Dr R. Balasubramaniam’s New Book on PM Modi’s Legacy Explores Leadership Through Indic Principles
Hyderabad, July 12, 2024: Distinguished development scholar and author, Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam (Dr. Balu), also well-known for his pioneering development work with Rural and tribal communities in Karnataka, India, launched his latest book, Power Within: The Leadership Legacy of Narendra Modi in the city today. The book is a compelling narrative that offers a unique perspective on leadership, contrasting Western trait-oriented approaches with Indian practice-oriented philosophies.
The book launch event was held at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad campus, in the presence of the Dean, Madan M Pillutla, delivering the Inaugural Address. The event was attended by distinguished dignitaries such as B Narasimha Sharma, Additional Solicitor General, Telangana High Court, Nagaraj Paturi, Dean, Indica Academy, and Raghava Krishna, Founder, Bṛhat, who participated in a panel discussion following the launch. The audience included numerous thought leaders, philanthropists, industry captains, policymakers, and avid readers, gathered to hear Dr. Balu talk about the civilizational wisdom of Bharat through the lived experiences of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his new book.
Madan M Pillutla said, that this is an important book that marries Indian philosophy with some Western models, it tries to synthesize some of the ideas from these two concepts. The best part it doesn’t reject Western concepts but engages with them. There have been different models of leadership in existence for some time, what Balu does is engage with them seriously and wherever there is an opportunity to learn from and adopt from them, he does it very efficiently. We generally dismiss views that are very different from ours, we just say they are all wrong, and we make a caricature of such arguments and make fun of them. To have a book like this which engages it and engages in the depth it does is refreshing, and welcoming and is a model for the way we want to conduct ourselves of being open-minded, accepting, engaging, and taking the good things and leaving the things that we don’t agree with. The methodology is also super interesting and is a takeaway for students, and scholars from this. Balu takes profound thoughts and presents them in a manner that people can actually consume and use them. Going forward, look at him writing more books like this. Balu’s other side which is less explicit, which I know from my conversations with him, he is hoping that this book will inspire people towards public leadership and public service. Multiple goals are out there in the book, there are multiple things that different audiences infer from it, and that is the hallmark of a good book.
Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam said, that this book is a personal journey, anything I put out there I want to stand by it, whatever I wrote in this are based on what I discovered, either through observational analysis of mine, experiential anecdotal I went through or through direct conversations with PM himself or from people who report to him. I tried to use only those theories which are relevant today, intelligent, and practical. It’s a book for academic work that can be deeper. This book is for a global audience when I requested the prime minister’s permission to write this book, use him as an example, he only put one condition, he said to make sure that this book is not about me, but by reading it a thousand leaders from this country should emerge and I hope that this book will enable that resurgence from this country, which this country richly deserves and today demands so that India is perceived as the Viswa guru to the whole world. This is a unique book that looks at the appreciation of leaders from an Indic lens, thoughts are brought from scriptures, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Jataka Tales, and Panchatantra, and analyses Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. It is not something about the past, but about using civilization wisdom to analyze a current sitting Prime Minister to see what drives his leadership performance. I also offer it as a solution for the world, how this knowledge can help make the world a better place to live. It is also unique in the fact that it’s a global book with a prescription for global leadership, it combines the best of leadership knowledge from the West with the best that the Indian civilization system offers and puts it together as the way forward for all of us.
Raghava Krishna who moderated the panel discussion on the occasion said, this book is about our culture, about Indian values, what are the leadership qualities in our culture, how are we correlating these values and qualities in the leadership presented by Modi.
This book was launched in Delhi on June 28th by Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, in the presence of Amitabh Kant, Former Niti Aayog CEO, Debjani Ghosh, NASSCOM President, and Prof. B Mahadevan from IIM Bengaluru. In Bengaluru, its launch on July 5th was attended by Sadguru Madhusudan Sai, Spiritual and Social Leader, Archit Gupta, Founder, and CEO, of ClearTax, Manish Sabharwal, Vice-Chairman, Teamlease Services, Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel, and Deepak Shetty, CEO and MD, JCB India Ltd.
Power Within delves into the prime minister’s fifty years of public life, exploring the formative years that sowed the seeds of his purpose and leadership. Through poignant anecdotes from colleagues like Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the book sheds light on his relentless efforts, hard work, and communicative approach, which propelled him to the highest office in the country. It also underscores his continuous quest for self-discovery in the service of others, offering a road map for those aspiring to a life of public service.
Through a meticulously crafted narrative, Dr. Balasubramaniam captures the prime minister’s leadership journey, interpreting it through both Western and Indic lenses. This is a unique amalgamation of perspectives that provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of leadership dynamics, making it an essential read for anyone interested in public service and leadership development.
N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, of Tata Sons, shared his thoughts on the work, saying “In this book, R. Balasubramaniam sketches a portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary leadership, using a blend of concepts drawn from Indic thinking and modern global literature.”
Nikhil Kamath, Co-founder, of Zerodha, recommended the book, stating: “Please give this book a read; there are practical lessons we can all imbibe in our lives.”
“Exercising leadership is a way of giving meaning to our lives by contributing to the lives of others. And such an opportunity to express leadership crosses our paths every day. What is required is the sensitivity to recognize purpose when it emerges and the courage to act on it as a labor of love.” – Dr. Balu’s newest book is full of such wisdom and captures the essence of leadership in the truest sense.
