Madhukant Acharya: A high-flying corporate achiever is like a soaring eagle
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Madhukant Acharya was educated in some of the best schools and colleges in India and was adjudged the best student in his class.
Soon after he joined the corporate world, working with eminent multinational companies, and rose from a management trainee to the company’s board position in a short span of twenty years and was awarded "Marketing Man of the Year" by the President of India.
He has widely traveled in India and abroad and continues to be an avid reader. The author leads an active social life with friends and family and is a popular member of premier clubs.
His interests involve being a fitness enthusiast and doing social and charitable work in rural areas. Many of his friends call him ‘people happy’.
Settled in Mumbai for nearly forty years with his wife Kalpana, his children pursue careers in the US and Mumbai being doctors, engineers, and MBAs.
The idea of writing a novel motivated him some years ago after professional retirement when he rescheduled his priorities and lifestyle to devote the required time to create his debut novel Friends and five seasons in two volumes — Rupen's Early Years and Publishing hero Rupen.
EXCLUSIVE AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Q. Can you tell us about your book Corporate Eagle?
Corporate Eagle is a story of 3 strong personalities, a chief executive officer, his colleague, and a professional psychologist who all are very close and make a difference to each other.
It revolves around Mohan Dutt a highly trained, gifted, and ambitious corporate personality who works his way to the top CEO position in 2 decades and builds up a conglomerate with a scorching pace of growth.
He is aided by Cindy Brown who collaborates with him in all his local and global projects with numerous differences and agreements.
They make a team with their group for whom principles matter more than personalities, adversities are considered a stepping stone to performance, and firmly believe that corruption is a personal choice and not a compulsion for business success.
Kumud is an accomplished psychologist and balances out her high achiever husband and has a deep understanding of his nature and compulsions.
Her advice is valuable since it could change the direction of their lives when they are considering critical options that could lead to crossroads. She brings in a perspective that is different from the corporate world.
Mohan Dutt was a soaring eagle in the corporate skies but was capable of changing course and altering the mind game of stakeholders for achieving his goals.
In such a situation would the lead characters collaborate or confront?
Q What inspired this particular story?
An inside view of the corporate world and long experience in the industry gave me insights into the style and working standards of top executives to stay the course, lead by example and concentrate on goals.
What happens when a corporate honcho achieves set goals and what matters most afterward?
Q Any specific reason for naming your book Corporate Eagle?
A high-flying corporate achiever is like a soaring eagle. They both share a binocular vision of ground realities and act to achieve their aims with accuracy.
For them, priorities take precedence over distractions. They are capable of changing direction to reach their destination. They make complex moves to influence stakeholders. They can handle unanticipated outcomes with aplomb.
Q Who would you describe your book's ideal readers?
Primarily the young and the aspiring who want to succeed. In this case the corporate field but generally any career they are pursuing.
Passion and love for one’s profession have a strong bearing on success. To aim high is basic but knowing to execute well with a bit of luck is necessary to produce a winner.
Q What does a day in the life of Madhukant Acharya look like when you are writing?
During the day I am busy with my full routine of health and business activities but it is the evening that thrills me when I sit down to write.
My mind prompts my fingers to press the keyboard creating the words and characters relevant to the story. All in all, there is a balance and I am comfortable doing all the things that interest me right from wake-up time to bedtime.
There are instances nevertheless when I miss several calls for dinner from Kalpana my dear wife because I am finishing writing for the day or should I say the night.
Q Do you have a favorite part of the writing process?
Complete quiet with a cup of coffee to begin with. I tend to read and revise the written page of the previous evening and my mind connects to the content and continues to progress in writing the story.
By now it has become a habit but there are times when I don’t force myself to write if I am not in the mood. I always believe in the attitude of ‘easy, does it?
It is a relaxing process where thought and soul are closely involved in creating something fulfilling.
Q If you could time travel anywhere in the world at any time in history and stay there for a week when/where would you go? Or would you prefer to visit in the future?
Oh, I time travel quite often recollecting many beautiful places I have visited in India and overseas but the best places to spend a week would be to Maharana Pratap’s Rajasthan in winter among the splendid forts, palaces, lakes, and gardens surrounded by hills and dense forests.
As far as global travel is concerned I would like to visit the Swiss Alps watching the cascading snow falling down the steep mountainside from time immemorial with my partner standing by my side seeing it all from the safety of the open viewing gallery.
The white universe of the Alps like Leh and Ladakh is unparalleled. I visit the future through my vehicle of the imagination. I also see unknown people and places that are figments of my wandering mind.
I time travel because I continue to imagine and this could be a favorite pastime of many other writers.
Q What are your earliest memories of reading and writing?
Right from school, I had an interest in reading comics, essays, and stories and this continued through higher studies in college, corporate, and club life.
Three subjects that interest me more that is literature, history, and psychology, and that interest continues till today.
Q Who are your favorite authors and why?
Arthur Miller, Alvin Toffler, and Dan Brown are the best. They have sharp literary skills, in-depth knowledge of their subject, a sense of history, and a deep understanding of human nature and psychology.
I can identify with their thought process and consider them as my writing role models.
Q What is the Future of Salismania.com through your eyes?
The future of Salismania.com is bright because they sincerely and effectively promote the books of authors who are looking out for a good platform and portal to reach readers mainly through detailed and in-depth interviews and insightful reviews.
Salismania.com is a credible link between authors and readers. I wish them loads of luck in all their future endeavors.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Mohan Dutt never shied away from competition and climbed the corporate ladder from a Management Trainee to the Chairman's position in a short span of 2 decades and built up a conglomerate with a scorching pace of growth unknown to the industry at the time.
He always believed that performance took precedence over adverse circumstances, principles mattered more than personalities and corruption was a choice and not a compulsion for succeeding in business.
He understood perfectly well that he could achieve his goals only if he delegated well. Cindy Brown, his close confidante, collaborated on all his global plans with numerous differences and arguments as well as agreements between them but achieved the seemingly impossible.
They were attracted to each other but that path would shatter the success they had built up together. So they were faced with a dilemma. Would they take the plunge?
Kumud, a renowned psychologist could not be taken for granted and balanced out her high achiever husband who would turn to her for advice when they stood at crossroads that could change the direction of their lives.
Did they confront or collaborate? Could Mohan, Kumud, and Cindy keep in check their strong personalities and remain an unbeatable team or move away?
A soaring eagle could suddenly change course and alter the mind game of the stakeholders. Would the lead players discard everything for an unknown future?
Corporate Eagle takes you through a thrilling life experience with unanticipated outcomes.