Y. V. Reddy, economist, bureaucrat, central banker, and author, was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2003–2008 and chaired the Fourteenth Finance Commission of India. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2010.

Ravi Menon served as General Manager (Training) at the Union Bank of India. He has been a leadership training executive for various corporations and banks. 

Shaji Vikraman is a journalist who worked with some of India’s leading media houses for over three decades. He was also the National Editor of The Economic Times and Resident Editor of The Indian Express, Mumbai.

Kavi Yaga is a writer. In previous avatars, she worked as a software engineer in Chicago and was a development economist in Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad.

Abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction

God Laughs and Other Reflections
Y. V. Reddy and Kavi Yaga

PART I: PUBLIC LIFE

1. Never Give Up, Fight to the End: Lessons from Changing Professions, Losing Jobs, and the Ups and Downs of Life
Arun Shourie

2. Three Workplaces and Lessons Learned  
Palaniappan Chidambaram

3. Teaching, Service, Politics, Governance: A Journey
Yashwant Sinha

PART II: PRIVATE SECTOR

4. Product of Values
Narayana Murthy

5. Continuing to Learn
Kundapur Vaman Kamath

6. Village Teachers and Hallowed Institutions  
Gullapalli Nageswara Rao

7. The Joys of a Professional Career
Yezdi Hirji Malegam

8. Human Connections, Human Learnings
K. Srinath Reddy

9. Lessons for Life (And Work)
Jamal Mecklai

10. To Thine Own Self Be True
Joydeep Mukherji

PART III: PUBLIC POLICY

11. Work and Life
Shankar Acharya

12. Reflections on a Career in the Civil Service: In a Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness
Sheela Bhude

13. Unity and Diversity
Nitin Desai

14. Abiding Friendship, Building Trust
Nand Kishore Singh

15. People Matter
K. Sujatha Rao

16. Fulfilment: Journey, Not Destination
Venkatramanan Anantha Nageswaran

PART IV: BANKING

17. Forty Years at RBI: A Journey of Challenges and Joys
Usha Thorat

18. An Unexpected Journey in Banking
Shyamala Gopinath

19. Collaboration, Coexistence
Vittaldas Leeladhar

20. Joys and Sorrows of a Working Life
Kaushik Jayaram

21. From Soapstone to ChatGPT: A Journey
B. Sambamurthy

22. Behind the Scenes of Pathbreaking Journeys
Radha Binod Barman

PART V: MEDIA

23. Myriad Brilliant Minds
Latha Venkatesh

24. An ‘Academic-Journalist’
C. Rammanohar Reddy

25. Past Pleasant, Present Imperfect
Tamal Bandyopadhyay

26. Three Careers
Niranjan Rajadhyaksha

27. A Journey Through a Changing India
Shaji Vikraman

PART VI: ACADEMIA

28. Building People, Building Institutions
Man Mohan Sharma

29. Defining Work with the Power of Quitting
M. S. Sriram

Summing Up: Rear View
Y. V. Reddy, Ravi Menon, and Shaji Vikraman

 List of Contributors
Index