Book Review: I have a Dream: Rashmi Bansal: Big Talk Low Results

I have a Dream - The inspiring stories of 20 social entrepreneurs who found new ways to serve old problems by Rashmi Bansal is claimed to be a collection of inspiring stories about 20 social entrepreneurs who carved out their own path through innovative initiatives to change the world in a big way, but it is more of a reporting with merely 20 articles on these 20 personalities. What I mean is not that these 20 entrepreneurs did nothing substantial to contribute to the society, but the book has not been able to deliver what it claims.

The stories have been told as desired with lot of hidings in between the lines. The articles, what I call them, are more of subjective in nature, giving merely a broader picture with no concrete on the root level problems faced by these 20 entrepreneurs and how did they come out of it. The book I have a Dream has been divided into three major sections - Rainmakers, Changemakers and The Spiritual Capitalist. Rainmakers have been explained as those social enterprises that are revenue generating but not with the goal of merely generating profits or revenues. So the four enterprises taken in this category by Rashmi Bansal are those social organizations which opt for making profit while performing social reforms and not merely doing if for the sake of charity. There are 11 rainmakers in the book.

Similarly Changemakers are the personal entities who go one step ahead from others in making thing happens while others keep expecting them to happen. There are 7 chnangemakers who were revolutionary to converting their and others' dreams into a reality or at least dared to. And finally there are 3 Spiritual Capitalists who still server with values, selflessness with purity of mind and heart.

All things said and done, the enterprises and personalities chosen are definitely a showcase and legendary but the purpose goes into air the way things have been presented. Cover lacks to generate any inspiration or motivation being so simple and plain. Pages are dull and printing is too compact making it stressful to eyes. Font size is one size lesser than required for a comfortable read. Pictures of the selected personalities are so dull that are least capable of imparting any message. Style of writing too is not too impressive being too reporting sort and thus moving away from its goal or motive.

Overall 2 out of 5.