Best Rohit Rajan Podcasts (2024)

1
For businesses, sustainability should be a leadership challenge, not a cost problem: Rajeev Peshawaria 29:38

4d ago29:38

29:38

In a world where ESG (environment, social, governance) is often reduced to box-ticking and greenwashing by businesses, Rajeev Peshawaria believes that sustainability is a leadership challenge, and entrepreneurs and CEOs should instill the culture of accountability top-down. In his new book Sustainable Sustainability: Why ESG is Not Enough, Peshawar…

1
How two-time world champion Shane Watson overcame fear and retrained his mind to play the short ball 26:58

18d ago26:58

26:58

The two-time World Cup-winning Australian all-rounder talks to Divya Shekhar and Kathakali Chanda about his new book The Winner’s Mindset. He talks about a tragedy that triggered a fear of the short ball, how he overcame his anxiety, why it’s important to train the mind, and what he wants to do next after a successful career as a cricketer and now …

1
Has India resisted timely financial sector reforms? Rajrishi Singhal weighs in 26:35

1M ago26:35

26:35

In his book 'Slip, Stitch and Stumble', senior journalist Rajrishi Singhal takes a broad-scope look into the evolution of financial sector reforms in India. From Manmohan Singh's landmark July 1991 Union Budget speech to the current complicated relationship between fintech companies and regulations, the book takes stock of the various events, stake…

1
Former P&G India CEO Gurcharan Das on life, leadership and doing business in challenging times 26:38

2M ago26:38

26:38

Gurcharan Das believes that reliving your life is better than living it. In his memoir Another Sort of Freedom, he reflects on 80 years of his life. The author talks to Divya Shekhar about how he fled his home during the Partition, stumbled through various academic disciplines—from engineering and literature to philosophy and Sanskrit—survived doin…

1
Vijay Govindarajan on fusion strategy and why India should focus on high value manufacturing 31:28

2M ago31:28

31:28

To compete in the new age, companies need to fuse the physical and digital to create value, says Vijay Govindarajan. The Coxe distinguished professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, his new book Fusion Strategy is all about how companies need to use technology and real-time data to turbocharge their products, strategies and cus…

1
Former Tata Motors CEO Ravi Kant on the merits of leading from the back 22:37

3M ago22:37

22:37

We’ve heard about the popular phrase “leading from the front”. It means taking the lead in making decisions and showing people the way. But Ravi Kant, former vice chairman and CEO of Tata Motors, is of the belief that business leaders should no longer aspire to lead from the front, but instead, aim to lead from the back. Why does he say that? What …

1
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni on her new book about Sudha and Narayana Murthy 38:57

3M ago38:57

38:57

Sudha and Narayana Murthy are no doubt icons of our generation. But when so much is known about their life already, what can you possibly write that seems new to readers? And when the subjects of your book are your primary sources, how can you avoid being hagiographical? In this conversation with Divya Shekhar, celebrated author Chitra Banerjee Div…

1
Gretchen Morgenson and Josh Rosner on how private equity can plunder the economy 32:22

3M ago32:22

32:22

In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner, managing director of Graham Fisher and Co., talk about their book These are the Plunderers: How PE runs and wrecks America. The book is a well-researched critique of how private equity firms in the US that specialise in buying companies, load them with debt and…

1
Robin Sharma on wealth, leadership, and how to separate good advice from bad 31:33

4M ago31:33

31:33

The author and leadership coach, known for international bestsellers The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and The 5 AM Club, speaks with Divya Shekhar about his forthcoming book The Wealth Money Can’t Buy, and the relevance of self-help books inthe age motivation content fatigue, thanks to social media. He also discusses why hubris takes down many great p…

1
Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba on reimagining India’s economic growth path 51:01

5M ago51:01

51:01

Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba believe that India’s best days are still ahead and that the country shouldn’t lose its biggest strength—its democracy—by “any stretch of the imagination”. In their new book, ‘Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India’s Economic Future’, Rajan, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, and Lamba, an economist at Pennsyl…

1
In conversation with Kashmir Hill: Facial recognition technology and the end of privacy 24:00

5M ago24:00

24:00

What if I tell you there’s a company that can scrape every photo you casually upload on social media? A company that uses powerful facial recognition technology in ways that even big tech companies like Google and Facebook have refrained from using. The New York Times Journalist Kashmir Hill speaks to Divya Shekhar about her book Your Face Belongs …

1
Fali Nariman on the Constitution, judiciary and the future of Indian democracy 23:17

7M ago23:17

23:17

Fali Nariman is arguably the greatest living expert on the Constitution. He started his legal practice the year the Constitution of India was enacted in November 1949. He spoke with Divya Shekhar and Forbes India Editor Brian Carvalho about his new book 'You Must Know Your Constitution'. He discusses pertinent issues, including how the Constitution…

1
Madhav Gadgil on India’s priorities towards conservation, climate and sustainability 23:10

7M ago23:10

23:10

All through his career, Madhav Gadgil has worked closely with communities on the ground, roping in researchers, policy-makers,NGOs, farmers, teachers, students and citizens for environmental conservation. His contributions towards saving the Western Ghats and building an inventory to monitor biodiversity in India, among other things, have made him …

1
Water in the age of climate change, with Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli 24:41

7M ago24:41

24:41

The teachers of sustainability at the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru discuss their new book ‘Shades of Blue: Connecting the Drops in India’s Cities’, which combines scientific rigour with anecdotes, community histories, and nostalgia to take us through water bodies across the country. The authors talk to Divya Shekhar about our complicated col…

1
Nagaraja Prakasam on why entrepreneurs should solve for ‘Bharat’, not just India 23:51

8M ago23:51

23:51

In his book ‘Back to Bharat: In Search of a Sustainable Future’, impact investor Nagaraja Prakasam distinguishes between India and Bharat. For him, the word ‘Bharat’ means the “ignored billion” in the country. These are people, he says, that are still largely left out of the digital revolution—venture investors are mostly wary of them, and business…

1
Azim Premji Foundation CEO Anurag Behar on education and stories from the ground 21:38

8M ago21:38

21:38

Anurag Behar is the CEO of the Azim Premji Foundation that has been working in the space of education and now healthcare. In his new book, ‘A Matter of the Heart: Education in India’, he shares a collection of essays that takes us to schools in some of the most remote villages in India. Behar leads an organization of thousands of people working acr…

1
How can daily habits influence climate change? Aakash Ranison has an answer 23:55

9M ago23:55

23:55

You might be all in on the #OOTD (outfit of the day) trend or not care about leftover food from a takeout. All this, and a multitude of small daily habits that we might not think twice about, could add to the climate burden. Digital influencer and activist Aakash Ranison attempts to decode these in his new book ‘I’m a Climate Optimist’. He takes st…

1
Durreen Shahnaz on building a stock exchange for social enterprises 24:04

10M ago24:04

24:04

In her book, 'The Defiant Optimist', Durreen Shahnaz, the first Bangladeshi woman to work on Wall Street, presents a glimpse of her life and her effort to make financial markets more equitable and inclusive. The founder of the Impact Investment Exchange in Singapore believes that financial systems that enrich the few can be transformed for the good…

1
Monika Halan talks mutual funds, financial influencers and how to grow your money 23:12

10M ago23:12

23:12

Her previous book, Let’sTalk Money, was a national bestseller and in it, Monika Halan offered apractical approach to financial security and how we can make our wealth workfor us. In her latest book Let’s TalkMutual Funds, she provides a wealth of information on everything youpossibly need to know about investing in mutual funds. Halan also talks to…

1
Sam Santhosh’s leadership learnings for the first-time Indian entrepreneur 24:17

11M ago24:17

24:17

The self-made businessman has worked with several pharma and biotech companies for targeted therapies and innovation through his company MedGenome. He has also incubated and launched many companies leveraging next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics through his incubator SciGenom Labs. He talks to host Divya Shekhar about his book, ‘Sam’s 12 C…

1
What can startup founders learn from legacy entrepreneurs who built India? 22:08

11M ago22:08

22:08

What does it take to build a legacy and ensure generations of people benefit from your work? Are there leadership lessons old industrialists can offer young founders of today? These are some of the questions that family business historian Sonu Bhasin attempts to answer through a series of books called 'Entrepreneurs Who Built India'. The latest boo…

1
India’s economic history, told through the stories of its Finance Ministers 25:09

12M ago25:09

25:09

How did India’s earliest Finance Ministers shape the economic story of the country? In his new book 'India’s Finance Ministers: From Independence to Emergency (1947-1977)', senior journalist AK Bhattacharya presents a detailed account of the work done by finance ministers in India’s first three decades since Independence. He speaks with episode hos…

1
Are the odds stacked against women in science by design? 22:55

12M ago22:55

22:55

In this episode, Divya Shekhar speaks with science writers Aashima Dogra and Nandita Jayaraj, who run The Life of Science, a platform dedicated to highlighting the stories and voices of women and minorities in science. In late-2015, they decided to visit the labs of women scientists and researchers in India, and their recent book ‘Lab Hopping’, is …

1
HCL Co-founder Ajai Chowdhry on why India needs to be a hardware product nation 23:20

1y ago23:20

23:20

In this episode, Divya Shekhar speaks with HCL co-founder Ajai Chowdhry about his book 'Just Aspire', building a career in IT in the 70s, creating a domestic market for computers in the country, whether the recent instances of layoffs, onboarding delays and attrition point to deeper systemic issues in Indian IT, and how India can use its software p…

1
Stories from Indian Kitchens: Part 2, ft. Vikas Khanna 17:34

1y ago17:34

17:34

To commemorate the six-month run of From the Bookshelves, Divya Shekhar brings you a special episode featuring a Michelin-starred celebrity chef who is an ambassador for Indian cuisine and culture to the world. Vikas Khanna speaks about his latest book Imaginary Rain, which is the story of an immigrant woman running a restaurant in the US, and a se…

1
Stories from Indian Kitchens, ft. Gauri Devidayal 22:10

1y ago22:10

22:10

What are the numerous untold tales behind a plate of food that you’ve ordered at a restaurant? In this episode, Divya Shekhar speaks with restaurateur Gauri Devidayal about her new book ‘Diamonds for Breakfast’, which she has co-written with writer-editor Vishwas Kulkarni. She discusses how and why she wrote about her experience of running one of t…

1
Can finding your ‘Ikigai’ make you a better business leader? 18:13

1y ago18:13

18:13

The Japanese have a long tradition of finding the secret to a sense of purpose, happiness and balance in everyday life. And they have a word—Ikigai—to represent just that. In this episode, Divya Shekhar meets up with Francesc Miralles, who has authored the globally bestselling Ikigai series of books along with Hector Garcia. They speak about whethe…

1
Crony Capitalism and Controversial Businessmen, with Nandini Vijayaraghavan 21:13

1y ago21:13

21:13

In this episode, Divya Shekhar discusses a brief history of the biggest corporate failures in India over the past two decades and what we can learn from them with Nandini Vijayaraghavan, who is the director and head of research at the Singapore office of the Korea Development Bank. In her latest book ‘Unfinished Business: Evolving Capitalism in the…

1
Bhairavi Jani on the diversity in Indian entrepreneurship 24:14

1y ago24:14

24:14

Do you think you will have a better understanding of your country and what it means to be Indian if you travelled over 18,000 kilometres, on the road for more than 50 days? When fourth-generation entrepreneur Bhairavi Jani did that, she discovered new facets and truths about India that are now part of her new book Highway to Swades. In this episode…

1
Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka on his next book and life after winning Booker Prize 2022 24:40

1+ y ago24:40

24:40

From the Bookshelves of Forbes India is back after a short New Year break, and is happy to present the first fiction title to be discussed on the podcast. Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka won the Booker Prize 2022 for his novel ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ barely three months ago. He speaks with Divya Shekhar about using ghosts, ghouls a…

1
Kris Gopalakrishnan on framing India's IT story 25:42

1+ y ago25:42

25:42

Did you know the word computation made its first appearance only in the second Five-Year plan, and the word 'computer' was introduced only in India's third Five-Year Plan? But there were a few individuals who were first-movers, early believers in the power of technology who eventually helped shape the IT industry into the behemoth worth billions of…

1
Modern-day feminism equals financial freedom: Shaili Chopra 22:50

1+ y ago22:50

22:50

How do women in India navigate their everyday freedoms, both big and small? With the rate of female workforce participation in India low and stagnant at less than 25 percent—how can we bridge the gap between men and women, particularly in terms of economic opportunities and parity? Shaili Chopra's new book, Sisterhood Economy, addresses these issue…

1
Innovation and resilience, ft. iPhone and iPod co-creator Tony Fadell 25:24

1+ y ago25:24

25:24

In a masterclass on how to build companies and products that change the world, and how to persevere through failure, Tony Fadell speaks with Divya Shekhar about his illustrious career, which, through its twists and turns, has helped him become the man behind some of the most inventive products in the world today. The co-creator of the iPhone, who l…

1
Jimmy Soni on Elon Musk, Twitter as a stepping stone for everything app X, the PayPal Mafia and more 28:07

1+ y ago28:07

28:07

Jimmy Soni spent more than six years of his life documenting the origin story of PayPal and the rise to power of its founders, who, as the PayPal Mafia, are among the most influential people in Silicon Valley today. Soni's book, The Founders, chronicles how the payments platform shaped the modern consumer internet. It features rich anecdotes, backs…

1
Can we trust India's drug regulator? Dinesh Thakur and Prashant Reddy weigh in 23:13

1+ y ago23:13

23:13

How safe are medicines made in India? Four cough and cold syrups made in India have allegedly caused the death of 66 children in the African nation of Gambia, which the Indian drug regulator is currently investigating. The syrups contained diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol, which can be fatal for humans who consume it. India has had a rec…

1
Workplaces need to be less stressful: Aparna Piramal Raje on living with bipolar disorder 24:17

1+ y ago24:17

24:17

Aparna Piramal Raje comes from a prominent business family. She is a writer, educator, public speaker, and, in her own words, “happy, thriving and bipolar”. Her new book, Chemical Khichdi, is published by Penguin Random House India. In this episode of From the Bookshelves of Forbes India, Aparna talks about how she and her family coped with her men…

1
On building brands in the social media era, with Anjana Menon 27:30

2+ y ago27:30

27:30

'What's your story? The Essential Business Storytelling Handbook', is a collection of experiences of three co-authors Adri Buckner, Anjana Menon, Marybeth Sandell who talk about how companies should map their audience and engage with their target audience in a more interactive and relevant way. It is filled with examples of companies and whether th…

1
Will Page: What the music industry can teach you about pivoting in the digital age 48:05

2+ y ago48:05

48:05

“What we learn from the music business tells us so much more about who we really are, than other media industries; music is important not only because it was first to suffer and first to recover, but because it was the first to discover who we really are,” says Will Page, formerly the chief economist at audio streaming company Spotify. In his book …

1
Kotler and Sarkar: On brand activism, and why credibility of Indian CEOs is at an all-time low 31:43

2+ y ago31:43

31:43

Marketing guru Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar in their new book discuss the seven wicked topics they have identified for brand activism. The book is an insightful read on how brands end up on either side of the regressive or progressive activism debate, with examples like Anita Roddick building the Body Shop. In this conversation, Kotler and Sa…

1
Unpacking untold stories of India's banking ecosystem, with Tamal Bandyopadhyay 46:51

3y ago46:51

46:51

'Pandemonium' by veteran banking editor Tamal Bandyopadhyay narrates untold gripping stories from the Indian banking ecosystem. From the bad loans war room created far from the Mint street in Mumbai, to the arrests made in connection to the disbursal of such loans, he breaks down the nuances of bad loans in India, the key faces, and a collection of…

1
Binod Chaudhary: Making it big in Nepal 30:30

3y ago30:30

30:30

Binod Chaudhary is Nepal’s sole billionaire according to Forbes World Billionaires list for 2021. In his autobiography, 'Making it Big', he writes about building his business, the impact of monarchy and politics, running 169 companies and how he plans to consolidate them now. His company CG Corp Global manufactures the widely popular Wai Wai noodle…

1
Steven Levy: Why Alphabet is more conventional than Google ever was 26:19

3y ago26:19

26:19

Steven Levy has updated his book 'In the Plex' and now takes a look at how Google has changed over the last decade. In the middle of the decade, Larry Page decided to call the company Alphabet. Alpha meant Google and Bet means the new bets or the moonshine projects it will undertake. Levy believes this structure has made it tougher for these bets l…

1
Jayadevan P.K: How Xiaomi built a cult following 25:42

3y ago25:42

25:42

In the summer of 2010, Xiaomi Corporation didn't start out as a mobile handset company, choosing instead to launch as the company behind MIUI, an operating system based on Google's Android OS. In fact, Xiaomi officially launched as a mobile phone maker in August 2011. Since then, it has managed to become the largest-selling smartphone manufacturer …

1
Vivek Wadhwa: Now the Goliaths eat David for lunch 24:40

3y ago24:40

24:40

The book’s title 'From Incremental to Exponential' is a giveaway and Vivek Wadhwa, a tech entrepreneur and a distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School and Carnegie Mellon University joins us on today's episode. He points out there will be more disruption in this decade than in the last 50 years. Since 1935, the average membership duration in S&P 5…

1
Jeff Immelt: My legacy was controversial at best 21:52

3y ago21:52

21:52

GE was created in 1892 and it finds its roots with Thomas Edison. But after 110 years, in 2018, GE was booted from Dow Jones. Many pointed fingers at the senior management. In this tell-all podcast, Jeffery Immelt the ex-CEO of GE talks about his time leading the conglomerate, including decisions that went wrong and some which will bear fruits late…

1
Nitin Rakesh: 8 principles for companies to follow in post pandemic world 20:24

3y ago20:24

20:24

Startups and e-delivery models are usually the talks of the town and they have managed to harness growth during the pandemic but what about the old school enterprises? The book 'Transformation In Times of Crisis' by Nitin Rakesh, CEO of Mphasis and Professor Jerry Wind, who taught at Wharton School, delves upon how enterprises are rewiring themselv…

1
Shiv Shivakumar: How to deal with the ten most important career dilemmas 15:11

3y ago15:11

15:11

All of us go through career dilemmas at some point. Shivakumar discusses the top ten dilemmas that we may experience and backs them with research and data to analyse how we can make better career moves. In his book, 'The Right Choice', he says India produces nearly half a million MBAs every year but less than 5 percent of an IIM batch makes it to t…

1
Raja Rajamannar: Marketers should harness new tech to stay relevant 25:53

3y ago25:53

25:53

Marketers, globally, are facing an existential crisis as more companies are losing confidence in what marketers can do for their brands. In his book, Rajamannar points out what he calls quantum marketing, the fifth paradigm, that can help marketers to stay relevant in the business. The need to adopt experiential marketing, harnessing machine learni…

1
Prof. Michael Sandel: Challenging the myths of meritocracy 30:53

3+ y ago30:53

30:53

As more people feel dislocated in the face of the inexorable forces of globalisation and technology and lash out against immigrants, free trade, governing elites, Professor Michael Sandel, one of the foremost philosophers in the world and a professor at Harvard University challenges the usual notions of meritocracy in his latest book, 'The Tyranny …

1
Dr. Sudipta Sarangi: Why we like free stuff, and the economics of other small things 34:17

3+ y ago34:17

34:17

Dr. Sudipta Sarangi's debut novel 'The Economics of Small Things' questions our small actions and why we do things the way we do them, and the economics behind them. The book explains concepts of economics with real-life questions, like why we ask for freebies while buying vegetables, and more importantly, why the shopkeeper will give you freebies.…

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Rohit Rajan Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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