Book Review - Doing Business in 21st century India

Doing Business in 21st century India - Gunjan Bagla: I was surprised to find this fairly new book in the library. I quickly grabbed it, and was definitely worth the few hours it took to go through it in entirety. Gunjan Bagla has done an awesome job covering a broad range of business, cultural, political, financial and legal issues that one needs to be aware of before venturing into Indian territory. The book fills some of the gap of lacking case studies about India in B-school. I shook my head in disbelief that Gunjan was able to document so many Indian gestures ("making an 8 with the nose" and "tilting sideways to carry on") and their meaning! As well, the Indian use of words like Dicky or Stepney for the car trunk, Scheme for Plan, and Intimate for Inform - there are dozens of them in the book that brings a smile, while educating the clueless. He offers new perspectives for certain typically Indian behaviors that we may not agree as acceptable behaviors - such as the sevice person multitasking and maximizing thruput with multiple customers (I think everyone would want her full attention and privacy), people not waiting for their turn in lines, or arriving 30 minutes late to appointments. It is difficult to write a typical or comprehensive book about India, and the author has accomplished this feat, and made it easy for us to read.