I bought the Monks Ferrari by Ravi Subramanian

"I bought the Monks Ferrari" by Ravi Subramanian. This book is published by Rupa & Co in Mar 2007 and has 174 pages.

Ravi is known for his fictions. However this book falls in non fiction genre. It's a motivational cum management cum self help book. The title has obvious reference to Robin Sharma's 'The Monk who sold his Ferrari'. Going by name this book should be a sequel to Robin's, but in reality it could be a prequel.

In this book Ferrari is a symbol of all that is best, all that is desired and all that everyone doesn't get. In first section he tells his story where he longed for a Ferrari. In the second section he lays down ten commandments to achieve the goal. In the final section he explains what is a Ferrari. The book ends with two poems and a final anecdote from his life.

A few quotes of Ravi, that I liked are:
In order to give up something you first need to possess it.
This book is about achieving success at your own terms.
Aim for the stars and reach them.
The Ferrari is a dream... a desire.... a passion.
Work-life balance is nothing more than just an idle topic for café gossip.
The Ferrari can be yours only if you are absolutely unwilling to compromise on integrity and ethics.
Work expands itself to completely fill in the available time.

His ten commandments are:
To acquire a Ferrari you need to aspire.
A positive frame of mind will surely get you closer to your Ferrari.
Be the winner, not the wimp.
Set and follow the highest standard of integrity in your personal and professional life.
Value your own time and that of others.
Earning the Ferrari is all about constantly upgrading yourself, improving your skill sets and equipping yourself for the future.
If you are in the company of successful people their success will rub off on you.
Share your success with others.
Remain fighting fit and be in perfect shape.
Target your audience and announce your achievements.

Ravi has written this book with small incidents in his personal life and anecdotes from the lives of other successful people (Naina Lal Kidwai, Jayakumar, Raj Khosla, Tony Singh, Graham Thorpe etc..) Since he comes from banking industry, most of these personalities, though not all, are from banking.

He has also used a couple of fables to make his point. The book is also laced with quotations from various known and unknown personalities. These things make the book more like a dialogue than a sermon and thus more readable.

Ravi is especially severe on the concept of work life balance. He says if you are thinking of work life balance, you will never own a Ferrari.

As for the ten commandments, although all of them are important, they could well have been seven or eight. Did he expand them to make 'Ten commandments'? Just for the sound of it?

It was after a while that I read this genre and enjoyed it. The book is not lengthy and that makes it crisp.

Good book. Recommend reading.