The past few days, I have been reading “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish.” It is story of IIMA (The most premier MBA institute in India) graduates, who have chosen the difficult path of entrepreneurship as opposed to the path of cushy jobs which were available to them. It is a true story of successes through struggles, failures, setbacks, yet unwavering conviction. Some of them have authored the biggest success stories like naukri.com, makemytrip.com, Mastek Technologies, Educomp etc. They are really inspiring tales, which could motivate any person towards doing his/her own thing!
Growing up in middle-class urban Indian family, all we ever wanted was a secure job. We all came from families with government jobs, and stability was high on our radar when it came to career choices. Were we really told to go out there and take risk? No, of course not. With the rampant red-tapism of the 80’s and early 90’s, it is a miracle that these folks went ahead with chasing their dreams. Just to give you an idea, it took a minimum of 6 months to get a telephone connection or gas connection in those days. I would not be able to imagine it, had I not experienced it then :). Incredible that they had the faith to keep chasing their dreams and to make it big. It was not easy, and it took them many years.
Why I find it so appealing and relevant is that my husband and I have started our own company Smart Solutions. Reading something so inspiring just now is what the doctor ordered for me :). Gurdev, my husband, always had this dream coupled with an amazing conviction, confidence, and ability. I was the one who needed more convincing! My middle-class values, I guess!
Just a couple of quotes from the book:
“You do not fail until you quit.”
“It’s the idea that fails, not the person.”
To all my friends, really, we have only one life to live. We need to follow our heart and chase our dreams; success would follow. We conservative, risk-averse Indians are slowly waking up to this message (recent movie 3 Idiots also talked about the same).
Rachna says 
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