Tamal Bandyopadhyays Sahara: The Untold Story, published in June this year, opens not with an endorsement but a disclaimer. It claims that the book “is based on a particular notion, wrong perceptions supported by limited and skewed information. Hence, it does not reflect the true and complete picture … The book portrays Sahara in a bad light by attributing unfound facts and incidents to which we have objections.” But the Sahara disclaimer on Bandyopadhyay’s book takes a surprising turn. While describing the book as “a perspective of the author with all its defamatory content,” it says it respects “a journalist’s freedom,” and even wishes the author success. This is unusual in any book, particularly so in a book that has been sued for defamation. Such cases don’t usually have a happy ending. Authors and publishers either end up combating suits at great financial cost, or books like these avoid controversial topics, making the business shelves of Indian bookstores, with their corporate hagiographies and get-rich-quick stock-tips, appear anodyne. The biographies offend no one and drain success stories of all drama. Business appears dull and routine, or growing without any challenges, and businessmen seem like philanthropists who only accidentally made money. The results are as lifeless as framed portraits. I wonder who reads these books, unless they are relatives of the primary subject or employees keen to rise in a featured company. Three recent titles buck that trend. They expose Indian business, reveal businessmen’s ambitions, examine their limitations and dissect their rivalries. In Books, Salil Tripathi on three recent exposés that have taken on the countrys corporate goliaths.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 05:30:01 +0000
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