K. Ganesh: Reading to be Happy

Image: Girish GV for Forbes India

K. Ganesh, founder and chairman, TutorVista.com

Two books shaped me during my college years and career. They give me encouragement and solace in tough times; I swear by these two authors.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie, is a book I live by. It teaches you about public speaking, how to influence men in business, and how to win friends. It talks of how whatever you do, you should do it well and you will get big. When I first read it, I lacked self-confidence; I used to get low marks. It taught me that when you are worried, you need to think: ‘What is the worst thing that will happen?’ That really helps me even today. If you lose a business or an order, is it the worst thing? This is what I have preached to my children. It talks of how happiness depends on your attitude. This shaped my confidence and the way I think.

My first job was at Tata Motors, Jamshedpur. Everyone said, you have the best job, but I wasn’t happy; I did not think that was what I was made for. This book encouraged me to get out of the job.

The message in Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, was that unless you have fun in what you do, you can never achieve success. If you can think and dream, then you will be able to achieve. If a person does more than what he is paid for, he will be paid for more than what he does. I saw this with my mother, who worked in a government office and rose from clerical staff to become an officer; and I have seen this to be true of others as well.

K. Ganesh is founder and chairman, TutorVista.com

(Co-ordinated by Nilofer D’Souza)