Virtual Book Launch of 'Small Town Bigger Dreams'

Aavam! Good evening, everybody. I cordially welcome you all to the much-awaited book launch of Haritosh Srivastav's debut book, Small Town, Bigger Dreams. So thank you everybody who has joined through StreamYard, through Facebook, and through YouTube. So first, let me give a small intro about Haritosh Srivastav. He's been working as a project manager for the last 14 years, and he's fully involved with Toastmasters, and he has got the Distinguished Toastmaster Award, that is the highest award in Toastmasters. In addition, he's also a YouTuber, he's also a writer, and he has so many feathers onto his cap. So before starting off in detail with the book launch, let me start off with few questions. So I want to ask the audience present over here, how many of you have read Haritosh Srivastav's book, like Small Town Bigger Dreams? So just a show of hands and just acknowledge how many of you here has read the book. I would first acknowledge that I have read the book? Yes, I can see Abu's hand going up. He has read the book. Anybody else? Okay, so next question is, how many of you have already ordered or already received the hard copy of the book? Abu has ordered.

This is half hand because it's, uh, I'm about to get delivered, so this is my half hand.

Great, great. I am also at the same level. I've ordered, yet to get it, and I'm sure one person has got it. So this, I would remind the audience again that this launch is mainly focused on the launch of the hard copy. Haritosh Srivastav already launched the Kindle version few months back, and I had the fortune of reading the book. So let's wait for the, uh, hard copy as well. So I'm sure that'll also be fantastic. So now let's start off with our interactive session. Let's make it two-way process. Let's make it more fun and let's make it more interactive. Before I call on Haritosh Srivastav, I would like to know how many of you here know Haritosh Srivastav in and out? Many of us have read the book. And sure, we know what's happening in Haritosh Srivastav's life, and we know the segments in his life. So I will be throwing some questions. Anybody who knows the answer can unmute yourself or give me a show of hands and answer it. So let's get started with a small quiz interactive session. First one, it's a pretty, pretty simple one. Everybody except Haritosh Srivastav can answer. So what is Haritosh's hometown? Where is he belonging? What is Haritosh? Yeah, yeah, we have seen 3 hands going up. Over to you, Apu.

John Abrahampur, Johnpur.

Wow, that's a very good way of putting it. Very, very well done. Next, this question I purposely didn't mention it in the inter— introduction of Haritosh Srivastav. So I want to know from all of you, which is the company Haritosh Srivastav is working in? From past 14 years he's working in this particular company. Not Abu again. I will go to Anil sir. Anil sir, you can say the answer. Yes, yes, yes. Exactly, TCS. And now he's deputed and he's working in UK. Now the third question is also very interesting, very, very important part of his life. What is the name of Haritosh Srivastav's daughter? Yes, Manvinder, Manvinder, you can answer.

Yeah, well, go ahead.

She's very adorable and her name is Ruhi and Laranja both. So Laranja is the name that we all know her, and of course we call her nickname is Ruhi.

Yeah, wow, wonderful, wonderful. Thanks for sharing. Yes, she's an adorable kid, and we have a surprise from her later on in this book launch. Yeah, now this is from Haritosh Srivastav's book. He had shared some of his favorite podcasts. Can any of you name one or two podcasts that he mentioned in the book? Any of you? Okay, let me, let me name some of the podcasts. One is Tony Robbins Podcast and The Brendon Show. The Brendon Show is something which even I started watching after reading his book. It's a fantastic show, I can say. And the other one is The Mindset Mentor by Rob Dial Jr. So these are two podcasts that Haritosh Srivastav mentioned. So now coming to the fifth question, this is a tricky one, but you can, you can get this. One Indian tradition that Haritosh Srivastav does not like. It's a famous tradition. He specially mentions that you shouldn't spend much money on this tradition. Yes, Anil sir, you can go ahead.

It's a wild guess. Money, money, I think. Only I think because he doesn't want colors on his face.

No, no, no, sorry. Abu, Abu, you can go ahead.

Is it marriage? Big fat Indian wedding?

Exactly, big fat Indian wedding. Haritosh Srivastav specially mentions that you should not go for that word, if I use Hindi word, dikava or show off, which even I believe in. And that's, that's what Haritosh Srivastav mentioned in this book. And this is a very interesting, interesting question. And who is the closest friend of Haritosh Srivastav that he mentions in the book? One closest friend, and that friend is there present in the show today. So any of you can answer except for that friend. Yes, Anil. Yes, Anil sir.

Manvinder. Manvinder.

Yes, exactly, exactly. And last, last question before we move forward is Who is Haritosh's mentee in Toastmasters? Who is Haritosh's mentee? Yes, both Manvinder and Abu has risen their hand. Manvinder, you can go ahead. You can go ahead.

Manvinder, you're on mute, I suppose.

Sorry for that. Taiba is the one.

Yeah, yes, correct, correct. Yes, it's Taiba Mahmood. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you all for this interactive session and actively participating in it. So let's move ahead, move ahead to the next session. That is, we will have a cake cutting session. So Haritosh, we can have the cake cutting session. We can formally start off the book launch on a very good note. Let's, let's give it up for Haritosh and let's have the cake cutting session. A big round of applause!

You have to wait for 1 minute. I'll have to bring the cake.

Sorry.

Sure, sure, no problem, no problem. We are, we are all waiting.

I truly appreciate the way you spell Haritosh Srivastav in different questions. That's, that's wonderful, the way you, you Really is fun. Truly appreciate it.

Thank you, thank you.

Okay, I'm not sure how much of it is visible, but let's see. Alright, is that visible?

No, no, can we have everybody on the screen?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, now, now it's— yeah, beautiful, beautiful! Let's give him a round of applause! Whoa, whoa, that's a pretty, pretty good customized cake.

All right, all right. So where did you go? Where did you get— Yes, Ani.

Yes, Ani.

Where did you get— Where did you get it made?

Why did I get it— Why did I get it made?

Where, where, where, where, where?

All right, all right, all right, we can start cutting now. We can start cheering him. Let's unmute and applaud him.

All right, all right.

Thank you, thank you. All the very best. I wish the paperback Many more books to come.

Thank you.

Yeah, many more books to come.

Okay, wonderful, wonderful.

Wish I could have a bite of that.

And I like the cake. It's, it's in the form of a book completely, you know. That's a very well thought out—

yeah, yeah. So like he had a paper bag, cake back.

That's why I asked, why did you get it made? Because it has to be at a specialized place.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Haritosh, Anil sir wants to know where did you get it made, which bakery or which place?

Okay, okay, so yeah, so it's called a Cake Box shop in Basingstoke and they are like egg-free cake they make, so we got it custom made there. Yeah, yeah, I'm actually— yeah, those who do not know, I'm actually making a vlog out of this whole launch experience, so you'll see more detail in that. But I didn't want to mention it here.

So did you have to give a free book to them, or—

no, the irony is that I still don't have my own book, uh, physical copy, but we have somebody who has that. Hopefully she'll join in sometime.

Yeah, sorry for the technical, technical challenges. I'm back. Now, so we have had a look at the sumptuous cake and we had a nice cake cutting, so it's time to proceed further. Let's first have a live review of the— let's, let's first have a live review of the book. I, I'm sure Rahul Sharma is reviewing the book. Uh, do we have Rahul, Rahul on the show?

Hello?

Not, not yet, baby. I think not yet.

Okay, so technical issues. Okay, uh, in the meantime, if any of you here want to volunteer and give a live review We can go ahead till Rahul joins. Any of you would like to volunteer and give a review, live review? I think, yeah, Abu wants to give a review. You can go ahead, Abu, start your review. So here's introducing Abu with the book review of Haritosh Srivastav's Small Town, Bigger Dreams. Over to you, Abu.

Thank you so much, Devi. I have to say, your energy is contagious, Devi. You are doing such a fab job. I'm so proud of Haritosh Srivastav. First and foremost, I'll give you a quick background because it's very important. Uh, when I started reading, I was only focused towards the book. I never focused towards author, you know. I never did any kind of research. But then when I was reading Paulo Coelho's book, he told me that it's very important to know about an author, the journey that an author makes, the travel that that person makes, makes a lot of difference. And if you know that particular travel, you would understand how much of sacrifice has been made to put up a book. So first, I'll give you his example. For instance, he's from Brazil, uh, he's from Brazil, I, if I got it right. And when you look at his book, his book talks about the entire world. Every book picks up a different country. Now, why am I sharing this? I had the honors, or I consider myself super privileged, that Haritosh Srivastav and I, we were working together when it comes to this particular book. I got to witness an author in action. Again, we have a very common friend, that is Taiba Mahmood. Uh, I am friends to Taiba, and that's how I came to know about Haritosh Srivastav. And since the day I met, I was amazed with his commitment towards anything. Now, from anybody who knows Small Town Bigger Dreams, most of us, we come from small towns, including me, from Jaipur. Now, to UK is a dream for a lot of people, but one of the problems with a lot of people is when they have this particular dream, they start with a lot of enthusiasm, but somewhere down the line, we just, you know, in the daily rut, we forget that what is our main dream. So first and foremost, if you read this book, you will have a dream, and you should not take lightly. I like the way how he started, when his days— he's there with his sister, and they are in the rooftop, and wherein this airplane is going, and then he looks at the airplane and sees that one day I'll be traveling over, wherein— and then both of them, they laughed. Now this also reminds me of Elizabeth Gilbert when she tells us that the universe is listening to us and it is very important what you are talking because you never know what universe can go ahead and give you in return. You should also read this book because this is an honest effort. A friend of mine, her name is Ankurita, she told me when she wrote her book, when you hold a book you are actually holding somebody's dream. So if you believe in the power of dream, this is a book. I also like the book wherein he speaks about what are few learnings that he has had. We all want to talk about success, and we know how success has been overrated and how people look down on failure. But this book makes an honest effort to help you understand the only way to succeed is to learn from your failure. So if you want to learn from failure, if you are from a small town— and irrespective, you are from a town, city, village, country— continent. But if you have a dream, this is a book for you. It's a very honest effort, and he has to put in a lot of effort, you know.

I—

we came across as authors, but now I can see him putting so much of effort being somebody who's marketing his book as well. And plus he has a full-time job as well, and plus he's in the UK as well. So you can understand the kind of struggle, and he is making this honest effort to connect with people. So for me to read somebody's book please know the journey of the author, and that will give you enough reason why you should consider this book. Okay, uh, my only suggestion for Haritosh Srivastav will be— and this is something that I tell myself as well— there's this book by the name of To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm sure we all have heard about this book. Now, you'll be— I'm sure most of us will be aware that after this book, this book was a mega success, but the author did not write any other book after this book. Now the book— your first book is always a luck. Your second book can make you a published author. So for me to see Haritosh Srivastav as a published author, I'll wait for his another book as well. Over to you, Devi.

Thank you so much, Abu. Thanks for that live, on the spot, extempore review with so much detailing. That was a pleasure to listen to you. Thank you so much. Let's give him a big round of applause. Thank you, Abu. Next, I would like to introduce one of the special friend of Haritosh Srivastav. He even mentions in the book, that is Manwinder Singh. He's the founder and CEO of Journey Jabardast and Beyond Shiksha. He's also serial entrepreneur, YouTuber, communication coach, and an avid traveler and a visionary leader serving the travel industry for over 17 years. So it's so— it's a pleasure to have you here, Manvinder ji. So I just want to ask you your first impression about the book. How did you feel after, you know, Haritosh Srivastav launched this book and even mentioned your close relationship? So over to you, Manvinder.

Thank you so much, Devi, for the kind introduction. And of course, when your best buddy has a book and he launches something, you feel all the way more special. And of course, that was a feeling I even—

I had.

But more so when I read the book for the first time, of course, I have gone through the soft copy or copy of it, and I've gone through a couple of chapters of it. It is so beautifully written. Most important part of the book is what connects to the masses is the language that communicates to people. It is something that everybody can relate to. It is something which has got a lot of life lessons that one can learn from. I mean, Because I have seen Haritosh Srivastav's journey right from the beginning. It's been about 22 years that we know each other from, and I've seen him, his life very closely, right from the day you mentioned when the brother and the sisters, you know, pretty much on the rooftop and they were looking at the plane and the smoke, and he decided one fine day he was also flying. And from there to now has flown thousands of miles and to be in the 3 different continents. So I've seen all that of him. Then the way he mentioned it It is something which is beautiful. When I read the book, I felt, yes, it is Haritosh Srivastav who's talking. It is not something— he did not try to go artificial, did not try to copy some author. He just tried to be original. And that's the most beautiful part of the book that I enjoyed the most. And then the 21 key learnings, in case we practice, we exercise them well, it can be a real game changer. Somebody once said If you really want to write a book, be the book first. And I've seen him. He is the book that he has written. He has shared his own experiences. He has shared his own obstacles. He has shared the challenges he went through, how he overcame that, what he could not do. Everything is mentioned in the book in so beautiful manner that yes, anyone who wants to make life a better version of themselves, they should definitely go for it. And somebody from a smaller town who has a bigger dream, this is a goal for them to go for. Over to you, Divya.

Am I audible?

Yeah, over to you, Divya.

Manvinder, she has been captivated by your words. She will take time now.

Think she's having some issue, some internet problems, I think.

Let me take over from Devi till the time she comes back. So I just want to ask Haritosh Srivastav this question which I had for a very long time. I have been in professional life for more than 20 years and I know it's such a difficult task to balance your professional life, personal life, as well as your book life. So how do you do that?

It's a golden question, uh, Anilji, uh, Anil J, to be honest. Uh, how do I do that? Uh, yeah, that's a— I do not know the answer. I think one thing I do say when people ask me about time management, uh, I, I say that no, it, it's not time management actually, it's more of attention management. Plus priority management. You have to see what, what do you want to give more attention to. So it does mean that sometimes you have to spend a little more time on office work because there's something urgent going on. Uh, sometimes you have to sneak in some time in between your work because you have something that you really want to attend. Uh, so it's a difficult path. You have to juggle between many things. What, what I do remember is that Our previous TCS CEO N. Chandra, who is now the Tata chairman, he once said that there is no work-life balance as such because it's not a balancing thing. It's, it's always, uh, one thing will take over other, and you have to be a conscious judge of what is taking precedence. So if you think that there is more urgency required at work, you have to devote some of your personal time to work. If there is something that requires more personal time, more personal thing, then you have to devote something, some time out of your work as well. And I've been so fortunate to have so many great leaders in the organization, or my supervisors. I think except one or two odd, most of them have been really, really helpful. So I had their blessings as well in doing all this. They more or less, they appreciate me doing all of these these activities. So that also really helps when you have such supporting team members, supporting bosses, supporting organizations. So it helps you excel in whatever you want to do.

That's, that's interesting to hear. I was coming to the next question as to what is your writing process, Haritosh Srivastav? Like, how did you start off from getting the idea for the book to writing to editing and finally publishing? I want to know the entire journey what you went through in a nutshell. Like, you just very curious because it's a very intense process that needs a lot of focus and attention. So over to you, Haritosh Srivastav.

Thank you so much. And I'm— since you asked this question, be ready for a long answer. It's got—

it's— it took me about—

it is going to take some time for me to start up, uh, but it all started when, uh, In February of 2020, I remember 23rd Feb 2020 is when I landed in UK for the second time. And within a month, within probably couple of weeks, it was lockdown all over the world. My wife and daughter was supposed to travel after a couple of months, they were not able to travel. And there was a lot of negativity outside in the world. And that's when I started thinking about I can do one thing, I can do binge watching Netflix, keep on doing YouTube, Netflix, and things like that. Or I can make something out of this whole situation because it may or may not come back again. And that's when I started getting more involved with Toastmasters and other things. But one thought kept coming again and again that what is that one thing I want to do, which will be sort of a legacy to say, which would be something to inspire others. I had this thought, uh, going on, and then somebody said, your journey seems quite inspiring, uh, why don't you try a book? So that seed came over there. So what I did was I thought, okay, we all need validation, and I talked in one of the live, uh, that I do as well, that, um, I thought, okay, let me do one thing, let me write one chapter and share with couple of people, and let's hear if it is making sense or it is pure garbage to say. And only if they say it's okay, uh, they like to hear, then only I'll proceed. So I wrote the very first chapter, which is now the introduction chapter of the book, uh, which is where I talk about this is my journey, this is what I plan to do. I wrote a vague, uh, first draft of that and shared with two of the friends. One is Priyanka Saxena and another one is, uh, Taiba Mahmood. Those of you know Taiba is great friend. I don't consider her mentee only, she's a great friend. So I shared the first chapter with those two people and both of them responded very positively. They were like, we are looking forward to what you have in store. And I hadn't thought about what, what I'm gonna write about, but that validation helped me to see that, okay, this is gonna be something which people are gonna probably look forward to. So that's where the process started. Then I went through, uh, because I'm not a born writer or intellectual, or I'm an engineer, I don't know much about writing. So I had to go, uh, through workshops. So I attended 2 days intensive workshop. When I say intensive, I had my office timing from like 8 or 9 AM till 4 PM. And the work, it was a workshop from Stage Time University, Darryl LaCroix, world champions. They have a university and they had Daryl LeCroix, Cheryl Greenheart, and, uh, Maureen Zapala. They were taking the workshop, 2 days workshop, 8 hours every day. And started, it was in Pacific time, to start at about 4 PM UK time and it went on till midnight. Uh, so that was 2 days intensive workshop on how to do book writing and that's where I got a lot of ideas. How do you structure your thoughts? What are the topics that you want to cover? So that all started. I had created a wall, I would say, and I got a Post-it note and started writing of all the things that I could remember, whether the story of Manvinder, whether the story of why not to give advice, whether it's story of why you should be connected to you. So I started remembering, and anytime, every time I thought of some story, I started pasting it on a wall. And started collecting all the ideas. So that went on for a few weeks, to say at least 3 to 4 weeks. I kept noting down things, I kept adding on the wall, and that visualization helped me to get it structured. So the next step was writing in itself. So I started off writing, and I followed a schedule of waking up in the morning. I'm anyways a morning person, so I started setting up 30 minutes every day started doing the things that people do, setting up a word count per day and saying, okay, I need to write at least 50,000 words. And if I'm doing it, uh, 600, 700 words, this is how it is gonna take. You know, when the engineer kicks in, you start doing a lot of data analysis. Like, no, okay, I had an Excel where I putting, okay, day 1, 705 words, day 2, 639. So the average is this much word count. Now for that to reach that, I need every day this much word count. I did a lot of this, which is not required to say now in perspective, I can say, but I kept on doing that. Uh, but after a few weeks, uh, when I had, I would say, draft 0.001, uh, I started becoming procrastinated, to be honest. I, I had that, I had like 50% of work done, but I was getting procrastinated and I was looking for how do we, how do I push myself? And this is where I learned the lesson that you need to have accountability partner. So that was my next lesson. I'm telling all of this, probably all of this will go into the next book. As Abu said, I'm getting a lot of these vibes. Uh, and that's where accountability came in, partner came into the picture. So two of my friends, uh, one is here, Abu, and Taiba, she's very, very busy, she couldn't join. They became my accountability partner. And Abu, if you remember, we started doing, uh, session on Sundays where we had a few people and we said, this 45 minutes we are gonna only write. Nobody's gonna— we'll be on a Zoom call, nobody's gonna talk to anyone. We are just gonna type it or write it, and we are gonna be an accountability partner to see whether you're writing or you're scrolling your phone or things like that. And we did it for a few weeks, and at the end of the sessions we used to talk about what did I wrote, what was the lesson I remembered, and things like that. That was going on, but we wanted to push it further. So that's when Abu got me introduced to my next coach, which is Akash Garg. I was so fortunate to have him also live. And Akash was the person who literally dragged us to get the book completed. So we went on an intensive 6-7 weeks program. It was somewhere in October. Me, Abu, Taiba, and another person Deepak was there. And every week Akash gave us to write a will kind of thing that, no, this is where I will sit, this is when I will sit, and this is how the book will complete. We didn't do all of the 100% commitment to say, but what matters is that now Taiba is a published author, Abu's book has been doing wonders, and I am also there on that, on the journey with them. So that's how it started. We went to that, and this is where 2021 comes into the picture. So I had the draft created, everything ready, and I thought I have almost got it. And then I had to travel to India, Janend. It took around another 3 months to get things settled. I had to go travel, quarantine, and then get the family back in UK. It was all happening, and at the back of the mind, yes, I need to publish the book, I need to publish the book. That was going on. So 15th June is my official birthday, like on record. So I thought that's a good time for me to publish the Kindle version, and maybe next 1 month or so I'll publish the paperback version. Me being so naive, I didn't think that is gonna be— that's gonna be all. It's, it's very simple. We'll put it on Amazon KDP and it will, it will all go ahead. So I did push myself. I announced it publicly, it will go on, and on 15th June I did publish the Kindle version, and then I started looking for the paperback, and then came the biggest surprise. Now, those who do not know, Amazon KDP does not have a paperback version back in India. My 90% audience is in India, even though it connects a lot of people back, uh, across the continents, but 90% of the people is India, and I didn't have the paperback. That was like biggest shock in terms of the process to say So then I had to go from ground zero and start finding out, talk to Abu, talk to Sweta, talk to other authors who have done that, talk to Rahul Ji, who could be the best publisher that I can get connected to. I learned from their bad, learned from their mistakes, I learned from their good things, and finally I zeroed on to one publisher which is White Falcon Publishing. And then the whole process started where they did the editing and design and everything. And finally, on August, they said, okay, we are almost getting there, uh, but we want to plan a little bit more, a little bit more refining is done. And that's where Rahul, Rahul Sharma, he came into picture and he helped me how to market the book. So the book would have been live probably 3 or 4 months back, but there it would have never reached to anyone. But because of the guidance of Rahul Sharma and so many other people. We said, no, we are going to have a proper launch like this, a whole pipeline of things to do. I took up the 21-day live challenge and got people connected. So it's been like, like people say, writing book is only probably 30 to 35% of job, but there are so many other things. And only when you become author that you get connected to people, you get connected to all this process. That's been— so that's what it is. Today is 2nd November and Finally, it is live. So I thought I told you, Devi, in advance it's gonna be a long journey. So I hope that's enough for now. Can you hear me, Devi?

All right, yeah, I think she has been having problems with the connection.

So yeah, I'll take it as a connection problem than me speaking. That was very inspiring.

What you just told. It, uh, stage by stage you said how much work, effort goes into actually getting down to bringing it to the public. And you're absolutely right, once you have written the book, that's a small part of what needs to be done. The major part is actually bringing it out and telling people that, yes, I have written my book. So you're absolutely right on that. So, uh, since Devi is not here, let me, uh, just, uh, be as a moderator for some time. What is the message that you want to bring through this message, and what is the niche market which you are targeting? People who would like to read this book and maybe have an impact on their lives.

So could you just share Absolutely, Anilji, and a very good question to say why did I write this book. I wrote this book because I wanted to at least impact one person who is in small town who's having that imposter syndrome that whether I can do something out of my life or not. I am from a Hindi medium or Gujarati medium or Tamil medium and this world out there or corporate world or anything entrepreneur world this is not for me because I don't belong there. So if I am— and I studied from a Hindi medium until class 8th, and till 12th I was completely, you know, my all subjects were in Hindi medium. Uh, I am from a small town, I would say C-grade town, to say, uh, not even, uh, proper metro city. And if I can be here, I, I've been here through different countries, flying 50,000+ miles and doing so many things. If I can be doer, it's not that I am special or something. It's, it's, it's because anybody can do it. What you need to have is dreams. What you need to have is imagination. If you imagine bigger, better things, it will certainly happen. If you don't imagine, then, then you won't get that. Abu was saying that, no, you have to imagine better things and then universe makes a way. I never thought I'll be in— not thought— this is my third country and for so many years I've been outside. I never thought I was going to be— I was a very small, simple guy who was used to go in half-pant to the school, which was like 5 minutes walk, and come back there. And yeah, never thought about that. I was not sure whether I'm doing engineering, I'll get a job or not. But because I kept imagining better thing, because I had some great association that helped me push forward, I was able to make it. So if you apply these principles, this will certainly help you. And these are not my principles, I never claim What I claim is that I have applied these principles and that has worked for me. And if you apply, you will also get some benefit out of it. So that's my only message for the audience.

Great, great, great, great. I think words of wisdom coming from a person who has, uh, who has done that, okay, from experience. So Over to you, Devi.

Devi, I suppose you are on mute.

Am I audible now?

Yes.

Yeah, yes, thank you, thank you. That's a, that's a very interesting story of your book writing process. It was a really treat to listen to that dedication and the focus that you had. Kudos to you, Haritosh Srivastav. And the book is already a bestseller, and your hard work is actually paying off. So now we have Rahul Sharma.

Hi, Devi.

So Rahul, I think she has been having problems with the connection. So, uh, I request you to come and say a few words. Rahul, can you please come and say a few words about Haritosh Srivastav and his book?

Sorry for the interruption. Uh, Rahul, now you can start off with the live review of the book. To introduce Rahul to the stage. Rahul is—

so there seem to be some connection issues. So in that case, Rahul Ji, if you can come and share a few words about Haritosh Srivastav and the journey that you have had so far. Are working with him closely, and how did it all bundle up?

Not sure. It's Rahul. Can you hear us? Can you please give us a thumbs up if you can hear us?

Yes, I can hear you.

I can hear you.

Yeah, I can hear you. Great, great.

So Rahul, we would request you to go ahead and give a book review. So just a quick introduction. I do not have anything written, but I am very fortunate to work with Rahul Sharma for a very long time. So Rahul Sharma is, you know, jack of all trades, master of all trades is the word for him. He is into YouTube, and one of the reasons why everybody is an author is we have looked up to Rahul Sharma from a very long time. He did not go with one book, two books, three books, but 10 books at a time. What is really amazing about his, his, you know, his killer attitude. So if he wants to go for it, he will go full throttle, and that is something that is very inspiring. Rahul is a DTM, he is an area director, and he's doing just amazing, amazing. It's always so inspiring, and I'm sure we all will benefit a lot. Rahul Sharma, the virtual stage is all yours. Go for gold!

Thank you, Abhushada, for the kind words, and I hope We all have a great time today with Haritosh's book launch. And at first, DTM Haritosh Srivastav, congratulations. This is something, this is something very precious. You dream of something and you achieve it. I remember last year Haritosh Srivastav mentioned that he wants to write a book, and this, this was a goal for 2021, and he did. He not only just worked on it, he wrote a bestseller. He wrote a book which touched our hearts. He— the book is very close to me because I have revisited few chapters. Even today, I went back to my roots and came back with my mother. That's the power of chapters, the power of love. And I read the book on Kindle and I will do read again on paperback. If you are a dreamer, I highly recommend do pick up this book without any shadow of doubt. This is a precious— this is something very a different book. If you have read Brian Tracy, if you have read Robin Sharma, please do pick this book. It has the gist of every book, the wisdom of every Every book, it will give you insights with 21 chapters. These are not chapters, these are the nuggets of information which can shape you. And Haritosh Srivastav is working, impacting life one at a time. And I highly recommend this book, and I give my blessings and all love to you, Haritosh Srivastav, and keep rising and keep shining high. Thank you. And thank you, Abu, uh, you also writer, and we loved your book. A lot of lessons from your side. Devi, stage is all yours.

Thank you, thank you so much, uh, Rahul. Thanks for that take on the book. Now going forward, let's start off with 30-second reviews of the book. Some of the readers, they have sent forth their review. And let's listen to what they have to say. Over to you, Haritosh Srivastav. We can, we can have the 30-second reviews on the stage.

So one of the review was from Abu, who already did a live review. So I think it's— there's no point in having recorded Abu listen then when you have the live Abu. What we can actually do is we have somebody very special who's been there in this journey with me Throughout, uh, every time I put a status that there is any update, she will reach out to me. She'll give me a pat on the back and say, you're doing great, I'm looking forward to. And just to tell you, we— she is the only person in the world at this point of time, I'm saying in the world, who has the physical copy of the Small Town Bigger Dreams. You know, the pity is I am the author, even I don't have the author copies because I am like this is Sat Samundar Paro 7th. So we have Richa Tiwari, who has— who's the only person who has the physical copy at this point of time, and she has gracefully accepted to be here and talk about what does she feel, how was her response when she got the book. And let's hear from Richa. Over to you, Richa.

Thank you so much, Haritosh Srivastav. First of all, congratulations for this book, and thank you for inviting me here. So as you can see, I have this book. I'm the only person in the world to have this book.

Yeah.

So if I talk about the book, uh, I have read the introduction and the first chapter till now, and the point that clicked with me, uh, is vulnerability, I would say. So when Haritosh Srivastav has described what this book is about He's talking about imposter syndrome, and he's saying that if you are somebody who feels that you do not fit in somewhere, then this book is for you. Or if you think you are from a small town, or even if you are from a large city but then you do not fit in somewhere, then— or you don't think you are good enough, then this book is for you. And the first chapter is, uh, Be Mindful of Your Association. And that hit me deep because, uh, it is a very, very honest encounter. He has also mentioned that the incidents that happened with him actually. So it makes it— I mean, the thing that I would say is vulnerability is the only point of connection or bond, I would say. And also talking about the COVID so there is one thing that I noticed. First of all, very amazing cover, and I saw that Haritosh Srivastav has designed this, so kudos to you, Haritosh Srivastav, for designing this cover. Uh, you can see that there is a figure of a man, obviously Haritosh Srivastav, and then there's city. But then something that I noticed, the shooting star. So I would like to add here that this is Haritosh Srivastav's mom who is watching him from there, and she is very proud of him and smiling. Yeah, over to you, Haritosh Srivastav.

Wow, thank you so much, Richard. This was amazing, amazing. Ah, yeah, I never thought about that. First of all, let me clarify that I did not design the book. I don't want to take the credit of something that I am not. Uh, the book was designed by a person named Kaushik, uh, and he came up the idea, the The pictures were all provided by me. If you see, obviously the photo is of mine, but the picture that you see in the background, that is when I landed into Basingstoke. And from the window I saw a tall building, couple of tall buildings, and then it hit me that, no, I never thought I'll be in a town where you will have that skyrocketing buildings. And I was from a small town and very small guy, simple guy. Now I'm here in another country to say, and this is where I took a picture. Look guys, see, I'm here. This is the view. I posted a view like night. This is the morning view. This is the evening view. So I was so excited for that one room for, and that became my home for like almost a year before I had to leave for India to bring my family. So I took the picture of that and it was Kausif's brilliance that now he showed me different design and he said, And this one, he said, is like, is instantly hit me like, this is exactly what I want to do with the Small Town Bigger Dreams. I am from small towns, I have bigger dreams, and, and I want to achieve that. And thank you for adding that. Yeah, the book is dedicated to my mother who unfortunately passed away just a few months before that. And yeah, I'm so grateful I was there when she took her last breath. Had I not been there, it would have been really, really difficult. Miracle for me, and I would have like lived in repentance for the rest of my life. Uh, so yeah, I think Almighty was there to help us. Uh, we were supposed to leave for UK in about a week time or so when she passed out. So yeah, thankful. And I did— I do remember she has done most of sacrifices in comparison to all of us. I mean, in comparison to me or my sister, or my family. She has done a lot of sacrifice, and she's the one who brought us and made us believe that we can achieve what we want to do. We need to have some belief in the higher world, or God, Allah, Vaheguru, whatever you want to call. But you need to have some bit of faith. You need to do the right thing. She used to say, if you are doing the right thing, whether now or later, it will pay you. And so if you're doing the wrong thing, will also happen. So She's the one who inculcated all these things, and I'm really, really honored to be her son, and, and so grateful, uh, that I got to spend some last moments with her. Thank you, Richa.

Thank you, thank you, Richa, for showing us that paperback. And I'm also expecting the paperback in another 2 days, just looking forward to it. Like, I'm planning to gift it to my brother who is still in his 20s. And hopefully at a young age, if we learn all these lessons, and I think it really helped him out. Thank you so much, Haritosh Srivastav, for sharing that entire journey, that emotions attached. I can so well relate to whatever you narrated. Thank you so much. And here we are coming to almost the end, end of the session, and we've had such a fruitful session with everyone sharing their insights on Haritosh Srivastav's book. And I'm sure the paperback will set new milestones. I can say it will set new benchmarks and will continue to remain a best bestseller. And towards the end, I would request Haritosh Srivastav and his wife to come, come, come live and We can, we can just, we can just, uh, ask her a few questions. We can just see from her perspective how it was for her to, you know, spend her time in the journey of his writing of the book. We'd like to have your wife live here on the stage with you.

Yeah, okay, let me call her. Yeah, give me a minute.

Yeah.

Devi, if this was not part of the script, Haritosh Srivastav is going to have a very difficult time now.

But I don't know, it's turning out to be as extempore and something different.

Okay, how are you?

I'm good, thank you. Yeah, so, so great, so great to see you with Haritosh Srivastav, like, on this nice occasion of the book launch. And I'm sure your support and your help that has been there for Haritosh and, you know, she could— Haritosh could release the book and she's also—

Baby, I think you're breaking.

Are you able to hear me?

So, ma'am, my only question, or the only question that we will have, is how's the experience? This is your platform, go for it, ma'am.

Obviously, uh, it's the feeling of pride and happiness, uh, okay, that he has utilized the— actually, it is the worst period of, uh, for all of us last year, um, but he has utilized this time in such a great way. So I'm really proud of it.

Thank you. So Haritosh Srivastav had to go through a very tough schedule because he was quite disciplined, doing multitasking, taking care of his job, taking— writing the book and doing a lot of activities including the marketing stuff. And of course in that process he might not— perhaps he could have not given you the time that you perhaps were looking for. So how did you manage with that and what was that feeling like?

Yeah, uh, I managed with that just like others. I fought with him.

Yeah, yeah, that's the honest answer.

Uh, there is, and obviously the some result came out that he has decided in Saturdays and Sundays he has decided to make one family date that he need to spend with me and my daughter.

Absolutely great.

So some future promises, yes? Yeah, superb, superb.

So, uh, I, I just want to say something. Uh, I think there are, uh, it's regarding mostly Indian people. The support of the silent majority is what makes India, I think. Is it— had it not been for the silent majority— I am speaking from my experience also, my family also, and looking around, all mostly related to India. Had it not been the support of wives and the partners, I think, which is very, very important, without which half of India or majority of India would not be doing the things that they would be doing. They go unsung. They according to me, are the real heroes. So let's give a round of applause to Haritosh Srivastav.

Thank you, thank you, people. Absolutely, I think she has done more sacrifices than me. I think she went through a lot more pain and handling the daughter all alone, who is, you know, double mischievous than both of us combined. I think it was a great job and Yeah, I, I'm not anything without her support. So it's not possible that she being there, even though I say she's best friend but also one of the worst critics. So I mean, my online audience are very, very— see, but I, I cannot even choosing this shirt versus the other shirt, whether I should wear a t-shirt versus or a shirt, or whether it's about the bigger decisions of life, she's always there for last 9 years. And, and I'm so privileged to have her in my life.

Superb.

Uh, one thing I want to say, uh, that whatever Haritosh Srivastav is today, it's just because of his parents. They are the only one who has given him such good values. Even I keep learning from him, although I never tell her— tell him about it. But, uh, yes, he is very punctual. I'm just working on it. Most of the time I fail, but, uh, Uh, I just keep learning, uh, from him. And he's an early riser, so sometimes it's quite challenging for me to cope up with him. But I really admire the values, the rituals, the nourishment he has got from his family. And, uh, whatever he is today is just because of his parents. That's it.

Super.

So let me just, let me just add a few, a few more questions rather, uh, if we have time. Haritosh, do we have?

I think she needs to go to bring my daughter.

No problem.

In that case, I may ask to the rest of the people perhaps, just one, in case we have time.

Do we?

Okay, okay.

One thing about Haritosh that makes him special, I want to hear from everyone. One thing that makes him special. Of course, there are many things but one thing that you love him for the most.

The most.

Okay, okay.

Yes, uh, he is very encouraging, you know, for any social media update that you give. We all need, as you mentioned, that, you know, somebody who can push you. We can say that, you know, so no matter whatever it is, you rise when you help others to rise is a phrase that goes so perfect with Haritosh. And just on a lighter note, ma'am, the moment you mentioned that, you know, Haritosh Srivastav, I thought you are going to say it's because of me, but then you He's adding also right now, it's because of his parents. Over to you, Manvinder.

Yeah, thank you. And how about Pragabhi, what do you have to say? What do you love Haritosh the most for? Of course, variety of reasons, but one.

I have not known Haritosh for a very long time. I think this year in January, February, I think I had a talk with Haritosh. This was regarding the club activity. I think one thing which comes out very clearly, even talking at that point of time, he's very helpful. He tries to help, and that sincerity, that willingness to help, it is not a show-off. That's coming really down deep from the heart. So that shows in the way you interact, and that's something that I found it very a very interesting and a very beautiful part of his character.

So I can't— yeah, every time I would also like to add, yeah, yeah, please.

Yeah, the same point from Manil sir said, what I so far I've known, Haritosh Srivastav has been always helpful. Anything, any doubt you ask him, he gives a detailed explanation as to how you have to go forward, and he guide you well. A very, very good mentor, I can say. He's a very good mentor, down to earth and humble. Always I feel approachable when I go to him for help, and I'm sure that I'll get a solution from him. That's one biggest asset I can say of Haritosh Srivastav.

And most important, most importantly, genuine one. That's the most important, because he tells you what the fact is, something which is right, not just to make you happy. All right, so Rahul Srivastav, because you've been associated with Haritosh Srivastav for some time, this— the same question goes to you as well. Let me see what you have to say about it.

I have not one but two. First one, innocence, like a child. He has that innocence and we can feel it through his words, his work. Second, he's honest in his work, dedication, planning, commitment.

It.

So these two are special and lost things in 21st century. We do not see innocence and honesty in everyone. When you have in anyone, they are the gem, they are the real treasures. So I feel I have that gem with me and I can vouch for it. I love that honesty.

You could see his face now, like a child. And, uh, every relationship that he has, honesty in every relationship that he has, because 22 years, the kind of relationship we are in, I've seen that honesty, I've seen that love, the being genuine self of him, that, that's something which makes him separate from others. Richa, uh, the same question goes to you as well. What do you have to say about him?

Okay, I think some of the words have been already said, but I would like to repeat, uh, commitment is the first point that I would to say. So Haritosh Srivastav and I usually talk through status only. So if I'm reading a book, then he'll comment. Then he's reading a book, then I'll comment. And then, uh, if even if we chat, then he would be like, so Richa, I'd be, I'd be doing this and completing this. And then he will complete it in the set time. So usually it happens, I'm not very good at keeping goals and then following them through, but then he is a guy, the only guy maybe I know in my circle completes the goals. So commitment indeed.

And I sometimes wonder that, does his hour has got more than 60 minutes? Because yes, how does he manage? It really makes me wonder sometimes. Superb. So coming to Roli, you tell me, what, what do you have to say about one special thing?

Uh, I think I like one thing about him is just, uh, he always value my opinion, uh, in everything. Although I just sometimes just reject it, but, uh, uh, in minor things also he asked for my opinion. And, uh, and he is very supportive, of course. Uh, these two things I really admire about him, and he is very encouraging as well.

Absolutely, can't agree more. Superb. So Haritosh Srivastav, since we have all heard about what makes you special, there are a lot of things, of course, that makes you special. You are the one I always look up Whenever, in everything and thing of my life, Haritosh Srivastav was pretty much a part of it. Needless to say, my family knows it, I know it, everybody who knows me knows Haritosh Srivastav. So that's the beauty of relationship that we hold. And Haritosh Srivastav, you already have shared 21 life lessons for everyone, but one lesson that you want to— one thing that you want to share before we end the session to all the audience listening here, that what is one thing they should definitely practice in order to achieve the success that you have achieved?

Don't, uh, yeah, that's a great question. Don't define yourself by other standards. Define your own self. What do you want to do? And then go for it. Don't go by what others say that, no, uh, had I been there, you also know, if I had defined my success, I would have been, uh, Sarkari Karmchari, to say, a government employee. But I never ever applied for— not that it's bad or something, but I define my own success in terms of going for a corporate job. So define your own success, whatever it is. Don't, don't be dependent on others to define. Once you define it, dream it, you will definitely get there.

Superb, such a great word of wisdom. So yeah, David, you have anything to ask for?

Yeah, before we end, we have a special video from Haritosh Srivastav's daughter, and I'm so looking forward to this.

Yeah, let's bring it on.

Let's, let's. Yeah, all the best, Daddy. Sir, keep rocking. Beautiful.

Did you notice that?

Sweet wish.

Did you notice that?

Yeah, she calls him Daddy.

I don't know from where she has learned, and all the time She just calls him Dada Sur.

Yeah, yes, wonderful, wonderful. And so here we come to the end of this session, and we have crossed the time, but it's fine. We have had an interesting discussion, and we are continuing to have an interesting discussion. And it's so wonderful to hear everybody's input on Haritosh Srivastav's book and all the blessings and all the good wishes. I'm sure it will take the to new heights. First and foremost, I would like to thank everybody who have graced this occasion, starting from Manil sir, from Manvinder Singh, Richa, Rahul, and last but not the least, Roli ma'am and the little one Ruhi. So it was such a pleasure. Abu, yeah, forgot Abu. It's such a pleasure interacting with you all, and I'm also looking forward to more and more sessions like this. And hopefully Haritosh Srivastav will come with— come out with yet another book and we can again launch it on such a platform. So looking forward to that as well. Thank you so much, everybody. It was such a pleasure interacting with you all. So until we see next time, it's bye from me, Devi. And thank you so much, everyone.

And remember, whether you're from small town or the bigger town, but do have the bigger dreams because they do come.

Yes, do have bigger dreams. That's the final takeaway. Dream big and you can achieve it. All the best once again, Haritosh Srivastav, for your book.

Congratulations, all the best.

God bless, God bless.

Have many, many more books.

Yeah, many more books to come.

Exactly.

Yeah, thank you, thank you everyone.

So that's the official launch.

Yeah, thank you, David. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you everyone.

Thank you everyone.