Author- Tamal Bandopadhyay
‘Sahara:The Untold Story’ written by Tamal Bandopadhyay, is a book featuring exclusive interview with Subrata Roy and details about Sahara India Pariwar.This book turns the pages of life of Subrata Roy and how he came up with the Sahara India Pariwar.
As the back cover says-‘Sahara: The Untold Story’ is based on painstaking research to demystify India’s most secretive and largely unlisted conglomerate, the Sahara India Pariwar. It also delves into the group’s ongoing legal battle with the market regulator.
Entrepreneur Subrata Roy, the guardian angel of
the group, whose feet are touched by everybody
in the Pariwar, wants to reach out to a million
lives and feels impeded and shuttered in by
regulations. So the clashwith the regulators was
inevitable. But when a regulator slams one door,
maverick Roy opens another. Thisplay has been
on since 1978, when Sahara was set up.
Roy is well known for glamour and his
association with film stars, cricketers and
politicians. He exudespatriotism, with a statue of
Bharat Mata (the presiding deity of the group) on
a chariot driven by four fierce-looking lions
adorning his headquarters in Lucknow. He is the
Robin Hood of a country where only 35% of the
adult population has access to formal banking
services. This India and its millions of illiterate
poordepositors stand in awe and admiration of
him. But does he also exploit them? Do these
poor people actuallykeep money with him or are
they fronting for others?’
This book has snapshots of Subrata Roy with the famous stars of the world like with Barack Obama,Bill Clinton,David Cameron,Dalai Lama,Amitabh Bacchan,Mother Teresa etc to show how inquistively he is known and in touch with such great leaders.The book is divided into four parts where each part deals with different phases of life of Subrata Roy and the story of Sahara India Pariwar.Tamal Bandopadhyay listed out good questions to showcase the story of Sahara through this book.I got to know many things from this book which I didnt know before.
This book holds your hand till the end of the reading journey only if you like to know the success story of Subrata Roy and of Sahara India Pariwar.An interesting tale of Sahara India,ups and downs,relative success embarking in the path and a gift to Sahara lovers.
Rating- 4/5
Reviewed by Sweta Kesari