From the Bookshelves

Former P&G India CEO Gurcharan Das on life, leadership and doing business in challenging times

Former P&G India CEO Gurcharan Das on life, leadership and doing business in challenging times

Vijay Govindarajan on fusion strategy and why India should focus on high value manufacturing

Vijay Govindarajan on fusion strategy and why India should focus on high value manufacturing

Former Tata Motors CEO Ravi Kant on the merits of leading from the back

Former Tata Motors CEO Ravi Kant on the merits of leading from the back

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni on her new book about Sudha and Narayana Murthy

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni on her new book about Sudha and Narayana Murthy

Gretchen Morgenson and Josh Rosner on how private equity can plunder the economy

Gretchen Morgenson and Josh Rosner on how private equity can plunder the economy

  • Robin Sharma on wealth, leadership, and how to separate good advice from bad

    Robin Sharma on wealth, leadership, and how to separate good advice from bad

    The author and leadership coach, known for international bestsellers The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and The 5 AM Club, speaks with Divya Shekhar about his forthcoming book The Wealth Money Can't Buy, and the relevance of self-help books in the age motivation content fatigue, thanks to social media. He also discusses why hubris takes down many great people and companies, why most CEOs and billionaires are "cash rich and happiness poor", how technology takes us away from creativity, and the secret behind how successful people separate good advice and decisions from all the noise

  • Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba on reimagining India's economic growth path

    Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba on reimagining India's economic growth path

    Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba believe that India's best days are still ahead and that the country shouldn't lose its biggest strength—democracy—by "any stretch of the imagination". In their new book, 'Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India's Economic Future', Rajan, former RBI governor, and Lamba, an economist at Pennsylvania State University, talk about why creativity and human capital should be at the centre of growth and development. They also tell Divya Shekhar why it's essential to reprioritise our resources to focus on the basics

  • In conversation with Kashmir Hill: Facial recognition technology and the end of privacy

    In conversation with Kashmir Hill: Facial recognition technology and the end of privacy

    What if I tell you there's a company that can scrape every photo you casually upload on social media? A company that uses powerful facial recognition technology in ways that even big tech companies like Google and Facebook have refrained from using. The New York Times Journalist Kashmir Hill speaks to Divya Shekhar about her book 'Your Face Belongs to Us', which investigates the inner workings of Clearview AI, a controversial facial recognition startup. She discusses the promises and perils of such technology and its impact on privacy

  • Fali Nariman on the Constitution, judiciary and the future of Indian democracy

    Fali Nariman on the Constitution, judiciary and the future of Indian democracy

    Fali Nariman is arguably the greatest living expert on the Constitution. He spoke with Divya Shekhar and Forbes India Editor Brian Carvalho about his new book 'You Must Know Your Constitution'. He discusses pertinent issues, including how the Constitution can be taken to the masses, questions around sedition and censorship, national vs official languages and whether it's time for India to have a new Constitution. (Published by Hay House Publishers India and distributed by Penguin Random House India)

  • Madhav Gadgil on India's priorities towards conservation, climate and sustainability

    Madhav Gadgil on India's priorities towards conservation, climate and sustainability

    Madhav Gadgil has worked closely with communities on the ground for environmental conservation. His contributions towards saving the Western Ghats and building an inventory to monitor biodiversity in India, among other things, have made him one of the country's most eminent field ecologists. Gadgil speaks with Divya Shekhar about his newly-released memoir, 'A Walk Up The Hill', and summarises his decades-long experience of how we interact with the environment, the role of government and bureaucracy, and why there is hope for climate-conscious action in India

  • Water in the age of climate change, with Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli

    Water in the age of climate change, with Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli

    The teachers of sustainability at the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru discuss their new book 'Shades of Blue: Connecting the Drops in India's Cities', which combines scientific rigor with anecdotes, community histories, and nostalgia to take us through water bodies across the country. The authors talk to Divya Shekhar about our complicated collective history with water, community warriors who are showing the way, whether we need to put a price on water, and how we can start rebuilding our relationship with it

  • Nagaraja Prakasam on why entrepreneurs should solve for 'Bharat', not just India

    Nagaraja Prakasam on why entrepreneurs should solve for 'Bharat', not just India

    In his book 'Back to Bharat: In Search of a Sustainable Future', impact investor Nagaraja Prakasam distinguishes between India and Bharat. For him, the word 'Bharat' means the "ignored billion" in the country. These are people, he says, that are still largely left out of the digital revolution—venture investors are mostly wary of them, and businesses stay away as they do not see profit in solving for them. Prakasam, partner, Acumen Fund, has spent his time backing social enterprises. He talks to Divya Shekhar about his new book and life choices

  • Azim Premji Foundation CEO Anurag Behar on education and stories from the ground

    Azim Premji Foundation CEO Anurag Behar on education and stories from the ground

    Anurag Behar is CEO of Azim Premji Foundation that works in the space of education and health care. In his book, 'A Matter of the Heart: Education in India', he shares a collection of essays that takes us to schools in some of the remotest villages in India. Behar leads thousands of people working across districts in India. He tells Divya Shekhar that his book is about stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary work. It also throws light on the struggles and infrastructure challenges at these schools, but at its core, the book is about voices that are inspirational and insightful

  • How can daily habits influence climate change? Aakash Ranison has an answer

    How can daily habits influence climate change? Aakash Ranison has an answer

    You might be all in on the #OOTD (outfit of the day) trend or not care about leftover food from a takeout. All this, and a multitude of small daily habits that we might not think twice about, could add to the climate burden. Digital influencer and activist Aakash Ranison attempts to decode these in his new book 'I'm a Climate Optimist'. He takes stock of various sectors—like transport, beauty, food, textile and technology—to talk about how we can be more mindful of the choices we make in our daily life and make a positive difference at an individual level

  • Durreen Shahnaz on building a stock exchange for social enterprises

    Durreen Shahnaz on building a stock exchange for social enterprises

    In her book, 'The Defiant Optimist', Durreen Shahnaz, the first Bangladeshi woman to work on Wall Street, presents a glimpse of her life and her effort to make financial markets more equitable and inclusive. She believes that financial systems that enrich the few can be transformed for the good of the many. As India is working on its social stock exchange, she talks about what it takes to build an ecosystem to measure and prioritise social impact, whether India is ready to launch an SSE, and why the rules for women to succeed are different—and often harder—than men

  • Monika Halan talks mutual funds, financial influencers and how to grow your money

    Monika Halan talks mutual funds, financial influencers and how to grow your money

    Her previous book, 'Let's Talk Money', was a national bestseller. In it, Monika Halan offered a practical approach to financial security and how we can make our wealth work for us. Her latest book, 'Let's Talk Mutual Funds', provides wealth of information on everything you need to know about investing in mutual funds. Halan also talks to Divya Shekhar about the psyche of the Indian investor, the role of financial influencers, why the government's recent move to tax debt mutual fund investments as short-term capital gains is not well-thought-through, and more