_________________ 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
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
- Ghumakkad Harsh with Kinnera and Anu
Secunderabad
December 2013
____________________ End of BITS of Success ______________________
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