Winners don’t do different things. They do things differently.
- You Can Win, Shiva Khera
This book presents each person as a winner or someone who has the ability to win. However, human values and sentiments are of equal importance as you pave your own road to success. These lines are quite inspirational. Nobody’s born special or better than anybody else. But it’s your own choices and decisions that take you where you are, and more importantly, succeed in keeping you there.[break]
Photo: Bhaswor Ojha
There is this one particularly touching story in the book that often comes to my mind. It’s about two friends. Both are soldiers. They are fighting in a war. Unfortunately, one of them gets shot and is mortally injured. Now, their commander, believing that it would weaken the other soldier’s spirits, forbids him from meeting his dying friend. But the soldier defies the commander’s orders and goes to his friend who is very happy to see him before he breathes his last. Upon returning, his commander asks him what good it did to him to go and see a man on his deathbed. The soldier answers that it was worth the world’s wealth since he was able to fulfill his best friend’s last wish.
This book had created a great hype in the market at one point of time. This is not a typical novel with a single theme. It is, in fact, a collection of some truly wonderful stories. They motivate you to strive to become not just a skillful manager but also a good human being. Without sounding boring or routinely didactic, they teach you the right attitude to deal with the world and its affairs. Someone had recommended it to me in 2004. And after I had finished reading it, I was so inspired that I wrote a few articles on it. Moreover, I was so happy with them that I had even got them published. I’m the kind of person who is more into watching movies than reading books or writing about them. Therefore, it had been a matter of pleasant surprise for everyone around me. In a way, “You Can Win” taught me the value of reading.
About Agrawal
Agrawal has been the Director of Himalaya Television ever since it started, which is, for the past three years. He likes to compare this experience with that of a rollercoaster ride. He has traveled to many parts of the world: Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Singapore, and Europe. He always makes it a point to google or read about the places before he actually visits them. He has always been fond of gaining knowledge about different people, cuisines and cultures. He believes that reading and traveling are a much better way of educating oneself than the rote-learning methods used in classrooms via school textbooks.
Also a student of eMBA at Ace Institute of Management, he juggles his work expertly with his studies and hobbies. A great movie buff, he watches a movie whenever he’s free. He’s also appreciative of the books that many movies are originally based on. “The Godfather” written by Mario Puzo and the classic movie based on it, starring Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, top his list of all-time favorites. If movies are the best way to unwind, he thinks, books are the best way to learn, unlearn and relearn. The more you read, the more you come to terms with life, the world and everything that’s there to know.
Agrawal loves interacting with new people; and being associated with media gives him opportunities to do exactly that. Working as the head of a television channel and lending a helping hand in his family business of carpet export, he’s one of the youngest faces in the world of business today. His future plans include coming up with more industries and taking Himalaya Television to new heights. He also plans to read more and travel more. An enthusiastic trekker and an avid lover of simple dal, bhat, tarkari, he concludes that books lead you inward on an intellectual journey just like travel takes you out on a physical one.
Agrawal’s five picks
Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat
It’s basically a fun book for some light reading. But the issue it raises is of utmost importance. The education system in our part of the world is still rigid and traditional. From an early age, we’re taught to fret over our grades. Our caliber is judged on the basis of the marks that we score in the exams. There’s little room for originality and creativity. These issues may sound really simple but are actually quite serious. And they have been dealt with interestingly in this novel with a nice touch of humor.
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
One may call it a chick lit or a candy floss romance, but I find it to be a beautifully written book. Romance is at the core of the story but there’s so much more to it than merely that. It’s very humane and natural. Deep down, everyone harbors a desire to love and be loved in return. Everyone wants a healthy and happy life. But things don’t always go right. The book shows us how to make them right even if they aren’t. It teaches us how to face life and death with a brave smile and find reasons to live on even during the darkest of hours.
The Best Year of Your Life by Debbie Ford
It’s an amazing and inspirational read. Most people are always complaining about the things that happened in the past. Many others are always worried about the days to come. It’s this constant battle between the past and the future that ruins the most beautiful time – the present. Our today is the bridge between all our yesterdays and tomorrows. And ironically, we’re so engaged in what has already happened and can’t be changed and what may happen and still can’t be changed that we care little about what’s actually in our hands at the moment. This idea of living in the moment has been expressed effectively in this book.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
This novella tells the story of a man who is sent to prison for the double murder of his adulterous wife and her lover. Once he’s behind the bars, he befriends his fellow prison mates and even the cops. After staying in the prison for many years, he finally escapes through a man-sized hole on the prison wall covered by a poster of an actress. It’s the same hole that he had been digging for a long time. The story ends with him being free and one of his friends from the prison released on parole following his directions to join him in Mexico.
The Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler
This is a business-related book but it’s hardly a dry course book filled with facts and figures. It is, in fact, full of interesting little stories. All of them unfold the principles of marketing and the theoretical framework behind how the world of business operates in reality. They portray the behaviors and attitudes of the consumers and the producers and how they react to certain kinds of changes in the market. These short stories and case studies help the readers gain a better and a more convenient understanding about commerce, market, production of goods and their consumption.
As told to Nitya Pandey
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