Thursday, February 20, 2014

Review: How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company by Varun Agarwal

There are lot of success stories and a lot of failure stories when it comes to entrepreneurship. For those who are bold enough to look beyond the limitations and boundaries of the society it has worked big time meanwhile who have restricted themselves have managed to fizzle out with time. Author Varun Agarwal in his book " How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company" narrates his own experiences in the form of a story and tries to leave an impact on the mind of the readers. So does this book hits at the right spot? Let's find out. 

How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company is the true story of its young author Varun. The protagonist dreams about becoming an entrepreneur without much support from people around him. Convention emerges as a potent problem in the form of Engineering and MBA degrees. Alongside, there is also Anu Aunty, his mother’s best friend who turns into his biggest threat.The character of Anu Aunty stands out in the book and she is presented as an interfering woman, poking her nose into the problems of others. She is the quintessential anxious Indian mother of an accomplished son. How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company presents Anu Aunty’s constant ridicule and mocking of Varun’s seemingly laidback and unaccomplished personality. Anu Aunty keeps appearing as an obstacle in the path of Varun and his friends at every juncture.However, Anu Aunty’s ridicule eventually spurs Varun onto greater heights and he comes up with a business idea in partnership with his friend Rohan Malhotra. He decides to follow his own dreams and establishes an organization called Alma Mater. Creating customized accessories and outfits for educational alumni in India, the venture is a roaring success.


First look at the title and the cover and humor can be tagged with both the image and the title. The title is quite lengthy but speaks volumes of what to expect in the book. A shimmery idea of what is going to happen inside. The blurb talks about the journey of a young boy and what happens around him. It's a pretty good blurb mainly targeted to excite the readers about the book.

The story is of a jobless engineer Varun and his few friends among them Mal a special friend. An idea strikes Varun's mind and he & Mal gradually decide to give it the shape of a company. But there are a lot roadblocks in his path. It all starts from his home and spreads to the neighborhood where Anu Aunty his biggest nemesis is hell bent on helping him and his mother Poonam. So it's up to Varun to fight the odds and live his dream? So will he able to sustain in this modern day society? Will he & Mal do something substantial in their lives? Will they become talk of the town? That's what the story is all about. 

A good hard look at the book and it comes out as a source of inspiration, knowledge and information scattered throughout. A good blend of fiction and reality in the form of struggle and helplessness and plus the society pressures adds to the story line. The humor, the fun filled exchanges, the failures, the desperation all of them have combined together to form a perfect story. It's not a book but an idea for many as to what they can do with themselves. Simplicity and ease with which many things have been explained are a highlight of the book. The pace is also maintained throughout and the crude language doesn't looks out of place anytime. 

There are no downsides in the book. 

All in all it's a great entertainment cum guide book for budding entrepreneurs. There are a lot of moments where a readers heart will go out but the message of the book puts a smile too at the end. It oozed boldness and confidence with each and every word. The book has been mixed and stirred well and served with a lot of care. It's a book for the masses and a journey for all walks of life. 

RATINGS: 

4 OUT OF 5

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