the door. Alpana Killawala’s book “A Fly on the RBI Wall” is a wonderful book in that context as authoress has worked as an RBI official on the designation of DGM and gives us her honest observations of her experience with the country’s central bank.

 

I have myself been involved with RBI and its officials while working on their software products hence while reading, I was able to relate and empathize with many scenarios that Alpana has mentioned in the book. This 223-pages memoir is a perfect page-turner as authoress has been able to narrate her work experience in a manner where you get to learn about her milestone but most importantly, you get to know about RBI’s gradual change in its mindset as well. She worked with Communications department and therefore, she mostly tells the story from that lens. Still, the fact about how RBI functions and the challenges she faced remains the same with every individual involved with the institution working in any department.

 

I am glad the way she has bifurcated her book in order to make it an exciting read for us by timelining chapters not based on her timelines but as per the Governor’s tenure. This gave her a wonderful platform for expressing how each Governor helped RBI in their own manner and how they were different from each other. Her book mentions the tenure of the following Governors- S. Venkitaramanan, C. Rangarajan, Bimal Jalan, Y. V. Reddy, Duvvuri Subbarao and Raghuram Rajan. Alpana has this wonderful way of expressing her views where she speaks about each of these Governors in a manner where she is able to tell their good and bad points without making it feel biased or demeaning. She has done it with such elegance that no one can ever raise finger on this book with respect to insulting the Central Bank or their highly respected Governors or any officials.

 

As the title of the book goes, authoress concentrates upon how she has been just a small fly in this big world of RBI where one can’t think of doing anything enough prominent to change the way RBI functions – but yet, she was able to change multiple things on her individual level by insisting upon the change. When she joined RBI, she tells how difficult times it was because of Harshad Mehta scam and the market fall that happened just after. Her frustration with the rigid style of working made her resign but she understood soon that she can’t expect things to change instantly but if persisted, can happen in few years down the line. This is what her objective as a Central Bank employee became and she conquered many of her wills by opining her thoughts in front of Governor.

 

Her sense of humor is incredible which is evident in the way she has explained many scenarios where just a sentence makes us giggle. Few silly comments or functions at RBI also makes us think how such traditional institution takes it own time in matching up with the modern way of working. A person working in a department could change so much to bring contrast in how RBI drafted circulars, amendments, press releases to how RBI governors wrote and spoke speeches to how they interacted with media and what they did beyond their working hours is enough inspiring for all the working professionals who believe that they can’t do much in the job world.

 

In the end, author also throws light upon how Rajan’s comments would irritate government and their sour relationship impacted RBI. She also brings up the topic of demonetization and explains how RBI did its job effectively despite it not being the decision-maker. Alpana also speaks up on the current Governor- Shaktikanta Das regarding how he has balanced things well in terms of communicating as a Governor and has been non-controversial till now unlike previous Governors.

 

Definitely, while reading you can sense Alpana’s inclination towards few governors but that’s understandable because you always like the Boss who gives you wings. You tend to ignore their mistakes because of professional benefits that you get. Lastly, author speaks about both- good things about RBI and what it needs to improve as an organization which stings every employee and citizens. Overall, reading this book has been an amazing experience. It teaches a lot. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA

1700 in 70 a Walk for a Cause by Gita Balakrishnan (Book Review: 3.25*/5) !!!

 

12^th Book of 2024

 

There are times when you leave any kind of physical activity and you need a great boost to get up and restart. There can be no better medium than a book to give you that push which can help your procrastinated state to moot your status quo. Thankfully, I got my hands upon 1700 in 70 by Gita Balakrishnan at the right time. This is an autobiography written by the 53-years old woman who walked 1700 kilometers in 70 days to let the world know the importance of designers and how designs can lead to betterment of citizens living with and around us.

 

This 180-pages book is a very unique work in its own sense as authoress doesn’t try to explore much about her life but gives us a glimpse of it and then begins to talk extensively about her walkathon journey. Reading about her past makes you feel uncomfortable in the beginning but it moves you because she has moved on in life after being victim to a horrific incident like rape. It is so courageous of her to talk about it and let the world know what happened with her. She also mentions how the accused came out on bail. This tells the bad state of our judiciary system and how it can make a person suffer more than the event itself.

 

Not only speaking about her walking experiences only, Gita starts the book very nicely in terms of giving us insights on how she prepared for the same in terms of physical activity, nutrition, diet, sponsorships, social media activities etc. It tells how there’s a whole lesson of management even about such events which makes us assume that the book is only about an individual activity. One great thing that authoress have taken care is about the way chapters are planned and executed. The short chapters discuss only a small segment of this long timeline which helps us understand about her 70 days long journey in parts of a week or so. The language used to narrate her tale is also reader-friendly which makes it an easy read for all the ages and class of people.

 

The illustrations in the book helps us understand the path she covered in and through multiple states of India. It makes it easy for us to understand her journey when we read the chapters as we get the visualization of the path she has covered during this endeavor. She regularly mentions the name of even the small villages, towns and cities and explains us about its locale details, cuisines, houses, constructions, issues and people. She even mentions some local people who are going through some tough activities for the betterment of their self and society as well.

 

As I have myself visited some of the places in Madhya Pradesh such as Datia, Orchha, Jhansi etc. hence I was able to comprehend the accuracy with which Gita has described all these places and their specialties. She also keeps us updated about the kind of physical and mental challenges she had to endure through this painful journey and how she overcame them regularly. It must be applauded how she doesn’t boast much about herself but maintains the tone of letting us touch her experience of this walkathon and the grit and passion that goes to make it happen.

 

Talking about the drawbacks, I only felt that authoress spoke very less about the purpose of her walk i.e. designing element and the multiple issues which the designers, artists and artisans must be going through in our country. She touches upon a few of them but this book sounds more about just the walking experience and less about the purpose of it. As a reader, I wanted to understand how a designer must be collecting details while traveling through different landscape of India but I only got a little of it. Other than this, reading the book has been a motivation and I rate it 3.25 stars out of 5.

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Sapno Ke Pankh – Choti Si Asha by Surbhi Mittal/Abhay Sahare (Book Review: 4.5*/5)!!!

 

11^th Book of 2024!

 

I read another book this weekend named “Sapno Ke Pankh – Choti Si Asha” which is written by Surbhi Mittal and Abhay Sahare. I read the Hindi version of the book as I wanted to understand how does this language entertain children through story books. I must say I am really impressed with the ease of words used by author which will help kids to understand the story and learn new words as well.

 

The book has been published by Sonalika publications who have again ensured that their children story book is written with great illustrations. This time the credit for the illustration goes to Eva Manral. I liked how she managed to illustrate all the arts and pages giving it a bit of Rajasthani traditional theme which matches perfectly with the story. Even the cover page of the book looks like a piece of art which you can hang in your bedroom.

 

The story is nicely based on a girl named Asha who loves the puppetry show she watches every day while returning to school. One day her school announces to participate in a competition where they need to present a story using a prop. She wishes to do so using a puppet but she gets upset knowing that she doesn’t have one and she might not have one due to her financial issues at home. She gets home and speaks to her grandmother about this. Eventually, how her grandma helps her achieve her target is what this story is all about.

 

The story gives a lot of lessons through its non-preachy tone and I must applaud authors with respect to how they managed to do so with such a short story. The book gives a perspective on how every kid must have a good habit out of their academic world which makes them curious and excited about learning the same art themselves as well. Author tries making children aware about the financial issues that their parents must be going through which will make them more compassionate about them and understand the difference between wants and need.

 

The story is based on a great bond that Asha shares with her grandmother which acknowledges the world-known fact of necessity of bonding between grandparents and grandchildren. Through grandmother’s ideation, book tries to teach kids about the environment-friendly alternatives they can prioritize rather than buying everything from market and adding more environment concerns. This synchronizes so well with the objective of Sonalika Publication which wishes to participate in social issues.

 

In the climax, author justifies that one can win in any competition with their efforts and not by expensive materials presented by directly procuring from market. Author herself gives a moral of the story that one needs to face a problem and find a solution rather than getting panicked. At the end of the book, there are couple of exercises and puzzles to keep children interested in solving them and get closer to the story.

 

Overall, I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. Recommended for all the kids above 3 years of age.

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WRITING BUDDHA

Tales of Different Tails - Mishti Learns to Swim by Surbhi Mittal (Book Review: 4*/5) !!!

 

10^th Book of 2024

 

If you have been following my reviews recently, you must be knowing by now that I am indulged madly in this children book series named “Tales of Different Tails” and I have finally finished all the books I had. The latest book that I finished reading is named “Mishti learns to swim” and the cover page of the book itself is so lovely that you can’t avoid the cute characters and would want to know more about them.

 

Sonalika Publications has initiated a series titled “Tales of Different Tails,” drawing inspiration from the authors' habitual zoo visits and their study of animal behaviors. They suggest that despite the significant evolutionary progress humans have made over thousands of years, there remains an element of our original monkey nature within each of us.

 

The first book in the series, "Introduction," sets the stage by explaining how the main five characters meet and come together. The second book, "Friends," focuses on one of their adventures that highlights their friendship. The third book is called "Investigation" and humorously depicts how these friends often overthink and overanalyze various situations. Finally, the 4^th book “Mishti learns to swim” talks about the fear of swimming that one of the animal friends is going through and how the rest of the friends make it easier for him.

 

An outstanding feature of this book is the unique approach of presenting the story in both English and Hindi on the same page. This is a fantastic way to teach children both languages and show them how the same content can be articulated using the correct vocabulary in each language.

 

Unlike the other books in this series, the author credited for this book is Surbhi Mittal alone whereas her children, Diya Mittal and Annant Mittal are added as adding the spirit of monkeyness to the series. The book is filled with illustrations by Sachi Shukla, who has created an animated look that mirrors what children see on television, making it easier for them to identify and relate to the animals.

 

The authors have skilfully named the animals, adding a touch of humanity to them. This story has the most words compared to all the other stories and your child will finally get to read and learn more. The language of the book is also getting slightly better as I believe author has assumed children to have learnt the basics after reading first 3 books. This book has lot of dialogues and conversation among characters which shall help kids understand how to talk with someone.

 

Author has very intellectually made children aware of the Archimedes principle giving it prominence in the story. The concept of making children learn such terms through stories is such a beautiful idea. Surbhi has also highlighted the importance of library and books through another event as well. The story is written in an entertaining manner where you will yourself feel like going to a swimming pool and enjoy water. Kids are definitely going to relate with this story and go into the world of their imagination.

 

The book mentions few difficult words used in both the languages in the end along with their meaning for increasing the vocabulary of the young readers. There are exercises for children as well similar to the previous books.

 

Overall, this is a good read and I give this book 4 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA

Tales of Different Tails - Investigation by Annant Mittal/Surbhi Mittal (Book Review: 3.5*/5) !!!

 

9^th Book of 2024

 

As soon as I started reading the new series of book “Tales of Different Tails”, I couldn’t stop and I have already completed 3^rd book of the same back-to-back. The series is meant for kids but I can vouch it for everyone that you’ll enjoy reading it even when you are a full-grown adult. Haha! The stories are unique despite having the same characters in all its books. Similarly, it makes you feel nostalgic as well.

 

Inspired by their regular trips to the zoo and the animals they observed, the authors have teamed up with Sonalika Publications to create this series. They contend that even though human beings have undergone extensive evolution over millennia, there is still a hint of our ancestral monkey-like traits in all of us.

 

The first book in this series was named “Introduction” as it is literally the introduction of this series on how the main five characters of this book came together. The 2^nd book is named “Friends” which narrates one of the tales which describes their friendship. The 3^rd book that I have just finished is named “Investigation” which is a funny take on how these friends overthink and overanalyze sometimes.

 

A standout aspect of this book is its innovative dual-language format, where stories are written in both English and Hindi on the same page. This method is an excellent tool for teaching children both languages and demonstrating how the same concepts can be expressed differently yet correctly in each language.

 

The story is authored by Annant Mittal and his mother, Surbhi Mittal, with Diya Mittal also contributing as a co-author. The book is adorned with numerous illustrations by Sachi Shukla, who has brought the animals to life with an animated style reminiscent of television, aiding children in recognizing and connecting with the characters.

 

The authors have thoughtfully named the animals, giving them a human-like quality. This story is very different than the other two stories in this series as it is more an enjoyment read without any messaging as such. Rather than teaching anything about life lessons, this story helps the young readers understand about the different nature of plants. It introduces us with a new type of carnivorous plants which eats insects as well. The investigative nature of the friends are nicely described and how one of them knowing the fact doesn’t hide it from others but help them learn it. Reading such camaraderie among the friends is a great delight and pleasing element of the story.

 

The book mentions few difficult words used in both the languages in the end along with their meaning for increasing the vocabulary of the young readers. There are exercises where the words are jumbled up which the readers will have to correct. There’s a coloring exercise as well where the readers get an opportunity to paint two of the main characters of this series.

 

Author also introduces the concept of shadow hand puppets where we can make some signs with our hands and an image of an animal shall reflect on the wall through the shadow. The last exercises helps children match animals with their respective babies and find the heavier animal of all listed on the page.

Overall, this is a good read and I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA

Tales of Different Tails - Friends by Annant Mittal/Surbhi Mittal (Book Review: 4.25*/5) !!!

 

8^th Book of 2024

 

As mentioned in my previous book review, I have been reading a series which is targeted for school-going children. Sonalika Publications has launched a new series called “Tales of Different Tails,” inspired by the authors’ frequent zoo visits and their keen observation of animal behaviour. They believe that despite humans evolving significantly over thousands of years, a trace of our primal, monkey-like nature still remains within us.

 

The first book in this series was named “Introduction” as it is literally the introduction of this series on how the main five characters of this book came together. The 2^nd book is named “Friends” which narrates one of the tales which describes their friendship.

 

One notable feature of this book is the brilliant concept of presenting stories side-by-side in English and Hindi on the same page. This approach is an excellent way to help children learn both languages and understand how the same ideas can be expressed using appropriate vocabulary in each language.

 

The story's authors are Annant Mittal and his mother, Surbhi Mittal, with a third author, Diya Mittal, also credited. The book is richly illustrated, thanks to Sachi Shukla, who has infused the illustrations with an animated style similar to what children see on television. This helps children easily recognize and relate to the animals depicted.

 

The authors have cleverly named the animals, giving them a human touch. The story teaches on how even animals stand for each other in tough times rather than leaving them alone. It teaches on how we should perceive friendship in our own lives. The book also talks of importance on planning before any activity and also ensuring that there’s both- Plan A and Plan B in case the first plan fails. Through different incidents, what animal is good in which activity is described which shall help readers understand the strength of each animal.

 

The book ends with certain exercises which explains the tough vocabulary used throughout the story. There are other activities as well where readers shall be matching opposite and rhyming words against each other and better themselves in both the languages.

 

Overall, this is a good read and I give this book 4.25 stars out of 5.

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WRITING BUDDHA