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Catagory: Non Fiction

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The Solutions Factory

A must-read for Indian consultants and managers from the management expert Arun Maira!

In The Solutions Factory, Arun Maira digs deep into his experiences as a consultant and presents twenty human-led business stories that cover all kinds of problem-solving techniques told through carefully picked personal experiences and anecdotes. By distilling the essence of the work that consultants do, he offers a management handbook that is unique to Indian business practices. From cultural understanding to communication skills, this book illustrates the applicability of simple tips for a diverse range of business roles and levels.

Maira’s down-to-earth and insightful approach, keenly oriented towards respectful and ethical business practices, illustrates his signature mix of idealism and ­pragmatis­m-be it is about managing an unexpected crisis or about learning more about another company’s culture. In this age of financial uncertainty due to the pandemic, a book like this is as essential for small-business owners as it is for the heads of major corporations. Maira’s focus on excellence through ethics, success through learning, and valuation through value brings to the fore his people-centric and back-to-basics approach-an approach that every modern corporation will need in order to prepare for the future ahead of us.

Congress Radio

‘This is the Congress Radio calling on 42.34 metres from somewhere in India,’ Usha Mehta’s voice rang defiant and clear to the entire country on a ghost transmitter. These words would come to reverberate across the struggle for Indian independence.

It was August 1942. The Quit India Movement had just been launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi. Inspired by his rallying cry, the twenty-two-year-old student of Wilson College stumbled upon the idea to start an underground radio station to cut through the imperial din of the government’s mouthpiece, the All India Radio. Risking it all for country in the face of crackdown, Mehta and her intrepid co-conspirators filled Indian airwaves with the heady zeal of rebellion.

The clandestine station-Congress Radio-broadcast recorded messages from Gandhi and other prominent leaders to devoted followers of the freedom struggle. Moving from location to location to dodge authorities, reporting on events from Chittagong to Jamshedpur, the radio station fought the propaganda and disinformation of the colonial government for three months-until their arrest and imprisonment in November of the same year.
In this riveting account, Usha Thakkar brings to life this high-voltage tale of derring-do, complete with stouthearted revolutionaries, thrilling escapes and a cruel betrayal, through the extraordinary story of Usha Mehta, the woman who briefly became, quite literally, the voice of the resistance.

Sach Kahoon Toh : Meri Aatmkatha

In Sach Kahun Toh, actor Neena Gupta chronicles her extraordinary personal and professional journey-from her childhood days in Delhi’s Karol Bagh, through her time at the National School of Drama, to moving to Bombay in the 1980s and dealing with the struggles to find work. It details the big milestones in her life, her unconventional pregnancy and single parenthood, and a successful second innings in Bollywood. A candid, self-deprecating portrait of the person
behind the persona, it talks about her life’s many choices, battling stereotypes, then and now, and how she may not be as unconventional as people think her to be.

Broke to Breakthrough

Broke to Breakthrough is a business biography of India’s largest dairy products company – Hatsun Agro – and its founder R.G. Chandramogan.
Hailing from Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, Chandramogan started this venture in 1970 as a twenty-one-year-old, making ice candies with three people in a 250 sq. ft. rented place and selling in pushcarts. By the mid-1980s, ‘Arun’ ice cream had become the market leader in the state. But Chandramogan didn’t stop at that – he branched into the dairy business by leveraging his brand-building experience with ‘Arun’ and forging connections with farmers.
Thus was born Hatsun Agro Product. It is today a Rs 5,500 crore-plus company that also has pioneered a unique model of directly procuring milk from over 4 lakh farmers (B2F) and selling only branded consumer-facing products (B2C).

NANA

‘Nana’ encompasses the unfiltered insight of a great yogi, who had a habit of penning down his thoughts each day. Indebted forever to him for this habit, we have him showing us light even long after his departure.
A table-top book that demands to be read just one page at a time, it strives to transform lives rather than just adding to the spiritual knowledge of individuals.
We hope this translation changes your lives the same way it changed ours.

Everyday Yoga

In the past few years, the popularity of yoga as the ultimate key to fitness, both physical and mental, has resulted in a plethora of books, videos and audio tapes designed to guide a learner through the various asanas prescribed by the Yogasutra. Everyday Yoga goes one step further by telling you not merely how to practise an asana the right way to maximum effect, but also how best to share your knowledge and teach others the theory and practice of yoga. It is like a textbook in its approach: lesson by lesson, you are introduced first to the basics and then to the more advanced levels of practice. Alongside the text, the illustrations allow you to understand exactly how the body should be moved and positioned without fear of error or injury. Crucially, there is also a clear exposition of the benefits to be drawn from each asana, and details of how best to get relief from common problems like backache, diabetes and arthritis through yoga. Other useful information includes notes on the ideal time for practising an asana, the right clothes to be worn and the right diet for the yoga practitioner. Easily one of the best and most comprehensive handbooks on the ancient Indian science of health, Everyday Yoga is a classic in its own right.

Brand Activism

What happens when businesses and their customers don’t share the same values? Or, for that matter, when employees of a company don’t share the same values as their executives? Welcome to the world of Brand Activism.
Companies no longer have a choice. Brand Activism consists of business efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to promote or impede improvements in society. It is driven by a fundamental concern for the biggest and most urgent problems facing society.
Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action is about how progressive businesses are taking stands to create a better world.

Pratidin Ayurveda : Daily Habits Can Change Your Life

Do you sometimes feel tired, lethargic and spiritless? How can Ayurveda help in a simple, practisable manner?
Time is scarce and precious in today’s world, and we seek solutions that are quick. While allopathic medicine tends to focus on the management of disease, the ancient study of dinacharya provides us with holistic knowledge of preventing
disease and eliminating its root cause.
Taking us through a day in the life of Ayurveda living, Dr Bhaswati Bhattacharya illustrates the core principles of Ayurveda and shows us how to incorporate these in our routine. She explains the logic behind the changes she
recommends and how they benefit us. Informative and accessible, Everyday Ayurveda is the perfect lifestyle guide designed to maximize health, longevity and happiness the natural way.

Praise for Everyday Ayurveda
‘Dr Bhaswati has written a book that will help resurrect the knowledge I grew up on, using scientific logic for modern scientists, and slokas for ancient scientists and observers. Her writing will appeal to the intelligent seeker dedicated to achieving a good life using conscious self-care, attention to healthy habits and respect for the wisdom of the ancients.’-Shashi Tharoor, member of parliament

‘Bhaswati combines her talents as a healer with passion for sharing truly healing medicine. She has written from the song in her heart that celebrates light, sound and connection with nature.’-Pandits Rajan and Sajan Misra, Padma Bhushan recipients and classical Hindustani vocalists of the Banaras Gharana

‘Bhaswati is uniquely able to diagnose like good medical doctors of the past, watching the patient rather than the test result. With a person-centered approach, this book is a tribute to Ayurveda and explains why we should pay
more attention to the signals our bodies give us.’-Ashok H. Advani, founder publisher, The Business India Group

‘Bhaswati has preserved the Sanskrit from which dinacharya emanates. Through her unending curiosity and dedication as a well-trained physician, scientist and professor, she has brought basic concepts of Ayurveda to light. She has toiled and delved deeply with engaging clarity, a fine mind and an extraordinarily connected soul. She teaches Ayurveda authentically because it is in her heart.’- Dr Vd. Chandrabhushan Jha, former dean, faculty of Ayurveda, Banaras Hindu University and professor emeritus of Rasa Shastra

‘Ancient Ayurvedic rishis developed dinacharya, a way of maintaining normal body rhythms and staying healthy. Assisted by logic and personal accounts, Dr Bhaswati brings dinacharya alive in this book and reinforces its importance and necessity, especially in busy lives.’-Vd. Partap Chauhan, founder of Jiva Ayurveda

‘Dr Bhaswati unlocks the age-old tenets of Ayurveda contained in cryptic Sanskrit verses. Her strong roots in tradition and willingness to branch out to the modern world make this book precious, like any true vidya.’-Dr. PR
Krishnakumar, Padma Shree recipient and managing director, Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore)

‘As a fellow Fulbright Scholar, I have witnessed Dr Bhaswati devote her life to researching and preserving Ayurveda, and bringing it back to the hands and hearts of people.’-Gautam Gandhi, former head of new business development,
Google India

The Power of Ignorance

“The wise man knows he doesn’t know. The fool doesn’t know he doesn’t know.” – Lao Tzu

What’s the most important step in fixing a puncture? It isn’t jacking up the car, or taking the wheel off, or finding the puncture.

There’s something more fundamental than any of those. Something without which you can’t even begin to fix a puncture.

The most important step is finding out you’ve got a puncture. Without that you can’t do anything. Instead of saying, “It’s just a bit bumpy, must be the road,” and carrying on, you must acknowledge that something has changed and you don’t know what that is.

If you don’t admit you don’t know what’s happening, you can never find out. If you don’t find out, you can never change it. The most important step, always, is admitting you don’t know. That’s the power of ignorance.

In this latest collection of real-life stories, Dave Trott provides lessons about problem solving and creative thinking that can be applied in advertising, business, and the wider world.

How I Invest My Money

The world of investing normally sees experts telling us the “right” way to manage our money. But how often do these experts pull back the curtain and tell us how they invest their own money? Never. How I Invest My Money changes that.

In this unprecedented collection, 25 financial experts share how they navigate markets with their own capital. In this honest rendering of how they invest, save, spend, give, and borrow, this group of portfolio managers, financial advisors, venture capitalists and other experts detail the “how” and the “why” of their investments. They share stories about their childhood, their families, the struggles they face and the aspirations they hold. Sometimes raw, always revealing, these stories detail the indelible relationship between our money and our values.

Taken as a whole, these essays powerfully demonstrate that there is no single “right” way to save, spend, and invest. We see a kaleidoscope of perspectives on stocks, bonds, real assets, funds, charity, and other means of achieving the life one desires. With engaging illustrations throughout by Carl Richards, How I Invest My Money inspires readers to think creatively about their financial decisions and how money figures in the broader quest for a contented life.

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