Mumbai, September 29th, 2016: At a time when students after their college education are spearheading the start-up revolution in the country, this author-duo has penned down a fiction novel in English that intends to promote and boost the start-up culture of India. Authors – Bengaluru based Ms. Sarita Raghuvanshi (alumni of Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru) and Ahmedabad based Mr. Anand Bhate (alumni of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru) have penned down their fiction novel in English titled “C + Plus Doctor Thepla”.
Ms. Sarita Raghuvanshi who is a Bengaluru based MC (Master of Ceremonies) and who has anchored 900+ National and International large format live and televised events in 15+ countries over the last decade shared, “Our country is experiencing a rather confused state of mindset nowadays, where on one hand we are witnessing the emergence of a start-up culture spearheaded by the vision of our current Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi himself and still there are people who are held back from chasing their dreams and creative mindsets because of Manjoo Mausi’s “Log Kya Kahenge?” attitude. This novel aptly tells you how students in India are treated like ‘puppets’. The novel intends to stop this constant pressurizing on students. It deals with our protagonist (a start-up enthusiast) trying to overcome “Log Kya Kahenge?” and still not upsetting his family. This novel, which promises elements of humor, romance, emotions, tragedy and a bit of motivation, has depicted the struggles of an average Indian student in pursuing a start-up right after college. We also came up with a unique novel promotional video made which had a puppet in it.
This video was uploaded on YouTube in June 2016 and it received tremendous response and critical appreciation. This promotional video, and the novel, went on to create a World Record for being the first of its kind. The hashtag #DontBeAPuppet has been used for this campaign which indeed strengthens the core motive of the novel, i.e. students in India should NOT be treated as puppets. I have an Engineering background with a major in English and a rich experience in Marketing and I was living through lots of interesting personal experiences as I was penning down the novel.”
Mr. Anand Bhate is the Director of ‘Jeevan Anand Builders’, a Gujarat-based real estate development company. Armed with an MBA degree from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru he is a Passionate Writer and also an occasional Blogger. His blog was the Official Blog Partner of the Gujarati Film “Chhello Divas”. With a twinkle in his eye, he shared, “I have stayed in Bengaluru for 7+ years and I miss the city. In those seven years, I saw the start-up culture growing and booming. A lot of my friends and acquaintances are directly or indirectly into start-ups. Hence, I have always heard and known of the issues and problems that an early stage start-up witnesses. We wanted to get this out to the country, and give effective solutions to it.
We spoke with over a hundred start-ups of our country, to know more about their experiences and journey. Their problems, the way to tackle them, and clearing a lot of misconceptions have all been effectively portrayed in the novel in a light read format.
The readers can expect a lot of fun, romance and humor in the novel, with right dozes of encouragement and motivation. We believe that the start-up culture environment of India is extremely promising, and hence this is an attempt to boost and promote it.”
The story of “C + Plus Doctor Thepla” revolves around Abhishek Patel, an Engineering student at Bengaluru, who wants to become a chef and start-up his ‘Thepla’ restaurant chain globally. Being a chef isn’t a career that his father (a doctor) could accept, and his neighbor ‘Manjoo Mausi’ ensures that he becomes atleast an Engineer, if not a Doctor, otherwise, “Log Kya Kahenge!” Abhishek has to go through a lot of family and societal objections while pursuing his dream of a start-up. The novel takes you through the journey of Abhishek’s school and college life that every Indian student can relate to.
The novel was put up for pre-order by its publisher “Write India Publishers” on PustakMandi.com and Amazon.in earlier this month, and 1200+ copies had already been ordered. The novel has appeared several times amongst the top-10 in the ‘Hot New Releases’ category on Amazon.in. The publisher has done the first print-run of 5000 copies and the same will be distributed via 300+ bookstores of India and various online portals. The novel was launched on September 20th, 2016 at Ahmedabad by its Mayor Mr. Gautam Shah in a high profile event.
About the authors:
- Ms. Sarita Raghuvanshi is a MC (Master of Ceremonies). Since her first event in 2007, she has anchored 900+ National and International large format live and televised events in 15+ countries. With an engineering background, a major in English and a rich experience in Marketing, she lends the right approach to foster the events she represents.
Website – www.mcsarita.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/EmceeSarita
Twitter – www.twitter.com/EmceeSarita
Instagram – www.instagram.com/mc_sarita - Mr. Anand Bhate is the Director of ‘Jeevan Anand Builders’, a Gujarat-based real estate development company. When not tied up with his family business, he is a Passionate Writer and an occasional Blogger. He has pursued his MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru. His blog was the Official Blog Partner of the Gujarati Film “Chhello Divas”.
Website – www.anandbhate.in
Facebook – www.facebook.com/AnandBhate
Twitter – www.twitter.com/AnandBhate
Instagram – www.instagram.com/anand_bhate
Other relevant links:
· Novel Promotional Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsxB_WLNqAk
· Video of the high profile Novel Launch event – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9aovw7O7kU
· Media coverage – https://www.facebook.com/DoctorTheplaNovel/posts/1302129129798611
· Assist World Records – www.assistworldrecords.com/recent-details.php?rid=545
· Online World Records – www.onlineworldrecords.com/world-records/first-indian-novel-with-a-puppet-promotional-video/
· Facebook Page of the Novel – www.facebook.com/DoctorTheplaNovel
· Twitter of the Novel – www.twitter.com/DrTheplaNovel
· Instagram of the Novel – www.instagram.com/DoctorTheplaNovel
· Amazon order link – www.amazon.in/dp/8193298802
