What inspired you to write this book?
This book is about bridges. The idea came from the recent bridge incident in Gujarat where we lost many lives. When I was working in the road transport ministry, I had seen a similar incident back in the year 2015. It was a severe human tragedy. Through this book, (co-authored with Sachidanand Joshi), we endeavour to bring some systems that can reduce such incidents.
The thought came from the experience and bridge management systems and we felt it was a good experience to share this with our colleagues, engineers, officers and politicians. We tried to share one positive experience with people, wherein after some effort, things changed for the better. We believe more can happen with the right kind of action. This was what inspired the book.
What were some of the books that you would say have influenced you as you chose to write one yourself?
I used to read Arther Hailey a lot. His books are about management experiences. They are the greatest management learning books one can read and the narration is in a simple format. When you read his books on a particular industry, such as airports or banking, you feel you are transported there. Storytelling is a very powerful way of explaining something. I read his books in the very early days and I believe they have had a great influence on me. They helped me decide writing this book also in a storytelling format.
Are you working on any other books that we can expect?
Everyone has given us great encouragement and I am looking forward to coming up with another book. But apart from a book, I am also coming up with a series on Discovery TV sharing how infrastructure is changing India’s landscape. That is another medium I am keen to explore because I believe it fits the storytelling format.
What do you want your readers to walk away with after they read this book?
The objective is to make people believe that things can be changed. There is cynicism in our country, especially in some circles, that things cannot improve. But this is not acceptable to everyone. We have shared our experiences to show that things can be changed. What is needed is to believe and be passionate about what people do, thereby ensuring that the change happens. I will be more than happy if people take away this message.