People, Places, Pictures and Projects

When it was time to renew my subscription to Hindu daily, I just reminisced how the stories it carried enlivened each day in the past 6 months. It was a quick 15 minute escape into my world. More than the ephemeral news stories, there were interesting places which I would like to visit, books I would read and people whom I would like to meet and projects I would like to work for. Now and then I managed to rummage through them and retrieve items of my interest. I believe some of them might be interesting to others as well. Nevertheless, my own blog is the best place to store these clippings and go over them once in a while.

My News: People, Authors, Books

Driven by passion, not their degrees
Rashmi Bansal connects the dots, giving MBAs-turned-entrepreneurs a miss

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/07/28/stories/2010072850400100.htm

"A contemporary Indian author of instant recall thanks to her first non-fiction work, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, Rashmi loves to tell us stories of entrepreneurs who've chosen lesser known paths.

Her first book encapsulated case studies of MBAs-turned-entrepreneurs. Her second, Connect the Dots, tells you why MBA is not a pre-requisite to be a successful entrepreneur."

Rashmi herself is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. She reflects, “MBA was just an experience; it helped as a personality changing and building experience rather than the first step to find a lucrative job,” she says. Rashmi banked on her experience of writing for newspapers and started a youth magazine, JAM (Just Another Magajine). Through Connect the Dots, she intends to make youngsters think if they really require the big investment called MBA. The book chronicles success stories of 20 entrepreneurs in different age groups from different parts of India. 

“We often hear people wondering how any business can flourish in Bihar. Interestingly, I found Satyajit Singh whose business of the makhana fruit and its products has helped many farmers in the region. Today, he is the President of CII in Bihar. Then, there is Kalyan Varma who traded a lucrative IT job for a career in wildlife photography (reminds you of Madhavan's character in 3 Idiots?),” she says. The choice of stories, Rashmi explains, is a mosaic where heads of Rs. 500 and 300 crore empires are placed against individuals. “Not everyone heads a company with 10,000 employees but can still have interesting, inspiring stories. There's a young woman who has a hand-made paper business, where the paper came from elephant dung!”