BITS of Success

_________________ BITS of Success: Our next Book _____________________

In a world besieged with Facebook, LinkedIn, smartphones, WhatsApp, Kindle, iPad and the like—who reads a book? Even the cranky toddlers of today are given an iPad by their mothers to remain busy! Then, why write a book when print media is threatened with oblivion? We still chose to do it—for two reasons. Firstly our alma mater BITS Pilani celebrates its Golden Jubilee this year (1964-2014) and secondly we wanted to showcase BITS alumni achievers of this period. Further brainstorming led us to ‘BITS50@50’ signifying 50 achievers from BITS during last 50 years. Setting the target was the simpler part.

The real challenge was to identify and select 50 achievers to be included in the book. Read the book to know how was the selection done. But as it turned out, majority of the achievers took the challenging path of entrepreneurship. They all had the proverbial ‘fire in their belly’ and toiled to realise their dreams.

This book is about passion, about dreaming and about the ability to realise the dreams. It is about building teams and succeeding against all odds. It is about falling down and bouncing back. It is about humility. It is also about making a difference in the lives of others. It chronicles the inspiring stories of 50 achievers. It includes the frustrations encountered by the individuals. The achievers also share how they achieved or could not achieve the balance between their work and personal lives. But one thing which was common in all the stories—all the achievers credited BITS for being where they are. 

We were pained to exclude many other achievers for want of timely information and/or space. Few other achievers did not want to be in print/limelight. Besides the 50 achievers who are featured in this book, there are countless other BITS alumni who deserve to be showcased. 

Perhaps, the authors of the next volume during Diamond Jubilee of BITS (1964-2024) can include many more of such achievers.

We chose the social media/crowd sourcing seeking suggestions for title of the book and for selecting the best title. Within just three days of posting, more than 50 suggestions were made which were assessed on-line by more than 500 BITSians. The title ‘BITS of Success’ was an outright winner. It was suggested by Jatin Chuglani an alumnus of BITS Hyderabad campus. We thank Jatin for his creativity and spontaneity.

We are grateful to Dr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chancellor BITS Pilani and Chairman Aditya Birla Group of Industries and Dr K Kasturirangan Former Chairman ISRO and Member Planning Commission for writing the Forewords.

A project of this magnitude could not have been completed without active support of so many people. We have acknowledged them in the book. Omissions if any, may please be excused.

Here is the back cover:

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The book will be of interest to Entrepreneurs, Business professionals, Students, Faculty, Educational Institutions, Researchers, Start-ups and anybody having a question 'How do I succeed?' Of course for BITSian readers, the book will result in reactions like 'Look he was my wingie at BITS!'

The book has been published by the Universities Press Hyderabad and has an ISBN Number: 978-81-7371-914-1. It is an initiative of BITSAA Hyderabad.

If you are coming to BITSAA Global Meet (BGM-14), you will get a free copy. If not then you may order it on-line using the link http://universitiespress.com/display.asp?categoryID=0&isbn=978-81-7371-914-1 

We wish to thank our families for believing us every time when we said ‘just coming’ and took another two hours thereafter! Here is the team in action:

Who are these crazy authors-cum-editors? 

Well, all three are BITS alumni and all of them live in Hyderabad.

Anu- an IT professional, Agile Computing expert; 

Kinnera- former Dean ASCI Hyderabad and a social activist and lastly 

Harsh- former Commodore Indian Navy, Adjunct Professor in a B-school, volunteer wellness coach and a learning-lensman! His previous books include 'Virtual Leadership'.

We would like to mention that we have pledged the royalty from this book to BITS Alumni Association Hyderabad.

Hope you enjoy reading the book as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Postscript: Those who would like a sneak-peak at the book may like to browse the next part of this picture story at http://ghumakkadhb.blogspot.in/2014/01/bits-of-success-is-released.html 

We would welcome your feedback at bitsofsuccess@gmail.com.

   - Ghumakkad Harsh with Kinnera and Anu 

Secunderabad

December 2013 

____________________ End of BITS of Success ______________________