The gold border on the jacket of former business journalist-turned-author Amrit Raj’s new book, Indian Icon: A Cult Called Royal Enfield, might seem indicative of it being yet another in a series of gilded corporate hagiographies. But, less than halfway into it, it’s perfectly evident that that isn’t the case. Raj has taken care to include the minutiae of the struggles and obstacles along with the efforts of a great multitude of people who have created and sustained the Royal Enfield brand. The book also runs a fine-toothed comb through the occasional missteps that jolted the brand into thoroughly rethinking and subsequently restructuring the set ways in which it had operated, often to the detriment of its loyal customer base. Missteps that created much internal friction, but ultimately fermented the sort of change that built the company’s fortunes and paved its trajectory for the all-too-crucial coming decade. In a detailed Zoom chat, Raj describes what it’s like to home in on RE’s appeal and what compelled him to take a closer look at its non-linear learning curve.
When and why did you decide to chronicle the Royal Enfield story?
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