2014 01 01 Marwar Magazine

34 LITERATURE
MARWAR INDIA JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014
BUSINESS MAHARAJAS CHANAKYA’S CHANT

by Gita Piramal by Ashwin Sanghi
Acclaimed journalist and writer Dr Gita In Chanakya’s Chant, India’s bestselling

Piramal delivers an interesting read author Ashwin Sanghi creates a tour
in her first book, Business Maharajas, de force, which makes for an exciting
where she writes about eight iconic and compelling read. The plot is divided
businessmen of India, who collectively into two sections. In the first, Sanghi
control sales of over `550 billion, directly recreates the year 340 BC, wherein
employing around 65,00,000 people. a Brahmin, who would later be called
They include the late Dhirubhai Ambani Chanakya, vows to seek revenge for
of Reliance Industries, a groundbreaker the murder of his father. The reader is
in the petrochemical business; Rahul provided with a slice of history as the
Bajaj of Bajaj Auto who has redefined author retells the story
CHANAKYA’S CHANT
‘A delightfully interesting and gripping read.’
‘It’s an awesome book... wonderfully researched... I wish our
Shashi Tharoor
the automobile sector in India; and of the battle between
politicians were literate enough to read it.’ Prahlad Kakar
ASHWIN
‘A must-read... as brilliant as The Rozabal Line.’ Pritish Nandy
Vijay Kumar of B Vijaykumar & Co, Alexander the Great and

‘Loved it... strongly recommend it for all to read.’ Amish Tripathi
SANGHI
The year is 340 BC. A hunted, haunted Brahmin
whose diamond business needs no Chandragupta
youth vows revenge for the gruesome
his beloved father.
Maurya,
murder of
introduction. Not only is the narrative after which Chanakya

Cold, calculating, cruel and armed with a complete absence of accepted
morals, he becomes the most powerful political strategist in Bharat and
succeeds in uniting a ragged country against the invasion of the army of
characterised by simplicity and clarity, proceeds to write the

that demigod, Alexander the Great.
Pitting the weak edges of both forces against each other, he pulls off a wicked
but each section of the book also Arthashastra, a treatise on

and astonishing victory and succeeds in installing Chandragupta on the
throne of the mighty Mauryan empire.
History knows him as the brilliant strategist Chanakya.
begins interestingly with a defining kingship, economic and
Satisfied and a little bored by his success as a kingmaker, through the
simple summoning of his gifted mind, he recedes into the shadows to write
moment or incident from the life of the social policy and statecraft
ASHWIN SANGHI
his Arthashastra, the ‘science of wealth’.
CHANAKYA’S
But history, which exults in repeating itself, revives Chanakya two and a half
millennia later, in the avatar of Gangasagar Mishra, a Brahmin teacher in small-
businessman. From Bharat Shah’s James and its various facets.
town India who becomes puppeteer to a host of ambitious individuals includ-
ing a certain slumchild who grows up into a beautiful and powerful woman.
Bond themed party for his daughter’s Sanghi then skips two and
Modern India happens to be just as riven as ancient Bharat by class hatred,
corruption and divisive politics and this landscape is Gangasagar’s feasting
CHANT
ground. Can this wily pandit who preys on greed, venality and sexual deviance
wedding to Brij Mohan Khaitan’s narrow a half millennia forward

bring about another miracle of a united India?
Will Chanakya’s Chant work again?
escape from a bomb blast, Piramal writes in the second section,

with ease, undaunted by the wealth and where a Brahmin teacher,
Series design by Ahlawat Gunjan
status of her subjects. While heavy in Gangasagar Mishra, seems

content, she ensures that her book is to have been endowed with qualities
not a mere representation of facts and akin to Chanakya. The question is
figures; her anecdotal style of whether, amidst the squalor of politics,
writing succeeds in catching corruption and greed, Gangasagar
the reader’s attention. It is manages to broker peace using the
evident that the organised methods described by Chanakya. This
structure of the book has book is a racy read, and Sanghi leaves
been aided by extensive no stone unturned to ensure that he
research. Her discerning doesn’t lose sight of his reader. Page
eye identifies the strengths after page, he controls the narrative
and weaknesses, as well as like a puppeteer, often surprising the
the strategies employed by reader, while painting the background
these business moguls to with vivid imagery. While this is a
reach unprecedented levels recommended read for those
of success. All in all, Business who have a penchant for
Maharajas is a highly historic fiction, it is also a great
recommended book not potboiler for anyone looking
only meant to inspire an entrepreneur for breakneck pace and a well-
looking to pay homage to the spirit of woven story.
enterprise, but also for a reader looking
for an insight into the lives of highly PUBLISHED BY Westland Ltd.
successful men. RETAILED AT `250
PUBLISHED BY Penguin Books India

RETAILED AT `399

2014 01 01 Marwar Magazine

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34 LITERATURE

MARWAR INDIA JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014

BUSINESS MAHARAJAS CHANAKYA’S CHANT

Acclaimed journalist and writer Dr Gita In Chanakya’s Chant, India’s bestselling

Vijay Kumar of B Vijaykumar & Co, Alexander the Great and

introduction. Not only is the narrative after which Chanakya

characterised by simplicity and clarity, proceeds to write the

but each section of the book also Arthashastra, a treatise on

wedding to Brij Mohan Khaitan’s narrow a half millennia forward

escape from a bomb blast, Piramal writes in the second section,

status of her subjects. While heavy in Gangasagar Mishra, seems

PUBLISHED BY Penguin Books India

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