I Have a Dream by Rashmi Bansal

An alchemist from the days of yore, and the entrepreneur of today have much in common, equally from the perspective of expectations cast onto them as much the watery doubts skeptics throw unto the fires of their passions.
Ill conceived or well thought out, the possibility of either transmuting lead into gold or proliferate working capital into a sustainable income is oft fraught with seemingly insurmountable odds.

The antecedents of certain commercial Business Models and Politicians in the recent ( and not so recent past ) have only raised more questions than answers and the solutions seem to be lost in translation.
Yet slowly and silently a new breed of businessmen, of thinkers, of doers, of revolutionists have been creeping along the vines of red tapism and jumping over chasms of the roots of corruption.

Rashmi Bansal , is the author of two previous bestselling books, ‘Connect the Dots and ‘Stay Hungry Stay Foolish. Whilst the former focused on non MBA entrepreneurs and the latter on MBA Graduates who quit lucrative jobs to steer their own course off the beaten path, her latest book introduces us to these rare but ever growing breed of entrepreneurs that this country needs more than ever.
The social entrepreneur. Valiant men and women, that, with daring pluck and stubborn determination, have given the terms business and ownership and sustainable living, a newfangled lease on life
People just like you and I who have applied ideas that are extraordinary for the very genius of their common-sense logic.
Like you and I, they too felt a deep desire and passion for change in society that could merge with a business model that could not only generate revenues of the fiscal kind but also of the metaphorical that cannot be bought. Respect and pride for daily wage labourers, be them a construction worker in Karnataka or a seamstress in a remote Rajasthan village. It found themselves tweaking their thought processes to find business opportunities , not in products but in people where others saw only tramps and drifters.

Like, Madhav Chavan, a chemistry doctorate who chose to come to India and re-organised the Literacy Programme and began Pratham . One idea implemented was the for the arrangement of a confluence of women residing in various slum areas, in a gathering hall of sorts, and bring them face to face with social workers from a variety of womens organizations that spoke of successfully dealing with domestic abuse to the termination of illicit liquor dens.

Like, Dinabandhu Sahoo, a Marine Biologist and US immigrant who was the first Indian student invited to be a part of the 7th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antartica, and though he accepted and lived with the comforts of a life abroad and a well equipped laboratory allowing for him to focus on his speacialty-marine algae specifically seaweed, his heart was always with India. In a radical turn of events, he merged his love his for India with his love for seaweed and literally farmed Project Chilika into existence. An iniative that enabled sustainable living in the poverty driven local population in and around the village of Chilika through seaweed farming.

Like, Trilochan Sastry , a doctorate from MIT, though teaching, publishing papers and going on the occasional Himalayan Trek, felt frustrated and helpless at the felonious and corruption of Indian Politics and Politicians, filed a PIL during the month of December in the year 1999. In the year 2002, during the month of May , the supreme court announced its landmark verdict ordering all political candidates declare their income, education and criminal records.
The Association for Democratic reforms came into existence which was also instrumental in the formulating the Gujurat Election Watch committee .

Businesses that have grown from; converting plastic bags sourced from garbage dumps into unique designer hand bags and slippers contributing to the recycle mantra; A courier company employing people that are apt for the job- the deaf.
A haven for the orphans and daughters of prostitutes- Parivaar Ashram.
And the story of the IIT graduate that figuratively sold his Ferrari and became a monk founding the Belur Math.
And while excel sheet economics might not always have or be the answer in business, a grammatical and well edited book does make for good reading.
The definitions of the books three sections ‘The Rainmakers ‘The ChangeMakers and ‘The Spiritual Capitalist are applicable to all the businesses listed and the relevance of the sectioning is but trivial a matter compared to the haphazard style of the chapters themselves.
Each chapter begins with the introduction of the entrepreneur in question and the language is at best pedestrian and pot holed with enough Hindi statements that lack of reasonable knowledge of the said language shall have the reader weaving around and jumping over .
Her literary writing flow lacks refinement of and the editing could have certainly been more concise as well as precise.

However, what works in the books favour is its message. That a business can have a more holistic approach in its logistics. That the human touch , an underated and under utilized asset, has incredebile long term benefits; That individuals like us with perseverance and patience, belief and faith, can trounce seemingly negative prospects.
The book not only provides for an inspirational read but also allows to put our need for change into action by atleast supporting the people that suppor others.