15th August has finally come...

(Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai talks about his upcoming book Chanakya's 7 Secrets of Leadership and his excitement over the cover launch tomorrow)

"When is your next book coming out?”

A journalist asked me this very question while interviewing me in Bangalore in the year 2010. My first book ‘Corporate Chanakya’ published by Jaico had just been released and I was doing an all-India tour to promote it.

All I could think about was how to make Corporate Chanakya a bestseller… I had not even thought about my next book. But then this question hit like a blot!

It was like asking a mother who had just delivered her first child, “So when is your next baby arriving?” The mother is still going through the post-delivery pain. She will just shout back – “What are you asking?” What she wants is her own mother’s comfort and guidance and tips from other mothers; she wants someone to tell her that this is just a temporary state and things will be fine soon.

In between she forgets all the agony when she looks at her new born child. A sense of happiness surrounds her when she holds the baby close to her body and gives the first feed. A part of your body is separated – yet makes you complete!!

I was going through similar feelings when the journalist asked me about my next book. I was not ready for the next book but I was sure Corporate Chanakya could never be my last book.

I had worked very hard with my publishers, the Jaico team for over one year. My research on Kautilya’s Arthashastra had spanned over 6 years became a part of my first book. So finally getting the book out was like nurturing a baby inside your womb.

On August 15^th 2010 my first book ‘Corporate Chanakya’ got released at a grand function in University of Mumbai. When we decided the date many were critical about the day we choose for the function. Will anyone come on a holiday? Independence Day to attend a book event? And moreover, it was a Sunday – usually a family day…

But thanks to my team at the University of Mumbai, Department of Philosophy and  Chanakya Institute of Public leadership (CIPL) headed by Ranjit Shetty and my various friends at MTHR global (More than Human resource) and SPM group of companies, that finally over 350 people turned up. The auditorium was full and many had to sit down in between the steps and staircase.

The dignitaries included Dr Rajan Welukar (Vice chancellor of University of Mumbai), Dr Shubhada Joshi (Head of department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai), Dr Ajit Ranade (Chief economist of Aditya Birla group) among others. Even the audience included corporate leaders who were CEO, CFOs and presidents of various multinationals.

The release was a grand success. Ashwin Shah, the head of Jaico Publishing house said to me, “This was the biggest launch we had in the last 60 years of our company.”

Now that was past. After Corporate Chanakya became a roaring success and a national best seller I started working on my next book….

The book is called ‘Chanakya’s 7 secrets of leadership’ which I have co-authored with D.Sivanandhan, the Former Director General of Police, Maharashtra. It’s been 2 years since we have been working on the book and now it is in the last stage of editing…

When I asked myself during the making of my second book ‘When do you want to launch it’ – Instinctively it came out ‘15^th August – the day of Independence, also the day my first book was launched 3 years ago’

All of us worked very hard on the book trying to meet the deadline. The editorial team, publishing team, Sivanandhan sir… but we did not seem like we would be ready by 15^th August. Yet my mind said, “Let us do it on 15^th August anyway.”

We decided to have an event to formally announce the next book, if not the full book. So we decided to have a ‘cover launch’ event, the first of its kind for a non-fiction management book in the history of the Indian publishing industry. The book will be released in October.

We are ready for tomorrow to create history - “15^th august has finally come…”

Today is 14^th August, when the leader of our nation-the President of India will deliver his Independence Day speech to the nation at 7:00 pm.

And tomorrow 15^th August at 6:00 pm at Oxford Bookstore, Mumbai, the ancient leadership secrets of Chanakya will come alive…