Anil Sainani - Triumph of Togetherness

PRAISE FOR TRIUMPH OF TOGETHERNESS

Anil Sainani, one of India's foremost experts on family business issues has consulted with several Indian groups including the Godrej Group. Triumph of Togetherness , very interestingly, in the form of a narrative in an ant family, describes problems and how solutions are arrived at in family business matters. The book would be a very entertaining and informative read for everyone connected with family business.

-Adi Godrej
Chairman, Godrej Group

Triumph of Togetherness is an excellent example of how an illustration speaks ten times more than a narration. Mr Anil Sainani has taken the apposite analogy of ant, which is a paradigm for hard work and teamwork. Presentation of the problems in ant's perspective is colourful. I am sure, the book will benefit immensely the people in family business.

-GM Rao
Group Chairman, GMR Group

A fascinating story of unity that one can experience from beginning to end. Family businesses hardly survive three generations for want of mechanisms to sustain unity. This book is not only a must read for all members of business families but is also a source of introspection and action for them.

-Prof Kavil Ramachandran
Thomas Schmidheiny Chair Professor of Family Business and
Wealth Management, Resident Faculty,
Indian School of Business, Hyderabad

The story of Kinkle the ant could easily be the story of the average business family, not just in India, but around the world. The same human strengths and frailties responsible for the rise and fall of many a business family are elegantly captured in this pithy and compact pictorial story. Anil Sainani has obviously been a keen follower of Indian family run enterprises over the years and this is clearly reflected in the fascinating journey of Kinkle the ant. With a brevity of words and clarity from pictures, Sainani has provided important lessons, acute observations and real messages. I enjoyed the book thoroughly and would recommend it not just for business families but all those who delight in the idiosyncrasies of human nature.

-Sunil Kant Munjal
Chairman, Hero Corporate Service Limited

A simple narrative told powerfully and imaginatively on how to keep a family held together, and how they can enjoy being together. It should be read by not only family businesses that take the easy way out of separation, but also extended families that break up because they cannot or do not want to see others' point of view.

- Prof S Manikutty
Faculty, lIM Ahmedabad and co-author of the book
Essence of Leadership: Explorations from Literature

The book is indispensable for any one embarking on or running family business or even partnerships. The lessons from this book are applicable to any extended family, as with or without any business tie-in, families must live harmoniously for the human spirit of the members of the family to blossom.

-DVR Seshadri
Adjunct Faculty, lIM Bangalore

WisdomTree

Copyright for original quotations: Page 20: Stephen R Covey; page 59: Thomas Jefferson, Joyce Brothers; page 62: Johann von Goethe; page 72: Dick Cavett; page 79: Ralph Nichols.

Original story by Anil Sainani
Ant adaptation by Rahul Pande
illustrations by Tina Rajan

First published 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise-without the prior permission of the author and the publisher.

ISBN: 978-81-8328-303-8

Published by
WisdomTree,
4779/23, Ansari Road,
Darya Ganj, NewDelhl-2
Ph.: 23247966/67/68
wisdomtreebooks@gmail.com

Printed in India

To my father
and his indefatigable spirit; someone who has
always walked his talk...
and my mother who bound us in an intangible
but very powerful bond of togetherness...
...hopefully for at least our life time.

-Anil Sainani

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book has become a reality because of the contribution and support of many important people in my life. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge:

My father Mr DM Sainani for being an extraordinary person. My late mother Smt Lakshmi Devi Sainani who nurtured us with her love and wove us in the bonds of love and togetherness.

My brother Sunil, brother-like-friend Shailendra and his better half Irina Garg for believing in my idea and the encouragement they gave me on this journey which lasted for over eight years.

My friends Rajesh Srivastava, Dr Sandeep Kumar, Deepika Aman, R Gurumoorthy, ML Chakraborty and Amandeep and my niece Sidhya Senani for going through multiple drafts of the book and giving their valuable feedback.

My co-author Rahul Pande and illustrator Tina Rajan who have been invaluable partners in making this book a reality.

My publisher Shobit Atya for his belief in the book and his relentless push to excel. My editor Nandini Gupta for her diligence in minutely going through the book.

And last but not the least Shalini, the love of my life, who has always been the rock solid support in not only this but all other endeavours of my life.

This work is an integral part of me and as such has ideas and thoughts that I have learned from many people and books and articles-some of the authors I remember and others I may have forgotten. Though I owe my gratitude to all of them, I would like to especially mention The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey, Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, Rangbhumi and Karmbhumt by Munshi Premchand and The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle .

FOREWORD

Triumph of Togetherness is the story of a business owning family that deeply wanted to be above all else a family, and was willing to work devotedly to be such.

It wasn't easy. They had to acknowledge and fight off the rivalry of siblings.They had to face the complication of in-laws. They had to accept the imperfections of parents. They had to overcome the temptations of individualism and partition.

The story has the realism of autobiography. It has the insight of committed inquiry. Invaluably, it has a comforting and compelling compassion, so beautifully expressed in the illustrations of the ant family. Facing the grand challenges of family business, continuity is strengthened by a sense of humour and a shared reality.

This book is also practical in its guidance, from proven experience. Most fundamentally, it reminds us all of the simple power of perseverance, vision, trust and hope.

You'll never forget the lessons of the ant family.

john L Ward
Clinical Professor of Family Enterprise,