A serene success

What does holistic success mean and how can we attain it? What are the factors that govern it? Suma Varughese explores

- Suma Varughese

I had an experience of what financial success felt like, quite recently, when I decided to hold workshops for writers. Following a trial workshop in February 2015, I was overwhelmed by the response to it, and very soon, I began to hold workshops almost every month in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bangalore. I have not advertised these workshops save for the half pagers that appear in LP, and yet, the Universe seems to have scripted a delightful success story for me. Marketing a workshop is not easy in a saturated market. So what did I do differently to deserve this success? I shall answer this later, but I can tell you that it feels wonderful to know that you have something others want.

A runaway success

My friend Sundeep Waslekar’s book Eka Dishecha Shodh (In Search of Direction), which he published in October 2010, set a new record in Marathi publishing history by running 20 editions in the last six years. Sundeep was flooded with invitations to give talks, and politicians made a beeline to meet him and urged him to stand for office.

Most heartening of all was the response from the common man. “From poor farmers to postgraduate students and small entrepreneurs, all have told me that it has changed their lives. I don’t think it was the book. They were ready to change and the book provided the trigger,” says Sundeep.

Except for an excerpt carried in Loksatta and Sakal, two leading Marathi morningers, there were no attempts at marketing the book. And yet, the book is a marketing phenomenon. What lies behind that?

Bagful of success