Anand Kumar, a mathematics prodigy, defied all challenges to set up one of the most successful and innovative teaching initiatives in the world-Super 30.
Born in Chandipur Bela, Patna, Anand secured a place in Cambridge University but couldn’t attend because he had no money and sold papads in the evenings instead. He dealt with his own disappointment by setting up an innovative school in 2002 to prepare underprivileged students for the IIT JEE examination. Super 30 has an astonishing success rate and on an average, twenty-seven to twenty-eight of the thirty students crack the exam every year.
Stirring and heart-wrenching, this is the extraordinary story of a visionary who has elevated these bright sparks and, through education, given them hope to rise above crippling poverty.
Archives: Books
She Swiped Right into My Heart
If you’ve never had friends, you’ve never really lived
Geet, one of the most unpopular girls in college, is best friends with the beautiful and sought-after Shibani. To win the popularity vote, Geet takes the help of college hottie Rudra, who agrees to act as her ‘boyfriend’-he sees an opportunity to get closer to Shibani. Little does he know that Shibani has been harbouring feelings for someone else all along.
As misunderstandings and jealousies take centre stage, Geet must make a decision that will affect not just her own life, but also those of her loved ones.
She Swiped Right into My Heart is a story about love-gained and lost-and the healing power of friendship.
How About A Sin Tonight
In the biggest casting coup of the Hindi film industry, five top stars are signed up for a new movie: Shahraan, a living legend still lamenting the loss of his first love; Reva and Neev, newcomers allied in a common journey; Nishani, the celebrity kid who must avenge her father’s untimely death; and Kaash, the actor harbouring a secret love from his past. As their intimately intertwined personal stories take centre stage, the industry’s underbelly is left exposed for all to see. By the time the curtain draws to a close, the gossip-hungry media has enough fodder on its plate to last a lifetime.
Novoneel Chakraborty, bestselling author of the Stranger trilogy, unveils the grime behind the glitz, the insecurities and compromises, in a world where aspirants come prepared to strike a Faustian bargain. A beguiling tale of love, ambition, jealousy and betrayal, How About a Sin Tonight? will leave you asking for more.
Bandhan
This is the story of Bandhan, the only bank that emerged in eastern India after Independence. Founded by the son of a sweet vendor, with a mere Rs 2 lakh, the sum total of his life savings.
On 17 June, 2015, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh stepped out of the Reserve Bank of India building in Mumbai with the much-coveted banking licence, beating some of the country’s top corporate houses. This moment compensated for all the frustrations that had come along the way. A year later, Bandhan Bank was launched with 6.7 million small borrowers.
So, how did Ghosh build India’s biggest MFI from scratch and then, along with his team, transform it into a universal bank? Bandhan: The Making of a Bank chronicles that journey.
This is also Ghosh’s personal story-of a boy growing up in small-town Agartala struggling with poverty, but relentless in his ambition to make it big. He battles competition, hostile moneylenders, a tough economic climate and the perpetual lack of resources. Nobody in India perhaps knows better than him the psyche of a small borrower and the alchemy of doing business with the poor, profitably.
This is one of India’s biggest entrepreneurial stories.
Ex
To get to his heart, she seduced his mind
What will you do if one day a svelte and sexy girl comes up to you and says she is your ex? And the only thing you know about her is that you don’t know anything about her.
Neel, an aspiring author, meets Nivrita at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Though Nivrita says she is his ex, he remembers nothing, and yet everything about her seems to lure him to unravel the mystery she personifies. The more he is drawn to her, the more Neel feels guilty because he is already in a steady relationship with Titiksha, the love of his life.
When Nivrita makes a tempting offer to Neel, which he accepts for his own good, his life slowly begins to spiral out of control while Titiksha starts turning into a stranger until Neel realizes there’s much more than his eyes can see and his mind can recollect.
Novoneel Chakraborty, bestselling author of A Thing beyond Forever, That Kiss in the Rain and How About a Sin Tonight? brings forth yet another poignant story, twisted in essence. Ex will make you your jaw drop wide open.
Secretly Yours
Everyone has secrets . . . but is hers the most shocking?
Orphaned at birth, seventeen-year-old Sahil has always blamed himself for his parents’ death. He has little interest in life until he meets the enigmatic Anya in a chance encounter during the Shimla fest. Soon he falls head over heels in love with her, but Anya doesn’t reciprocate his feelings.
An accident leaves him in a coma and when he wakes up he makes a startling discovery-he can read minds! Now he can find out what goes on in Anya’s mind and maybe, just maybe, make her fall in love with him. But is Anya all she seems? Or is she hiding something?
Deliciously plotted, full of morbid secrets and startling revelations, Secretly Yours will make you question what you see and who you trust.
Entrepreneurship Simplified
One of the most exciting feelings in the world is when you take the leap to become an entrepreneur and launch your own start-up. However, there are a couple of obvious questions that come to your mind when you take that entrepreneurial plunge: What are the things you should plan ahead for? What are the pitfalls you need to watch out for?
In Entrepreneurship Simplified, Ashok Soota and S.R. Gopalan not only answer these questions but also distil their decades of experience into a concise, comprehensive and practical guide for every aspiring entrepreneur, as well as for those who have already embarked on their entrepreneurial journey. From idea generation and validation to raising funds and dealing with VCs, from building the organization and its mission, vision and values, defining a business and marketing strategy to creating and sharing wealth and, finally, taking your company public through an IPO – Soota and Gopalan discuss the entire gamut of the entrepreneurial experience.
Full of anecdotes, practical wisdom and key takeaways, Entrepreneurship Simplified is the definitive book on the subject that replicates the passion, fun and sense of fulfilment that accompany the start-up adventure.
Inside Chanakya’s Mind
Chanakya was one of the best strategic thinkers of the world. In the fourth century BC, he wrote the Arthashastra, an unrivalled political treatise that has since been used by leaders across the globe. In Inside Chanakya’s Mind, for the first time, Radhakrishnan Pillai, the bestselling author of Corporate Chanakya, will distil Chanakya’s age-old wisdom on how to think to the masses through his practical and innovative approach.
The Case of the Bonsai Manager
The Case of the Bonsai Manager is the perfect antidote for managers who feels they are not achieving their full potential.Effective leadership is not just about hard facts but also about listening to, and using, your intuition. Using anecdotes from nature and the world of management, R.Gopalakrishnan explores how you can be more intuitive, inclusive and humane.
The revised and updated edition of this bestselling book, with its easy to read anecdotal style, adds additional material to re-enforce the key messages, including a new self-help workbook.
How to Be a Mathemagician
Mathematics is an integral part of our life but many of us think of it only as a subject to be studied in school or college. In this book, Aditi and Sudhir Singhal, renowned maths educators, demystify mathematical principles and outline fascinating, fun and easy-to-learn techniques to excel in this field. Divided into two parts, How to Be a Mathemagician is a double-sided book (flip the book around to switch between sections!) that packs twice the punch, with one section containing tricks and delightful activities, and the other stimulating problem-solving steps to simplify calculations, quirky maths facts and much more.
Meant for all age groups-students, teachers and parents alike, How to Be a Mathemagician will make you fall in love with the world of numbers.