CHENNAI: When he says that his book has all the “boy meet girl” and “dog talks to boy” elements, and immediately adds that his book is “not your usual text book”, you begin to wonder what Subroto Bagchi’s book MBA at 16 really is about. As much as it sounds like a confused mishmash of unrelated things stuffed into a book, it could be the perfect way for young adults to get their hands dirty in business. “At 15 or 16, teenagers are either indifferent to the world of business, or create ideas based on incorrect information,” says Bagchi, explaining what prompted him to write the book. “There is not enough literature for them to build their own informed view of business,” he adds. The chairman of MindTree, a software company, who was recently in the city to release his third book at Landmark, says the book will help youngsters understand the basics of the business sector. “I don’t care if they don’t go on to start their own businesses after reading this book, but I want youngsters to be curious about and fascinated with the world of business and start exploring it,” says Bagchi, who has previously written Go Kiss the World, The High Performance Entrepreneur and The Professional. By his own theory that business touches every youngster’s life even as they sleep, what Bagchi is asking for isn’t too much. “Youngsters are after all tomorrow’s decision makers and today’s consumers. More than half of India’s serious purchase decisions come from youngsters, so they need to be well-informed about it and understand how it works,” he explains. This book is different from his previous books because this is the first time that he has tried to merge facts with fiction. “I had to find a way to keep the book interesting and engaging for young minds,” he says. Bagchi initially wrote the first half of the book before realising something vital, “I realised that I hadn’t met a 16-year-old in a long time,” he says, almost bemused at the memory. He then approached a school in Bangalore that let him work with 31 students for four Saturdays. “We worked on projects and analysed businesses,” says Bagchi. “These 31 students became characters in my book and each of them explores a different aspect of business through stories.” Published by Penguin Books India, the book is priced at Rs 199.
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