BOOKS OF THE WEEK

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow: The Untold Story Of N.J. Yasaswy, 

The Founder Of ICFAI 

by Pattabhi Ram and Sudhakar Rao

ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1985, when India was still a sleeping giant, one man dared to dream of building a world-
class educational institution. ‘Impossible’, people said. Turning that attitude around took genius, persistence and the uncommon gift of persuasion.

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow: The Untold Story of N.J. Yasaswy, the Founder of ICFAI chronicles the life and times of one of India’s boldest minds in higher education.

Long before private universities became commonplace, Yasaswy imagined a network of world-class institutions that would help shape India’s future.

Out of that vision grew the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI), stretching from Tripura to Dehradun, and from Sikkim to Hyderabad. Today, it is a family of 11 universities, 9 B-schools, 7 tech schools, 9 law schools, and 3 pharma schools—all within four decades of learning.

But Yasaswy was more than a dreamer. He was an institution builder, a leader who inspired fierce loyalty and a risk-taker who was never scared to miss a step or two on the road to scale. He led his army of followers on a path where no road existed.

Drawing on the voices of admirers, colleagues, critics, family and friends, V. Pattabhi Ram and Sudhakar Rao tell the story of how Yasaswy built institutions brick by brick and how he inspired ordinary people to achieve extraordinary goals.

Written with conviction and narrative detail, this inspiring story is a case study of grassroots change, and of a visionary leader who revolutionized Indian higher education.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

V. Pattabhi Ram wears multiple hats: CA, storyteller, teacher. He has taught over 76,000 CA students, spoken internationally, and his writings span non-fiction and biographies. Noted works include Tech Phoenix: Satyam’s 100-Day Turnaround and India in 2047: The Amazing Story of a Modern Nation. This biography, his sixth, continues his journey of chronicling leaders. In 2024, Rotary International bestowed on him the Lifetime of Professional Excellence Award. Away from work, he plays squash and pickleball.

Sudhakar Rao, an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and MIT Sloan, brings 25+ years of leadership as an award-winning Brand Strategist. As Director of Branding at ICFAI, he leads strategy for 11 universities, 9 business schools, and multiple tech and law schools, while mentoring startups and speaking globally on innovation. He has been recognized as CK Prahalad Chair Awardee for Marketing 2024, Dun & Bradstreet Marketing Maverick 2024 and Brand Strategist of the Year 2025 by Fluxx Awards, Hong Kong. Author of WiseViews: Lessons from the Game Changers and DiviSeema Business Fables, he also chairs FICCI’s Education Committee. An adventurer, he trekked to Everest Base Camp in 2023, to Machu Picchu in 2025 and has cycled over 12,706 km.

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Organic Purpose in Life's Journey

Brewing Knowledge Friday

Amardeep Singh discusses his heritage documentation and personal journey.

Key Takeaways

• “Accidental Author” Journey: A corporate career ended in 2014, freeing Singh to pursue a lifelong passion for history. This led to documenting Sikh heritage in Pakistan, a project he views as a personal calling to contribute to society.

• Challenging Official Narratives: Singh’s work counters state-sponsored history (e.g., Pakistan’s) that omits or demonises the Sikh era. He uses historical evidence, like syncretic frescoes, to reveal a more complex, shared past.

• Partition’s Unequal Impact: The partition’s impact was uneven. Punjab was divided, but Sindh, Kashmir, and Balochistan were uprooted entirely. This explains the Sindhi community’s focus on commerce, as they lost all land-based assets.

• Current Project: Singh is translating the Guru Granth Sahib into “metaphoric English” to make its wisdom globally accessible. He has completed 1/3 of the project (1,653 verses) and is seeking resources to finish the remaining 2/3.

Topics

The “Accidental Author” Journey

• Singh’s corporate career ended in 2014, providing the opportunity to pursue a lifelong interest in history.

• Motivation: A personal calling to document the heritage left behind by his ancestors in Pakistan, fulfilling a sense of social contribution.

• Challenges:

  • Access: Navigating a geopolitically sensitive region as an Indian national.

  • Logistics: Researching 36 cities/villages in 30 days (Book 1) and 90 in 60 days (Book 2) on a tight budget.

  • Funding: Self-funding the project required a significant shift from a corporate mindset.

• Emotional Moment: Finding his distant aunt, Jaswanti (now Noori), in Rawalpindi, who was separated from her family during the 1947 Kashmir conflict.

Challenging Official Narratives

• Singh’s work challenges state-sponsored histories that present a black-and-white past.

• Pakistan’s Narrative: Omits the Sikh era (1799–1849) and demonises figures like Ranjit Singh.

• Historical Evidence: Singh uses art and architecture to reveal a more complex, syncretic past.

  • Bhomanshah Darbar Frescoes: Show empowered women leading hunts in the 1800s.

  • Gurdwara Frescoes: Include Hindu stories such as that of Shravan Kumar, demonstrating shared Indic traditions.

Partition’s Unequal Impact

• The partition’s impact varied significantly by region.

• Punjab: Divided, but both sides retained land, allowing for cultural re-anchoring (e.g., Amritsar for Sikhs).

• Sindh, Kashmir, Balochistan: Uprooted entirely, losing all land-based assets.

  • Sindhis: Their focus on commerce stems directly from having to rebuild their lives from scratch.

  • Kashmir: The conflict is framed as a “Line of Control” dispute, which prevents either India or Pakistan from acknowledging the human cost of partition in the region.

Current Project: Globalising the Guru Granth Sahib

• Goal: Make the wisdom of the Guru Granth Sahib accessible to a global audience.

• Method: Translating the scripture into “metaphoric English” to convey its philosophical depth, unlike current literal translations (e.g., “washing your lotus feet”).

• Progress: 1/3 of the project (1,653 verses, including all of Nanak’s and Kabir’s) is complete.

• Challenge: Expanding to complete the remaining 2/3 requires significant resources, which Singh is actively seeking.

Next Steps

• Amardeep Singh: Secure resources to complete the remaining 2/3 of the Guru Granth Sahib translation project.

• Audience: Research the “butterfly effect” to understand how small events can have large, unpredictable consequences.

The Design of a Bookstore

At first glance, a bookstore feels neutral — wooden shelves, soft lighting, neat stacks arranged with quiet precision. But the longer you stand inside it, the more you begin to understand: space is never accidental.

A bookstore is not simply arranged.

It is designed.

And design carries intention.

The position of shelves, the books that face outward, the ones placed at eye level, the genres near the entrance, the quieter sections deeper inside — all of it shapes how a reader feels before they even open a book. Space guides emotion.

When you walk in, you do not move randomly.

• You are guided.
• Front tables invite attention.
• Displayed covers draw the eye.
• Hidden shelves reward patience.
• Open spaces encourage wandering.
• Architecture becomes choreography.
• But behind this choreography is a person.
• The shelf-mate.

A bookstore does not organise itself. Every placement is a decision. Every display reflects thought. What is visible is visible because someone chose to make it so. What stands at the centre stands there intentionally. Visibility shapes what we notice. What we notice shapes what we pick up. And what we pick up shapes what we carry home.

The shelf-mate understands this.

They do more than manage inventory. They read readers. They observe hesitation. They sense moods. They match books to moments. They balance what will sell with what deserves to be seen. They think about flow — how a reader will move, where they will pause, what might catch their attention without them realising it.

In that sense, the shelf-mate is the quiet choreographer of the bookstore. They arrange not just shelves, but experiences. To recommend a book is not simply to sell it. It is to enter someone’s inner world — their private hours, their thoughts, their becoming. That requires attention. It requires care. It requires trust.

A bookstore, then, is architecture guided by intention. It is space shaped by someone who understands that placement matters, that visibility matters, that experience matters. And at the centre of it all stands the shelf-mate — quietly directing the movement of stories, and the movement of us.

Sneha

-The English Book Depot