"Stay Hungry Stay Foolish" :: A Book Review

Nongmaithem Rakesh *

REVIEW OF STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH

People are intrigue about the ways of entrepreneur. Entrepreneur are rare breed of human being. Their lives are mysterious to laymen. What are the stuffs that made an entrepreneur.

Whether entrepreneur are born or are they made? What are the requisite quailities of an entrepreneur? Are they born rich or poor? These are some of the questions that have trouble the minds of almost everyone.

The book "STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH" attempts to answer all these queries. It tries to familiarise the reader with some of the Indian entrepreneurs and it is successful in this noble endeavour. It has been put to black and white by Rashmi Bansal. She is an entrepreneur herself, writer and youth expert. She is the founder of a popular youth magazine ''JAM (Just Another Magazine)". She is also the writer of other bestseller like Connect the Dots, I Have a Dream, and Poor Little Rich Slum. You can expect only the best from such a multi talented person.

STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH is the short yet very informative biographies of 25 Indian entrepreneurs that had made their life unique. These entrepreneurs are all the alumni of Indian institute of Management, Ahmedabad. That is one of the common characteristics among these entrepreneurs. The second common feature is that they are passionate about their dream.

Quite literally, they sleep, eat and live their passion. They had a firm believe in their dream. Third similar characteristics among them is that they are not quitter. They face problem head on. Almost all of them had gone through terrible times yet they emerge victorious at the end. Fourth, most of them are from middle class families which may come as a surprise to you all. They are very human.

The book is written on the basis of interview which the author had with these exceptional class of human beings. You may envy the writer for the privilege of meetings the bright men/women of India face to face. It narrates the story of 25 Indian entrepreneurs in a very concise, interesting and to the point manner. Moreover, all the stories have interesting as well as unique titles.

The story of these bright people are awe inspiring, motivating, sometime unbelievable yet simple. I find the story of Sunil Handa (The Alchemist) very gripping. There are also many interesting and unusual fact. You will be surprise to know how the name of the plastic water containner "SINTEX" come into being.

The author has done a very commendable job of researching and telling the stories of these entrepreneur. Moreover, at the end of every stories you will find advice to young Entrepreneur which is a precious things. These advise are indispensable part of the book. In addition to all these you will find new terminology like XBRL, ADEPT, ORRU, etc,.

As the book is based on interview alone you will find something is amiss. Sometimes when a good thing come your way you tend to want more of the good things. It also happens with this book. Rashmi Bansal has done a great job by familiarising us with these rare individuals. She has also included a lots of Hindi sentences.

She has done a great service by familiarising us with the great indian, including amazing fact and above all for giving the feeling that we can become whatever we like. In brief a great book.

I will rate it 7/10