Category: BookReview

The Book ‘Stalin-Waiting for Hitler’ is written by Stephen Kotkin who is a Professor of History at Princeton.

This Book is the second of a multi-volume series on Stalin and covers the period between 1929-1941.The review of the first book can be found here

The Book takes off from 1929 and covers some of the most turbulent periods of Russian history right up to Hitler’s invasion of Russia in 1941.

The Book brings into stark relief the indomitable will, cunning and hyper suspicious paranoia of Stalin.

Stalin was determined to make the Soviet Union a powerful and advanced nation, irrespective of the cost either in human lives or money.

With that goal in mind, he pushed many policies which resulted in the deaths of millions.

One policy of his was collective farming..here farmers/peasants had to give up their individual plots to the state. The state would then use mechanization,modern techniques etc to drive more efficient farming in these collective plots and drive up productivity. As the peasants revolted, Stalin had the dissenters shot and sent to the Gulag (slave camps). Famine resulted in the Soviet Union resulting in widespread hunger,deprivation and even cannibalism.

What is interesting is what Stalin did with the grain he collected. He exported it to Germany and other Western states in return for machinery,technology , blueprints for factories etc. His primary focus was on the armaments industry. It’s incredible to think now but nearly all of technology and machine tools for the Soviet Union’s tanks, naval carriers, aircrafts etc were supplied by Germany,USA etc  in exchange for grain,oil,manganese,phosphates and other commodities.

The Book also covers one of the darkest chapters in Russian history-Stalin’s purge from 1936-38. In this “Red Terror”, hundred of thousands of innocent people were shot and executed under various pretexts of being spies,rightists,Trotskyites, “wreckers”, “kulaks” etc. This resulted in the deaths of 90% of the Red Army’s officers, most of its managers, top party functionaries,intelligence officers,writers, musicians  etc

The Book then leads on the Second World War and the various games various countries played to protect their own self interests.I found the material on the Finland-Soviet Union War of 1939-1940 (Winter War) particularly fascinating.

Some takeaways from the Book which I found interesting and relevant to us in India in the current context:

• Stalin emphasised on having your own armaments industry capable of producing guns,tanks,aircraft etc. India cannot be a power of any sort if it does not have a strong domestic armaments industry.
• Demography matters.Stalin moved entire populations from one part of Soviet Union to the other as he feared they will betray the country if invaded to its enemies based on common ethnicity/religion etc (For e.g, he moved the ethnic Soviet Poles from Ukraine to Kazakhstan and ethnic Soviet Koreans away from Soviet Far East)
• No country, be it capitalist or communist, wants to give an inch of land to its neighbours. This was true in 1930s and it is true now.So wars can happen even for small and insignificant pieces of territory
• For any country to be successful, it is very important to have a top class intelligence agency.Stalin used to know what was happening in Hitler’s Chancellery better than most German officers
• Leaders of great powers can take decisions which can impact,destroy and end lives thousands of miles away .Even current conflicts like Syria, Iraq, Libya etc are testimony to that. As such,one should keep an eye on geo-political developments…they are more important than you think.

I would strongly recommend this Book only if you are interested in Stalin or World War II or a very serious history buff.Not meant for everyone.

 

The Book ‘Stalin-Paradoxes of Power’ is written by Stephen Kotkin who is a Professor of History at Princeton.

This Book is the first of a multi-volume series on Stalin and covers the period between 1878-1928.

Why Stalin?

Its slightly more than 100 years since the Russian revolution took place and most Indians don’t know or don’t care about it.

Yet, this revolution changed the world for next 70 odd years and impacted the lives of Billions of people.

Stalin, more than anyone else, bent the arc of history and would literally hold the power of life and death over billions of people.To my mind, he is one of the most fascinating characters from history (the other one is Mao !)

The author is considered to be one of the greatest historians alive and the book is truly a master class  of how history ought to be written-explaining context,motives,people,events etc

The Book goes into very deep minutiae and is exhaustive with thousands of notes which for a history buff like me is pure gold.

The scale of events in this period cover World War  I, the Russian revolution, the Russian Civil Wars, the Russia-Japan war, the Russia-Poland war etc.It’ shocking how many people died due to war, riots , anti-Jewish pogroms, diseases, famines,mass executions etc

This also brings home to me how lucky we are currently to be living in a free and a peaceful (for most parts) India.

Also, it is so important to understand that politics matters, even for investors who don’t want anything to do with politics.

If Buffett was born in Russia instead of US in 1930, he probably would have died of hunger or hanged from the nearest lamp pole for being a “capitalist dog” or “petit bourgeoisie” or a “class enemy” !

I would strongly recommend this Book only if you are interested in Stalin or the Russian Revolution or a very serious history buff.Not meant for everyone.

The Book ‘Paiso – How Sindhis Do Business’ is written by Maya Bathija, a journalist.

Sindhis are amongst the pioneering businessmen from India…the Hundi system of bill discounting is said to be their brain child.

They have always been known for their business savvy and sharp practices.As Ashok Hinduja writes in the foreword to book “Sindhis are opportunity centric and sector agnostic”

Mahatma Gandhi said this in 1947 : “If even a single Sindhi leaves Sindh, it will be a matter of shame to Mr. Jinnah as Governor General. The Sindhi Hindus are first- class businessmen. Why are they running away to Bombay, Madras & other places? It will not be they who will be losers, but Sindh. For they will make money for themselves, wherever they go.”

Sindhis were directly impacted by Partition which was a catastrophe for them. They left their ancestral homeland with literally nothing and then went out to rebuild their lives all over the world.

One story about Sindhi businessmen which is very well known in Mumbai circles and recounted in the book is as follows:

The early perception of Sindhis in Bombay in the post -Partition days was that a Sindhi would do almost anything to make even a small amount of money

If the shops around sold sugar for Re 1 a kg in bags of 50 kg, Sindhi businessmen would buy 50-kg bags of sugar and sell the commodity on the streets for 99 paise a kg.Their price being 1 paise cheaper per kg, they sold hundreds of bags of sugar, making a loss of 50 paise per 50 kg bag.

This amazed others and made them wonder why a person would work so hard to lose money.

What they failed to realized that every time a Sindhi businessman sold an empty bag for Re 1, he made a net profit of 50 paise on every 50-kg bag of sugar !

The Book covers the lives and careers of five Sindhi Businessmen:

1. Harilela Family (Hong Kong)
2. Ramola Motwani, Merrimac Ventures (Florida, USA)
3. Harish Fabiani (Madrid)
4. Dilip Kumar Lakhi (Mumbai)
5. Jitu Virwani , Embassy Group (Bengaluru)

The Book has plenty of anecdotes and vignettes which I found interesting.Was a bit taken aback to know one of the Businessmen profiled (Harish Fabiani) is a fellow shareholder in the unlisted Suryoday Small Finance Bank !

Some common takeaways about Sindhi Businesses which I found in the book:

• Global outlook-Willing to travel out of India in search of opportunities
• Entrepreneurship Oriented-Being someone’s employee is looked down upon
• Family Oriented-Rope in family members for different parts of the business
• Less Scalable-There are hardly any listed companies owned by Sindhis as they don’t like the idea of outsiders in their business
• Market Leadership-Willing to work for wafer thin margins for higher volumes and market share

Do buy this Book if interested in knowing more about Sindhi Businesses.

The Book ‘The Consolidators’ is written by Prince Mathews Thomas, a journalist.

What piqued my curiosity about this book were the blurbs written by two of India’s most successful and respected businessmen

Analjit Singh : ‘This book is a valuable read for any entrepreneur’

Harsh Mariwala: ‘These are compelling stories,each a lesson for other aspiring entrepreneurs’

The Book indeed does cover the story of 7 entrepreneurs.The common thread amongst the entrepreneurs is that they are second generation promoters in the family business.

As the Book says, “these entrepreneurs might be born with a silver spoon, but they had to make sure they didn’t lose it.”

The stories cover the following entrepreneurs:

1. Ajay Bijli (PVR)
2. Abhishek Khaitan (Radico Khaitan)
3. Mithun Chittilappily (V-Guard Industries)
4. T.S. Kalyanaraman (Kalyan Jewellers)
5. Rituraj Sinha ( SIS India)
6. Vikas Oberoi (Oberoi Realty)
7. Priya Paul (Park Hotels)

The Book chronicles the careers and challenges of these entrepreneurs in a very easy to read manner.

Each story is different as the industries involved are different and the challenges/opportunities each second gen faced was different.

A common thread in these stories is the struggle to raise capital…nearly all took PE funding and/or the IPO route to expand their businesses

Another common challenge was to professionalise the company from a family/Lala/Babu culture to  one run by professionals.

Also interesting was to see how well read and travelled these folks are.Many had studied abroad or even did the Owner/President course from Harvard.

One is also stuck by the easy connections and market acceptance these entrepreneurs have owing to the tremendous goodwill of their fathers.

The Book is full of anecdotes which make it an interesting and entertaining read.On the other hand, the author handles his subjects with a light touch and shies away from asking tough questions.

From an investors perspective,I think the key takeaway here is that a family run business can easily be destroyed if the second gen is an insecure and incompetent nutcase.Therefore it is important to understand their vision, values, competence etc

Do buy this book if interested in Indian family businesses and also if you have invested or intend to invest in any of the seven companies profiled.

The Book ‘My Days in the rise of the Bengaluru Mafia’ is written by Agni Sreedhar,who once was the key don of Bengaluru’s under world.

In India, many businessmen are subject to extortion, threats etc from various politicians, criminals and other rent seekers.As such, it would be good to know how the criminal underworld works.

The Book captures the underworld activities of Bengaluru from 1970s to 2000s

Its a very gripping read and gives a fantastic insight into how our society (politics,criminals,police and judiciary) actually work

The author had spent many years amongst criminals (‘rowdies’ in Karnataka parlance) and had even committed many crimes, including murders.

One thing that strikes me is how easy it is commit a murder and get away with it  in our country. One example in the Book gave an instance where a murder was committed and the police were lead to a site where the murdered person’s bones lay.The entire case was built around it.The case collapsed after a few months when it was pointed out the bones were not human’s but a dog’s ! The murderers had buried dog’s bones there and had disposed the body in the sea !

The Book also narrates the various petty crimes that the Bangalore mafia used to indulge in  like extorting from gays,fake currency rackets etc

The Bengaluru Mafia became bigger and deadlier after the Mumbai Mafia got involved with their guns, sharp shooters etc.

The author offers this remarkable piece about the criminal-politician-police nexus:

“It is the politicians who play a very important role in the underworld.A winning legislator, if he belongs to the ruling party, will get a police officer of his choice  appointed to his constituency.Hence, the local small-time rowdies support politicians”

And

“The politicians pamper the underworld because they are of use during elections.The police play up to politicians because they can be used for transfers.The underworld controls the police through politicians and the politicians control the underworld through the police !”

The Book is littered with instances of how the Bengaluru Mafia was supported by various Congress politicians and Chief Ministers. Reminded me of how Dawood Ibrahim was continuously supported by a Maharashtra CM in his rise to power.

I am reminded of a famous anecdote of Dhirubhai Ambani.

Rupert Murdoch, the Media Billionaire, was just entering India and he met Dhirubhai Ambani in Mumbai.

Ambani asked Murdoch whom he had met in the capital, and Murdoch listed the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, and others. “Ah, you’ve met all the right people,” replied Ambani. “But if you want to get anywhere in India you must meet all the wrong people”

Do buy this book if interested in knowing more about the wrong people.