Guest Reviewer: Geetika Ahuja
About the Book:
Varun is a recent engineering graduate. His hours are filled with friends, pub hopping, and 'stalking' his love interest on Facebook. Through it all though, Varun harbours ambitions of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Meanwhile, Varun's mother, who is disturbed by her son’s lack of focus on life, enlists her good friend Anu Aunty to put him on 'track'. The meddling Anu Aunty is more than willing to take up this assignment. How Varun dodges Anu Aunty's nosey, irksome ways, en route to realizing his entrepreneurial dreams, makes for a story worth reading.
About the author:
Varun Agarwal is a filmmaker, entrepreneur and a bestselling author. He is 25 years old and has three companies to his credit - Alma Mater , Reticular And Last Minute Films. His comapny Alma Mater is India's largest provider of merchandise and memorabilia to schools and colleges. He has directed the likes of Preity Zinta and AR Rahman in music videos and his films have over a million views on Youtube.He has been featured on the cover of India Today and numerous other periodicals as well as on the CNBC Young Turks Show.
Review:
A 22-year old
guy, jobless, whiles away his time at home by Facebook stalking girls. What do
you picture him doing a year down the line? Definitely not heading a million
dollar company.
Meet Varun Agarwal,
our very own Steve Jobs in the making. His story is similar to thousands of
unemployed youngsters in the country, yet different. Why, you ask? Because
unlike others, he didn’t wait for opportunity to knock on his door. He,
instead, went on to create opportunities.
Varun and his
encounters with Anu Aunty present the saga of a typical Indian household. Anu
Aunty is a metaphor for the mindset characteristic of most Indians. She could
be a neighbour, a relative or anyone adept at nipping all mushrooming ideas in
the bud, gracing households with their ominous ever-taunting presence, forever
ready to lay roadblocks to hinder you from chasing your dreams.
Varun is
comfortable leading a mediocre life, that is until Anu Aunty and her kitty
party minions enter his life, taking it upon themselves to set him right. And
how do they plan to do that? By coercing him to land a techie job. But, instead
of simply bowing down to their pressure, he decides to tread the unconventional
path.
Thunder.
Lightening. Rain. Old Hindi movie soundtrack. Cue drama.
In a society
which swears my work culture, any defiance of social expectations is hailed as
rebellion. Varun Aggarwal gives a beacon of hope to those souls who have
silently tucked away their dream to make it big as an entrepreneur under the
mounting load of family expectations.
Varun gives a
practical guide to entrepreneurship suited to the Indian context, bearing in
mind kahani ghar ghar ki.
Don’t shun the book just because you think
it’s not your thing. The book isn’t just another MBA lesson. It is much more.
Hidden in Varun’s tale is the reflection of a life many of us are leading, or
are being forced to lead.
Peppered with
interesting anecdotes, it makes for a good read. He has a knack for presenting
everything รก la Bollywood style- with a hint of exaggeration. At many points,
you actually feel as if you’re watching a movie.
Though Varun
claims to be a storyteller and not a writer, I’d suggest you still pick up the
book, for his storytelling skills still outscore the writing skills of numerous
Indian authors on Flipkart falsely claiming to have written national
bestsellers. Sigh.
So, that idea
that your mind has been hinting at, that lingering dream you’ve been stashing
away, go reclaim it and make it big. And when you do, thank Varun Agarwal for
inspiring a love for entrepreneurship in you and re-igniting that spark.
In the end, I’ll
you with two words-Carpe Diem-seize the day.
