Nilgiris
Book Review: Saga of the Nilgiri’s: An epic journey into new avenues
Author: Ramachandran Natarajan
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Price: Rs 150
Language: English
Category: Business / Biography
Saga of the Nilgiri’s takes the reader through a journey into what began as a small butter supplying firm and has now evolved into a multi-dimensional business empire spreading its branches all over the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The 155 page biography chronicles an in-depth narrative on the life of the Nilgiri’s untiring founder, S. Muthuswami Mudaliar and his son and the current proprietor, M. Chenniappan. The growth and success of the Nilgiri’s into a household name today through the sheer hard work, gut sense and foresight of its pioneer and his venturesome protégé is what gives root to the title of the book.
Saga of the Nilgiri’s may be appreciated for its simple story telling form and fine descriptive style. It paints a readable picture of Muthuswami’s foray into business, the business ethos he inculcated into his sons and traces the growth phases through interesting anecdotes as to how the young Chenniappan, dispatched to supervise butter distribution in Bangalore was buoyant enough to go beyond his mission, taking bold initiatives and setting up new integral units.
There are many quotes that appear to emphasise a point taken from literary giants such as Oliver Goldsmith, William Yeats, Robert Orme and American monk Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. Another interesting technique used is the segregation of the story into chapters that are not numbered but simple titled ‘Butter wins bread’, ‘The Second Coming’, ‘Tryst with trust’, ‘The undisputed patriarch’ among others which portray the various phases in the biography, vividly.
R. Natarajan, a management consultant, bilingual author and journalist brings out the memoirs of a poor weaver’s son, Muthuswami who left his family occupation in Morattupalyam near Erode in Tamil Nadu and moved to...
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