Ra h u l A k e r k a r has a Masters in Biochemical Engineering from the US but is better known as a celebrity chef and owner of Mumbais fine dining restaurant, Indigo; Manohar Parikkar went to the prestigious IIT, Bombay but makes headlines as the honourable Chief Minister of Goa; Harsha Bhogle is an alum of IIM Ahmedabad but is a world renowned cricket commentator and Rashmi Uday Singh was once the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax but is widely known today as India's famous food critic.
The book explores the life of the above mentioned people and even people like Rahul Ram, who from a Doctorate in Environmental Toxicology chose to be a musician: of the Indian Ocean; Amish Tripathi, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta with a successful corporate life who was inspired to write and became one of India's bestselling authors with the Shiva Trilogy; to a woman who gave up a highly paid and exciting life in advertising to work with an NGO: Ingrid Srinath.
These and 12 other fascinating stories feature in this book, My Life, My Rules: Stories of 18 Unconventional Careers by Sonia Golani, exploding every conventional myth about professional choices of a cross section of people.
This book seeks to inspire every working individual from young professionals to senior level managers to opt out of the rat race, chase their dreams and pursue a profession of their choice for inner happiness, success and a long term career.
No wonder, since Sonia is an entrepreneur as she manages her firm, Management Consultants Group which specialises in recruitment of professionals (MBAs and CAs) for banking, financial services, insurance and FMCG sectors.
Most of her professional experiences have been woven into the book in an excellent manner and can often find themselves relate to the characters.
The language used has a simple yet artistic tone which makes the book even more readable.
The characters have been sketched in distinct format and one can easily find somebody to identify them with from their own lives.
Definitely a good read, while in a relaxed mood.