Book review: Go Kiss the World

Author: Subroto Bagchi
Publisher: Penguin Portfolio
Price: Rs 399
Pages: 239

With a title like this one, it would be hard to miss this book. Why should a book for your professionals be named, Go Kiss the World? Probably, because it glues your eyeballs to itscover, or maybe because it's not the run-of-the-mill kind of title for a management guide. Or, probably because they were last words spoken by author-entrepreneur Subroto Bagchi's blind mother.

Go Kiss the World describes Bagchi's journey from his early days in Patnagarh in Orissa to to eventually co-founding the multi-million dollar MindTree, one of India’s most admired software services companies. The book's largely autobiographical but it goes much beyond Bagchi's own story.

He talks about his family - of his father's job as a tehsildar in small-town Orissa, the role his brothers played in his life in shaping his personality, how he almost got into the armed forces, his setbacks while working as a trainee at the secretariat in Bhubaneshwar, his years at the Delhi Cloth Mills (DCM) and the men who ran the "business like a spiritual dictator".

He draws parallels between Jonathan Livingston Seagull and his early days as a salesman at HCL which were uncomfortable. He talks of his first stint as an entrepreneur with Project.21 way back in 1985, at a time when "the country's annual computer offtake would be counted in hundreds". But it was at Wipro where Bagchi found his feet and help turn Wipro around from a mini-computer manufacturer to a global software giant. He credits his experiences at Wipro that led him to start the global IT solutions company, MindTree.

In the last chapter of the book, he enlists “the important lessons I’ve learnt in my life”, where he stresses on believing in yourself and the need to connect with people however ‘marginal’ they may seem to be.

The book makes for an interesting and inspiring read. That someone from the backlands of Orissa could go on to found one of India's global IT firms is indeed remarkable. Bagchi's done well to not just highlight his successes but also his failures. That's the mark of a good leader. The book's high on technology so it may be a little difficult for lay readers to grasp. Yet, its human element - Bagchi's childhood of little material means but great contentment, his brothers mentoring him and him trying to quieten his children as he worked from a home office for Wipro in California - touch a chord.

Thoughtfully, the author has drawn up a list of books - some of which have been quoted in the text - for his readers. Few writers think of giving something more than a story. For Bagchi, the book's not a PR device; it's more of a sign of contentment and fulfillment. Cheers to that!