The Relevance of Chanakya in our Times

Reading is a conversation. All books talk, but a good book listens well-  Mark Haddon.

The fabulous evening at Taj Westend was every bookworm’s delight, right from having the best selling author to the inauguration of Ficci Flo’s first ever book club- a proud moment for all of us!

“ Bookkeeping is more important than book reading!”, this slogan was constantly drilled into the young boy’s mind while growing up in his traditional Marwari family, where he was expected to take the financial and heir baton forward. However, he was always found with a book in his hand and countless stories weaving through this creative mind.

The mythological stories recited by his grandparents ignited his young mind and his vivid imagination coupled with his writing skills gave birth to the author in Ashwin Sanghi.

It did take a long time for his to finally pen his book, before which he completed his Masters from Yale University and was involved wholly in his family business. In fact, it was only at the age of 37 that he wrote his first novel – The Rozabal Line, which was rejected a staggering 47 times before it saw the light of day.

During the roughly one and half hour interaction, Ashwin Sanghi enthralled the audience with his vast knowledge over the Indian diaspora of mythology and in total splits because here is a man who can take a stab at his own portly self and has no qualms about comparing his physique to Lord Ganesh!

Ashwin has been rightly described as the Dan Brown of Indian fiction because once you start reading his book you are astounded at the amount of details and research that has gone into writing it- as he explained, it takes him almost two years to craft a book.

The author’s book Chanakya’s Chant which is now available in 4 languages and hit the bestsellers lists across the country, was his second book.  The evening gave the audience a brief intro about the legendary figure Chanakya who was a teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor – all rolled into one.

The most fascinating aspect being that Chanakya’s teachings holds true to every word even in our present millennial world. Growing up in the 90’s, Ashwin too was fascinated by the Hindi tele serial Chanakya, and this engraved a special memory in his mind. It was years later that he read Kautilya’s Arthashastra that gave him more in-depth knowledge about the master craftsman.  ( Chanakya’s other names were Kautilya and Vishnugupta).

Ashwin compares the Arthashastra to the modern day McKinsey report because it deals with the following subjects-

Economics, Information and Secrets, Time Management, Corruption, Taxation, Teamwork, Pride & Praise, Perception, Alliances & Strategy, Competition, Capital Risk & Reward, Failure, Killer Instinct, Uprightness, Market Sentiment and Philanthropy.

Just imagine, a visionary who wrote a book dealing with all these sensitive topics almost 2300 years ago!

The evenings most engaging and soul searching moments where when Ashwin quoted Chanakya’s most relevant sayings, a few of which are –

“ There is self-interest behind every friendship. This is the bitter truth.”

“ Never be too honest. Remember, in a forest, the straight trees are cut down first and the crooked ones are left standing.”

“ Never share your secrets, if you can’t keep one, how can you expect someone else to keep it a secret.”

“ Learn from the mistakes of others, you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

The evening was also enriched by the presence of  Sandeep Bhutoria, the famous social and cultural activist who actively promotes Indian folk art, literature and culture. The two gentlemen engaged in easy banter and Ashwin was even pulled up about his Keto diet, on which the author has managed to lose 24 kilos!

The Book Club was a special inaugural affair, and the author along with Sandeep Bhutoria and Chairperson Shruti Mittal cut the ribbon to set the ball rolling for the book exchange program and club which will be an ongoing experience with Ficci Flo.

Also, not to be missed !!! The most awaited Flo Retreat has been announced – and this year we are going to Vadodara to participate in the world’s biggest garbha dance festival and experience some special royalty at the Laxmi Vilas Palace.  Details coming up soon!