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He Swam With Sharks For An Ice-Cream
To be wealthy and successful is the dream of everyone. To achieve this dream is given only to the very few. Yet, if one knew the secrets, the characteristics that these few people possessed, it might help others realize their dreams too. Many self-help books set out to teach readers how to achieve success in many aspects of life. This book is a self-help book that is a little different. It teaches its lessons through a story. The two protagonists are young corporate employees, Abhi and Dave. In their late twenties, they are just beginning to wear off the edges of their youthful enthusiasm with which they started their careers. One day, they are asked to meet a retired businessman, an old man who has over the course of his life managed to become a billionaire. The man has recorded his secrets in a diary which he is now willing to share with others. Haribhai learnt his lessons from Dhirubhai Ambani, the Indian industrialist who founded the Reliance group. The old man uses many incidents from Ambani's life and from other successful people like Ray Kroc, Ratan Tata and Bill Gates to impart valuable lessons. Abhi and Dave listen to Haribhai as he tells them about his own life and the business lessons he learnt. Over the course of the book, the readers also gain some wisdom on how to keep employees motivated, how to improve business profitability and how to plan well for business growth. The author refers to many successful people, but the main focus is on Ambani, an inspirational figure. A man from a humble background and with no financial backing, he built a business empire from scratch, through sheer determination, common sense and worldly wisdom. He Swam With Sharks For An Ice-Cream uses many quotes, parables and tales from around the world to illustrate many important points. The title itself is inspired by an incident that is said to have occurred in Ambani's life. Never a man to back down from challenges, he is once said to have swam through shark infested waters, just to win an ice-cream as a prize. The motivation was not the ice-cream, which he could easily have bought. It was the challenge itself that interested him.