At a time when the start-up revolution in the country is being spearheaded by students right after their college education, two students who've pursued their colleges at Bengaluru have penned down a fiction novel in English that intends to promote and boost the start-up culture of Bengaluru. Authors - Bengaluru based
Ms. Sarita Raghuvanshi (alumni of Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru) and Ahmedabad based
Mr. Anand Bhate (alumni of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru) have penned down their fiction novel in English titled
‘C + Plus Doctor Thepla’.
The story of ‘C + Plus Doctor Thepla’ revolves around Abhishek Patel, an Engineering student at Bengaluru, who wants to become a chef and start-up his 'Thepla' restaurant chain globally. Being a chef isn't a career that his father (a doctor) could accept. His neighbor 'Manjoo Mausi' ensures that he becomes an Engineer at least, if not a Doctor, otherwise, "Log Kya Kahenge!" Abhishek has to go through a lot of family and societal objections while pursuing his dream of a start-up. The novel takes you through the journey of Abhishek's school and college life that every Indian student can relate to. This novel, which promises elements of humor, romance, emotions, tragedy and a bit of motivation, has depicted the struggles of an average Indian student in pursuing a start-up right after college and has also cleared the misconceptions regarding the same.
The author,
Mr. Anand Bhate is the Director of Jeevan Anand Builders, a Gujarat-based real estate development company. Armed with an MBA degree from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru, he is a passionate writer and also an occasional blogger. His blog was ‘The Official Blog Partner’ of the Gujarati Film ‘Chhello Divas’. With a twinkle in his eye, he shared, “I have stayed in Bengaluru for over seven years and I miss the city. In those seven years, I saw the start-up culture growing and booming. Many of my friends and acquaintances are directly or indirectly related to start-ups. Hence, I was always aware of the issues and problems that a start-up witnesses in its early stage. We wanted to get this out to the country, and suggest effective solutions to it. We spoke to over a hundred Bengaluru based start-ups, to know more about their experiences and journey. Their problems and the way they tackled them have all been effectively portrayed in the novel in a light read format. We believe that the start-up culture environment of Bengaluru is extremely promising, and hence this is an attempt to boost and promote it."
Anand says that his alma mater SIBM Bengaluru gave him the ‘never-die attitude’, which was the source of his motivation needed to pen down this novel. He further adds, “SIBM Bengaluru made me evolve as an individual. The institute focuses on the holistic development of every student and this was the key reason that I am an author today. The interactions with the students, faculty members, visiting faculty and various guests gave me an exposure that broadened my perspectives. The management skills learnt in the two years of MBA helped me a lot.”
Ms. Sarita Raghuvanshi is an MC (Master of Ceremonies) who has anchored in more than 900 National and International large format live and televised events in over 15 countries over the last decade. Sarita says, “Our country is experiencing a rather confused state of mindset nowadays. On one hand we are witnessing the emergence of a start-up culture and
on the other hand we have people who are held back from chasing their dreams and creative mindsets because of Manjoo Mausi's ‘Log Kya Kahenge?’ attitude. This novel aptly tells you how students in India are treated like 'puppets' and intends to stop this constant pressurizing.
The promotional video of the novel which had a puppet in it was uploaded on YouTube in June 2016 and it received tremendous response and critical appreciation. Subsequently, it went on to create a World Record for being the first of its kind. The hashtag #DontBeAPuppet has been used for this campaign which indeed strengthens the core motive of the novel, i.e. ‘Students in India should NOT be treated as puppets’. The launch of the novel took place on September 20th, 2016 at Ahmedabad by its Mayor, Mr. Gautam Shah in a high profile event.