Legacy: Letters from eminent parents to their daughters by Sudha Menon

founder Sam Walton who set up the phenomenally successful retail model which is the average American’s retail mecca. He also looked upon Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of the Reliance group, as his original inspiration, a man who so fascinated him during his college days that he would often hang around outside Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel to catch a glimpse of the businessman who visited the health club at the hotel.
    The boy whose horoscope predicted unusual amounts of good luck eventually proved that prediction correct, setting up an empire that sells everything from goods, groceries, consumer electronics, furniture, cosmetics, to books, insurance, and entertainment. Not to forget dreams.
    Here, he writes a note to his two daughters, Ashni and Avni, with whom he shares a relationship that is more in the capacity of a friend than of a father with his children. Ashni is director of Future Ideas, the innovation and incubation cell of the group and uses her complex understanding of mythology, anthropology, and sociology to understand consumer behavior before the group rolls out new businesses. Younger sister Avni, an inveterate traveller, has backpacked through amazing, diverse corners of the world and picked up their culture and habits. After graduating in sociology from an American university, Avni is home now and is the brain behind Foodhall, the group’s new gourmet chain.

    Dear Ashni and Avni,
    This is unlike anything I have ever done before in my life, including the years we have grown up together. But here are a few thoughts that I want to put on record, not for just the both of you, but for whoever thinks they can benefit from it.
    Ashni, you are trained to be a thought designer. And from you I have learnt that the source of everything is in thought. Thought creates idea and belief. These in turn shape our behavior, life, and business. Both you and I have been firm believers in involving the study of humanities in business. We like to delve into anthropology, sociology, mythologies, and the cultural diversity of India and like to be inspired from these areas in developing the strategic thoughts in our business. Avni, you too are trained in liberal arts and in the study of social science, societies, and politics. I believe that your education and your interests give you a unique strength in developing new ideas and executing these in business.
    Many times over the last few decades, I have been asked what is the key to my success, what has made me the person I am, and what are the secret business mantras I have adopted that helped me to establish our large business group.
    To everyone I have just this to say. Everything I learnt about business, and about life itself, I learnt in the huge joint family that I grew up in. I learnt everything about people and interpersonal dynamics from observing the elders in our house where parenting was a community responsibility and children learnt values from whichever elder happened to be around at various points in our lives.
    I believe business education boxes people completely. I did not train the both of you in either accounts and balance sheets or profit and loss issues but I am glad I got you interested in humanities. While understanding the nuances of finance is very important, I knew you would learn these anyway while being involved in the business. If you had first learnt about finance or business in classrooms, I believe you wouldn’t have gathered the ability to learn the softer aspects of life, the importance of understanding human beings, society, social trends and culture—all of which are just as important in a consumer business like ours.
    At a superficial level, you may find that the world values the people who can talk suavely about numbers and discuss balance sheets. But it is my belief and experience that in the long run, it is people who matter. It is how you understand and interpret people, how you deal with them and inspire them, and how you lead and challenge them