There are several residents who make the neighbourhood proud, and one among them, is undoubtedly Dr R Durgadoss.
After successfully climbing up the corporate ladder, he turned into a motivational speaker and a sought-after author.
His latest series of books has a dedicated following around the globe, even as he is rarely in Adyar, migrating between Chennai, Dubai and USA, all through the year.
News Today caught up with this author who having lived in Kasturibai Nagar and Gandhi Nagar for years, is now only a visitor here.
He says, “I have retired from active corporate life. With a P.hd in Corporate Finance, I am now a speaker and writer. Currently, my assignments are limited to the board. In my mid 50s, I began thinking what I would do in my retired life. Since I used to speak at seminars on business ethics and governance, I began getting into motivational speaking as people who interacted with me, felt positive after a conversation.”
However, after treading down this road for 2-3 years, he understood what the society needed was, ‘awakening of the souls.’ “Instead of a motivational coach, I thought I should become an awakening speaker. The youth get frustrated and distressed at the slightest failure. I positioned myself as a stress-buster. My journey as an author began here,” he explains.
About his book, ‘A saint in the board room’, he says, “This one taught me the power of story telling. We being an unbroken civilization for so many centuries, I thought we had many stories to tell, as the younger generation had forgotten its ancient roots. I saw so many Indian students living abroad. These roots had to be taken to them.”
Apart from helping people connect to their history, the author also notes that writing helps him fight a grievance about heroes, who have been sidelined by books. “I am focusing on the forgotten ones like Rana Pratap Singh, whom even king Akbar could not defeat,” he adds.
So what is his next book? “It’s named the Invincible Warrior, and releases in May-June. It is about King Hemu,” he states, adding that all his previous works are in the process of being translated into Tamil.
E-mail him at [email protected]
| Respecting sentiments |
| Even as his books revolve around real historic characters, he lets imaginary characters float around. “But these do not change the outcome of the history. Wherever there is mystery, I play around. But I do not change history. I don’t want to hurt the puritans. Even timelines remain the same.” he says. |