Incredible India: Nation of Faith, Values & Logic, Anandshankar Pandya, Spiritual Mantra, Pp 300, Rs 499.00
Pramod Kumar
Indians have achieved a niche everywhere. They are players at the global level, make waves in their respective fields and force the world to sit up and take notice. For them sky is the limit now. Not only the scientists and software engineers, Indian entrepreneurs and managers are making their presence felt in commercial metropolises across the globe. At home too, India is increasingly becoming a top global innovator for high-tech products and services. A recent study by World Bank finds that 300 multinational corporations have set up Research and Development and technical centres in India. Hundreds more have their plans to move in coming days.
This is the picture of modern world. Even in the past India has been the epicenter of world’s trading system for over 2000 years. In many other fields also we were pioneer. Our ancient thinkers were not only scientists and mathematicians, but deeply religious and esteemed saints of their time. While it may surprise some to think of religious sages as mundane scientists, the Indian view is that religion and science are two sides of the same coin.
There is general impression among the scholars abroad, and even among educated Indians also, that our heritage, as enshrined in ancient works, is primarily religio-philosophical, because our rich heritage is scattered in several works. These works are in Sanskrit and Pali, the languages which are not currently in use by the younger generation. Hence, we are disregarding our great heritage and looking to the West for all guidance.
This situation pains many in India. One among such people is Shri Anandshankar Pandya of Mumbai, who devoted many years to compile the fascinating and great works done by Indians in the past or being done today all over the world. In his 300 pages book, Incredible India: National Faith , Values & Logic, published by Spiritual Mantra, Mumbai, Shri Pandya acquaints the readers with rich Indian heritage starting from the innovation of zero, value of Pi, decimal system, geometry and trigonometry, architecture, Vastushastra, great Indian sages and their work.
Very few people know that Indians were the first to give the world architectural marvels of advance urban planning and drainage system. Indian Vastu Shastra gives the mystic science of designing and building for overall welfare of the universe. Sushruta, the father of surgery, was the first to give the world the knowledge of surgery. Similarly, Ayurveda was the one of the greatest achievements of ancient Indians in the field of medicine. Gautama Baudhayana is the world’s first known mathematician. Equally, Indians were the first to know the size, shape and rotation of earth about 1000 years before Kelvin, Galileo, Newton and Coppernicus could know it. Sage Parashara is known as the father of Vedic astrology. We were the first to formulate ideas about the atom. Similarly, Newton’s law of gravitational force is an ancient Indian discovery. The list of such innovations is endless. Shri Pandya beautifully compiled all these facts in his mutli-colour work, published in 2010.
Starting from architectural Indian marvels, Shri Pandya gives brief and crisp information about Indian festivals, India’s contribution to science and technology worldwide, how Indians excelled in abroad, India’s contribution in religion and culture, India’s freedom fighters, India’s famous leaders and social reformers, famous police and military personnel, emperors and kings, spiritual gurus, classical dancers, classical musicians and singers, poets, writers and painters, entrepreneurs, sportspersons and finally the film personalities.
For one who wants to know India in one sitting, the book is highly useful. Printed on glossy paper the multi-colour book is light reading and apart from the text, it also provides the relevant pictures. For the Indians living abroad the book opens a window of treasure.
Innovative entrepreneurship leads to growth
Entrepreneurship Development in India: Emergence from Local to Global Business Leadership, Noboru Tabe & Somu Giriappa, Kalpaz Publications, Pp 333, Rs 990.00
India is fast emerging as a business leader in a few selected sectors and this book discusses these emerging fields as indicators of the growing technological and entrepreneurial advantage of the country.
With the advent of technological and digital revolution, the concept of entrepreneurship has undergone a radical change from the traditional view of risk taking to the modern dilemma of ‘innovate and perish’. At the same time, it has emerged as the fulcrum of development in every field of human endeavour, ushering in different types of entrepreneurship in every field of activities. The book’s prime message is that only after the emergence of innovative entrepreneurship that the world has been witnessing growth in per capita income and economic welfare and had there not been innovators, the world would have been “enmeshed in the 17th century dirigiste and mercantile conundrums.”
Since each chapter is complete in itself, a chapter-wise review of the book is being presented.
The first chapter expounds different theories of entrepreneurship covering economic, managerial, sociological and psychological perspectives while assessing various models of entrepreneurship, such as occupational choices, trading of risks and returns, symmetric information, etc.
Chapter 2 explains the evolution of entrepreneurship in India with reference to pre-colonial, colonial, Independence and recent periods, focusing on the recurrent business prospects of different business communities.
The third chapter showcases the Chinese and Korean entrepreneurship development, especially that of POSCO Steels of South Korea and of Tata Steel of India.
Chapter 4 recounts the growth of information technology in India and how the entrepreneurs in IT have taken to the sector to global heights, especially as seen in the software industry in Bengaluru.
The fifth chapter discusses developments in bio-pharmacy and bio-agriculture segments, besides bio-energy and international collaboration in biotechnology.
Chapter 6 enumerates the growth of major family houses like the Tatas, the Birlas, the Ambanis, the Bajajs, Bharatis, Godrej, etc.
Chapter 7 showcases the growth of entrepreneurship in small and medium enterprises with special reference to the Indian automobile industry, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The eighth chapter discuses different types of enterprises and developments seen in social entrepreneurship; ecological entrepreneurship; public entrepreneurship; institutional entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurship, while citing case studies wherever required.
Chapter 9 throws light on various types of innovations, focusing on radical innovations that have transformed the modern world by showing the “flying geese theory”. The “lead goose theory” spearheading innovations and regional conglomeration in Asia is explained where India takes the lead from Japan. Business opportunities in different countries are compared with reference to recent developments in the IT sector and the development of intra-partnership.
Chapter 10 recounts entrepreneurship in retrospective by comparing the recent global competitiveness index and India’s status in it.
The final conclusion drawn by the author from these observations is that modernising the small and medium industrial sector towards sustainability and case studying success stories of entrepreneurship in other systems can provide a new lease of life to the life and practices of entrepreneurship in the country. The author’s overall message is “Look South because it is most likely that Asia has the potential leadership to change the global business scenario in the future to come.” —Manju Gupta
Books Received
The Cosmic Clues by Manjiri Prabhu Jaico Publishing House, Rs 299, Pp 315, A-2, Jash Chambers, 7-A, Sir Phirozshah Mehta Road, Fort, Mumbai: 400 001
Hum Honge Kamyab Ek Din “Lekin Kb” by Sujit Kumar, Kalpaz, Rs150, Pp 80, Gyan Books Pvt Ltd. 5 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi :110 002
Desperate Men and Women by B Rangrao, Kalpaz ,Rs 450, Pp 112, Gyan Books Pvt. Ltd. 5 Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi :110 002
Socialism, Sarvodaya and Democracy by MN Roy, JP Narayan and JB Kripalani, Rs 900, Pp 302 Gyan Books Pvt. Ltd. 5 Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi :110 002
Stay Smart 100 Exercises to keep your brain sharp by Charles Phillips, Rs 150, Pp136 Orient Publishing, 5A/8, Ansari Road, First Floor, Daryaganj, New Delhi:110 002
