HIGH ON LIFE now featured on premier professionals networking site www.6bridges.com
Saying Hi to Life! - A chat with FMS alum, Siddharth Banerjee on his debut book
18/01/08 thedesk
FMS alum Siddharth Banerjee’s debut book ‘High on Life’ weaves together stories, tips and accounts of over 1000 professionals, from IIT-IIM graduates to doctors and entrepreneurs, in areas as diverse yet relevant as careers, marriage, homemaking, children, weekends, socializing, and personal finance. Here, we present an interview with the author about his book, work-life balance and his experiences while writing it.
FMS alum Siddharth Banerjee’s debut book ‘High on Life’ weaves together stories, tips and accounts of over 1000 professionals, from IIT-IIM graduates to doctors and entrepreneurs, in areas as diverse yet relevant as careers, marriage, homemaking, children, weekends, socializing, and personal finance. It’s a self-help book about managing your existence and reaping life’s rich harvest!
It is always inspiring to hear about a fellow professional from the community taking the leap of creativity to write what he’s always believed in. 6bridges hopes to bring such worthy efforts of its members across to everyone in the global community. Siddharth puts it aptly that it helps “getting the right balance of specific information from communities like 6Bridges.”
In this edition, we present an interview with Siddharth Banerjee about his book, work-life balance and his experiences while writing it.
Siddharth Banerjee
Author - HIGH ON LIFE
1) Can you tell us a little about your academic & professional background? How has your academic background helped in terms of depth of perspective?
I am an MBA from FMS-Delhi, currently working as an FMCG Marketing professional and HIGH ON LIFE is my debut novel.
My background has allowed me to work and travel across India, meet different people and glean fabulous stories and interesting insights from a diverse mix of people. Also, my MBA education has taught me to be curious about the world and also to look at issues with a perspective to tackle it in many different ways, all of which have contributed towards the making of HIGH ON LIFE.
2) When did you first think about writing this book and is there any trigger that inspired you?
The starting point for HIGH ON LIFE came out of my MBA batchmate wife, Eika and my early experiences together post passing out from B-school.
Post MBA, Eika and I got married; followed hectic careers; subsequently had 2 kids; lived across Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai; handled relatives, friends, professional networks; juggled maid management; explored the world…. In short, led a pretty hectic life!
In all of this, I had maintained a diary with stories, tips and “gyaan” from hundreds of friends, relatives, contacts and colleagues [and even first-time acquaintances], over the last 3 years.
Over time, it occurred to us that a lot of people would look towards us as a source of information and tips. That’s when the thought of writing about our own experiences and learnings in the form of HIGH ON LIFE; and sharing them with a wider audience really came about.
3) How do you connect your own journey to the essence of the book?
My wife and I were early adopters in several facets of life, as we along crucial stages of our lives. Hence, we also spoke to many people and got advice and useful tips which I have tried to pull together into HIGH ON LIFE. Thus, a lot of advice in HIGH ON LIFE, especially in Chapter 3 [Money Mantras], Chapter 8 [First Foreign Trip] and Chapter 12 [Invest In Yourself] are from my personal experiences.
4) What was the most difficult part in writing the book? Did you ever feel like giving it up half way or did procrastination affect the momentum anytime?
Bang on…. The actual process of writing HIGH ON LIFE itself was torturous and required dollops of discipline! I finally had to set myself a deadline and hence, had to sacrifice a lot of weekends and miss out on my reading and 3 months of Bollywood movies to meet that deadline!
5) How did you find the time to write while pursuing your full time job? Do you consider yourself to have achieved a comfortable work-life balance through such an achievement?
Well, HIGH ON LIFE is about people who are able to juggle varied roles!
Due to the hectic nature of my work, I jotted down my learnings and experiences over 3 long years; and was finally able to pull all those notings together and shape it into HIGH ON LIFE in the first 3 months of 2007. Thus, 3 years in the making and 3 months to put it down into a book!
6) What message do you have for professionals who aspire to be writers?
Good question! A lot of people among us are closet authors. And thus, a simple message - maintain a diary to record your thoughts and experiences, and when you get the opportunity, JUST WRITE YOUR BOOK…
7) How difficult did you find it to locate a publisher and convince people around you, being a first time author?
I have the same war wounds as most first-time authors [MBA or otherwise!] of several rejection slips. The positive side was ofcourse the feeling of challenging yourself again and again, as an entrepreneur hawking his ideas. However, before I could classify myself as a “young and struggling author”, I was fortunate enough to find and secure a partnership with the prestigious Delhi-based publishers, Wisdom Tree www.wisdomtreeindia.com.
8) If you were to sum up the essence of the book for the readers how would you phrase it?
The central premise of this book is that everybody would love to get most out of life.
One of my beliefs is that what is going to differentiate you from your peers 10 years from now are 3 things - the people you meet, the information you consume, and the choices you make.
HIGH ON LIFE is based on this philosophy, and is thus perhaps the first “Self Help” book emerging from the MBA community in India.
Thus, HIGH ON LIFE contains stories, anecdotes, tips, “gyaan”, formats and information collected from over 1000 young successful people, from IIT-IIM graduates to doctors and entrepreneurs, which can help you get most out of life!
9) Tell us a little about the title of the book ‘High on Life’ and how did you arrive at it?
Well, my publisher and I brainstormed about the title in detail! We were clear that the title needed to emanate from the soul or the philosophy of the book, and at the same time, needed to take on a larger cause, like Pepsi’s classic “Yeh Dil Maange More”. With HIGH ON LIFE as the title, I think we cracked it.
10) More and more young professionals are taking to writing in India . Why do you think this is so? & Do you see a trend?
As the Indian economy opens up to the world, and becomes more globally connected, you will need more Indian idioms, more Indian voices, and thus, more influence of Indian on the global map.
Trends like more professionals writing in the English language is both a result of our overwhelming confidence, as well as the new rush of opportunities available more and more to us. Thus, this trend is here to stay and become stronger…
11) How has the book changed your perspective towards life and how do you look at your future now?
The book is about MY perspective towards life. However, 2 inspiring books which helped shape this perspective have been Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” and Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”.
This book has definitely given me a strong platform, and I intend to build upon this with my 2nd book soon, a book of stories on MBAs.
12) How do you think 6bridges helps professionals in finding a platform to voice their aspirations and interests?
In HIGH ON LIFE, I have collected some rich experiences about career choices made by High Lifers [Chapter 1- Plan Your Life] and have put down some basic tips and experiences such as “Update Your Resume Every 6 Months” to excel at work [Chapter 2- Fast Track Your Career].
Besides this, I would suggest that B-school students would benefit from reading exhaustively about a variety of subjects and getting the right balance of specific information from communities like 6Bridges etc.
13) 6bridges is the largest global community of premier Indian Professionals. How useful do you think it has been as a networking tool for alumni of the premier institutes?
I think we all learn most from sharing and exploring with each other, and communities like 6Bridges are doing a great job in bringing together alumni and ideas of premier professional institutions....
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
HIGH ON LIFE Interview featured on MBAUniverse.com
HIGH ON LIFE starts making news !!
Check out this interview story on MBAUniverse.com
MBAUniverse.com
India's Leading Management Portal
Books
New MBA self-help book ‘HIGH ON LIFE’ offers useful tips; Q&A with author Siddharth Banerjee
MBAUniverse.com Bureau
Jan 15, 2008
FMS alumnus and young corporate executive Siddharth Banerjee has had a rollicking time in last half a decade.
He did his MBA from one of the most sought-after B-schools (Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi), worked with a leading corporate (Unilever), and on the personal side got married and travelled over the globe. Sounds like an interesting life? Yes, and so he thought too. And Banerjee penned down his ‘journey’ into a little book titled ‘High on Life’ that has recently hit the bookstores.
The book is woven around answering the multiple choices and decisions that youth of today face -- from career planning, money mantras, managing relationships to getting the most out of work and leisure. The author has stories, tips, mantras, “gyaan” and ‘guidelines’, from over 1000 young achievers, whom the author calls “High Lifers”.
High on Life is an interesting book, structured in 13 chapters, that we at MBAUniverse.com read over the last week or so. The short chapters of the book make one think – what do I want from life, how have others achieved something similar and how can I too do it. Priced at Rs 95, the book is worth a read. However, the book would have sounded more credible if the author had given out more details (like organizations, designation etc) of numerous people it quotes.
MBAUniverse.com asked the author Siddharth Banerjee several questions centred on the theme of the book, and his own life. Excerpts from the Q&A:
Q&A with the Author:
Q: What is the central message of this book? What is the main focus?
The central premise of this book is that everybody would love to get most out of life. And most people evolve their own special solutions and tricks to maximise work and play, and thus become High Lifers [as the book classifies them]!
One of my beliefs is that what is going to differentiate you from your peers 10 years from now are 3 things – the people you meet, the information you consume, and the choices you make. The book is based on this philosophy, and is thus perhaps the first “Self Help” book emerging from the MBA community in India.
Q: How did this book come about? When did you decide to publish it…
The starting point for this book came out of my wife, Eika and my early experiences together. Post MBA, Eika and I got married; followed hectic careers; subsequently had 2 kids; lived across Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai; handled relatives, friends, professional networks; juggled maid management; explored the world…. In short, led a pretty hectic life!
In all of this, I had maintained a diary with stories, tips and “gyaan” from hundreds of friends, relatives, contacts and colleagues [and even first-time acquaintances], over the last 3 years.
Over time, it occurred to us that a lot of people would look towards us as a source of information and tips. That’s when the thought of writing about our own experiences and learnings in the form of a book; and sharing them with a wider audience really came about. I was finally able to pull all these stories together and shape it into a book in the first 3 months of 2007. Thus, 3 years in the making and 3 months to put it down into a book!
Q: Please share a few interesting nuggets from the book?
There’s a comprehensive list of Most-recommended books [Chapter 10- High Lifers’ Leisure Secrets] which will be very useful for a lot of young people. There are some good planning formats which can be used to organise one’s life more productively [Chapter 3- Money Mantras and Chapter 8- The First Foreign Trip]. And there are some secrets from High Lifers on becoming better and better everyday [Chapter 12- Invest Time In Yourself].
There are also exciting tips and smart guides on Good Life secrets of High Lifers, on Managing Plastic, on Networking, and on Fast Tracking your Career.
Q: What are some of your memories from B-school days? What were some highs and lows?
FMS-Delhi was great fun! It was 2 hectic years of case studies, team projects, early morning chai at Joee’s, FMS parties [we are famous for that!], keema-dosas at D-School canteen [we were part of Delhi University, you see], “CTRL C + CTRL V”, student body clubs etc etc…
One highpoint for me during my MBA was the “Double Summers” that I did!
Post Year 1, my summer internship was with Citibank in Mumbai, which was the regular stint, arranged through the FMS summers-process. The 2nd stint was more exciting when towards the end of Year 2; interested in checking out prospects in advertising, I cold-called McCann-Erickson in Delhi and landed an rewarding internship under the tutelage of Santosh Desai in their consumer insight function! For me, the lesson clearly was that of individual initiative, and my advice to all young MBA aspirants and students would be that you explore your options and talents as much as you can in those 2 years of MBA!
Q: How can B-school students prepare for doing well in work life ahead?
There are some key questions that B-school students need to ask themselves to prepare for a successful career ahead, which can provide direction towards choice of career and thus, the preparation required for it.
In HIGH ON LIFE, I have collected some rich experiences about career choices made by High Lifers [Chapter 1- Plan Your Life] and have put down some basic tips and experiences such as “Update Your Resume Every 6 Months” to excel at work [Chapter 2- Fast Track Your Career]. Besides this, I would suggest that B-school students would benefit from reading exhaustively about a variety of subjects and getting the right balance of specific information from sites like MBAUniverse.com.
For me, working in a leading global organisation like Unilever has been very fulfilling – substantial responsibilities, structured marketing training and some really smart colleagues have all contributed to making me a better professional with a strong set of skills.
Q: What are your suggestions to youngsters and college graduates who want to plan ahead and do well in life?
Thus, my overriding advice to youngsters and college graduates is that you should set your goals regularly and then consistently work towards them consciously. Towards this, it helps if you speak to friends and experienced people and get their learnings and experiences so that you do not re-invent the wheel.
Finally, I have always been a fan of the classic Nike slogan- JUST DO IT, and would heartily recommend this simple line to my young friends as a way of life.
Content Copyright © 2007 MBAUniverse.com. All rights reserved.
Check out this interview story on MBAUniverse.com
MBAUniverse.com
India's Leading Management Portal
Books
New MBA self-help book ‘HIGH ON LIFE’ offers useful tips; Q&A with author Siddharth Banerjee
MBAUniverse.com Bureau
Jan 15, 2008
FMS alumnus and young corporate executive Siddharth Banerjee has had a rollicking time in last half a decade.
He did his MBA from one of the most sought-after B-schools (Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi), worked with a leading corporate (Unilever), and on the personal side got married and travelled over the globe. Sounds like an interesting life? Yes, and so he thought too. And Banerjee penned down his ‘journey’ into a little book titled ‘High on Life’ that has recently hit the bookstores.
The book is woven around answering the multiple choices and decisions that youth of today face -- from career planning, money mantras, managing relationships to getting the most out of work and leisure. The author has stories, tips, mantras, “gyaan” and ‘guidelines’, from over 1000 young achievers, whom the author calls “High Lifers”.
High on Life is an interesting book, structured in 13 chapters, that we at MBAUniverse.com read over the last week or so. The short chapters of the book make one think – what do I want from life, how have others achieved something similar and how can I too do it. Priced at Rs 95, the book is worth a read. However, the book would have sounded more credible if the author had given out more details (like organizations, designation etc) of numerous people it quotes.
MBAUniverse.com asked the author Siddharth Banerjee several questions centred on the theme of the book, and his own life. Excerpts from the Q&A:
Q&A with the Author:
Q: What is the central message of this book? What is the main focus?
The central premise of this book is that everybody would love to get most out of life. And most people evolve their own special solutions and tricks to maximise work and play, and thus become High Lifers [as the book classifies them]!
One of my beliefs is that what is going to differentiate you from your peers 10 years from now are 3 things – the people you meet, the information you consume, and the choices you make. The book is based on this philosophy, and is thus perhaps the first “Self Help” book emerging from the MBA community in India.
Q: How did this book come about? When did you decide to publish it…
The starting point for this book came out of my wife, Eika and my early experiences together. Post MBA, Eika and I got married; followed hectic careers; subsequently had 2 kids; lived across Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai; handled relatives, friends, professional networks; juggled maid management; explored the world…. In short, led a pretty hectic life!
In all of this, I had maintained a diary with stories, tips and “gyaan” from hundreds of friends, relatives, contacts and colleagues [and even first-time acquaintances], over the last 3 years.
Over time, it occurred to us that a lot of people would look towards us as a source of information and tips. That’s when the thought of writing about our own experiences and learnings in the form of a book; and sharing them with a wider audience really came about. I was finally able to pull all these stories together and shape it into a book in the first 3 months of 2007. Thus, 3 years in the making and 3 months to put it down into a book!
Q: Please share a few interesting nuggets from the book?
There’s a comprehensive list of Most-recommended books [Chapter 10- High Lifers’ Leisure Secrets] which will be very useful for a lot of young people. There are some good planning formats which can be used to organise one’s life more productively [Chapter 3- Money Mantras and Chapter 8- The First Foreign Trip]. And there are some secrets from High Lifers on becoming better and better everyday [Chapter 12- Invest Time In Yourself].
There are also exciting tips and smart guides on Good Life secrets of High Lifers, on Managing Plastic, on Networking, and on Fast Tracking your Career.
Q: What are some of your memories from B-school days? What were some highs and lows?
FMS-Delhi was great fun! It was 2 hectic years of case studies, team projects, early morning chai at Joee’s, FMS parties [we are famous for that!], keema-dosas at D-School canteen [we were part of Delhi University, you see], “CTRL C + CTRL V”, student body clubs etc etc…
One highpoint for me during my MBA was the “Double Summers” that I did!
Post Year 1, my summer internship was with Citibank in Mumbai, which was the regular stint, arranged through the FMS summers-process. The 2nd stint was more exciting when towards the end of Year 2; interested in checking out prospects in advertising, I cold-called McCann-Erickson in Delhi and landed an rewarding internship under the tutelage of Santosh Desai in their consumer insight function! For me, the lesson clearly was that of individual initiative, and my advice to all young MBA aspirants and students would be that you explore your options and talents as much as you can in those 2 years of MBA!
Q: How can B-school students prepare for doing well in work life ahead?
There are some key questions that B-school students need to ask themselves to prepare for a successful career ahead, which can provide direction towards choice of career and thus, the preparation required for it.
In HIGH ON LIFE, I have collected some rich experiences about career choices made by High Lifers [Chapter 1- Plan Your Life] and have put down some basic tips and experiences such as “Update Your Resume Every 6 Months” to excel at work [Chapter 2- Fast Track Your Career]. Besides this, I would suggest that B-school students would benefit from reading exhaustively about a variety of subjects and getting the right balance of specific information from sites like MBAUniverse.com.
For me, working in a leading global organisation like Unilever has been very fulfilling – substantial responsibilities, structured marketing training and some really smart colleagues have all contributed to making me a better professional with a strong set of skills.
Q: What are your suggestions to youngsters and college graduates who want to plan ahead and do well in life?
Thus, my overriding advice to youngsters and college graduates is that you should set your goals regularly and then consistently work towards them consciously. Towards this, it helps if you speak to friends and experienced people and get their learnings and experiences so that you do not re-invent the wheel.
Finally, I have always been a fan of the classic Nike slogan- JUST DO IT, and would heartily recommend this simple line to my young friends as a way of life.
Content Copyright © 2007 MBAUniverse.com. All rights reserved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
