I understand that it is quite late to give a book review of the autobiography of Subroto Bagchi, titled “Go Kiss the world”, as it was first published by Penguin Books India way back in 2008. But I also understand that the former reviews of this impeccable book were not given from the angle or view point of a lawyer. Therefore, I would like to make it clear to every reader that this review is inclined merge the teachings of entrepreneurship and professionalism, forwarded by Subroto Bagchi, with advocacy. Before starting with the review, emphasis is made on the meaning of the term ‘professional’ and why did Subroto Bagchi stressed on the term ‘young professional’ right on the cover page of his autobiography.

I am a firm believer of one concept which is that every lawyer is de facto a professional in making. Hence, the immediate question which crops up in the readers mind is ‘who is a professional’? This question has been categorically answered by Subroto Bagchi, not in his autobiography but in his speech given during a ceremony at DCSMAT Institution. You can check out the video in the following link. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJKkorRbcE). There are few pre-requisites to be fulfilled before one can be called as a ‘professional,’ these are the following:

• One who can work unsupervised
• One who knows when the work gets complete: In his speech there is an example of a craftsman, only the craftsman knows when his sculpture gets complete and in the same a professional should know that when his or her work gets complete.
• One who certifies the completion of work: Completion of work does not mean adding more, it means a certification that nothing more is to be added.
• One who has integrity: ‘integrity’ is the choice you make to choose the right over the expedient, the right over the convenient. Great people do not fall for great reasons; they usually fall for small reasons. Integrity is such small but indispensable attribute which a professional should always have.

Hence all these necessary pointers collectively make us a professional. A legal professional should also have the same ingredients as stated above. They should know how to work unsupervised, they should know when their work gets complete and certify the completion of work and they must also have integrity.

Coming to the review of the autobiography, “Go Kiss the World” is the autobiography by Subroto Bagchi. It’s about how he started his dream as a young professional to become one of the founding and Chief Operating Officer of MindTree a global IT services company.

In the book, Subroto Bagchi has started right from his childhood days in Patnagarh, Orissa, discussed his experiences in other tribal areas where his father used to get transferred. Through his life experiences he has discussed certain lingering questions, which every young professional encounters or sometimes over-thinks, such as, how will a particular job help them in their respective careers, what will they become, which job will define them. In the introductory pages of his autobiography, Subroto Bagchi has conceded that his life story is not important, the important thing is what the reader takes from it.

While reading, the readers will acknowledge that life is never about the destination as much as it is about the journey. Every chapter kept me on tenterhooks because there was an avidity to know what will happen next, or rather if I am confronted with the same situation how would I anticipate. Every moment of despair or triumph in the author’s life has been put in a very optimistic and emphatic manner. These moments have been beautifully brainstormed in such a way that the reader would feel that whatever life throws at you, you must embrace and savour it and keep moving forward. The author has made elaborate discussions on humility. The capacity to receive and willingness to give back, both constitutes humility. In the book there is a discussion of peculiar prospects where young professionals may admire and respect their seniors. Professionals shall willingly acknowledge their seniors as mentors. However, this relationship may be short-lived due to extraneous circumstances or conflict of interests. Under such footing, professionals should with all humility accept the conflicting situations respect their senior’s opinion, learn and grow. This is because according to Subroto Bagchi, a true mentor has a habit to push the young and hungry professional to a point till they find their own limits and when they do they should push back and come up with answers. Intelligent Friction and push back happens because a senior and a junior are two different people who think differently, this ingredient is required for progress and therefore, they must work together towards progress.

In the book, the author has stated the first rule for managing is listening. In order to listen, you must first suspend all judgments. The art of listening has been generalized by the author for the professional as well as the bosses. The author has also discussed the moments when a professional’s efforts may not be acknowledge by his or her colleagues or rather colleagues may conceive a wrong perception about the professional. During these moments, the author suggests and recommends that the professional should understand that if it takes time to build perceptions, it takes even longer for perceptions to change. This should never cause the professional to lose his or her spirit because the negative opinion has some basis and one must have the grace to accept it. The relevant part of the book is where the author has discussed different mid-life crisis and how to tackle them accordingly. The author has bifurcated life crisis into three categories. These are between the age group of 20 to 30, these are the years of self-discovery, age group 30 to 40, the age group of building a professional foundation and the last is beyond age group of 40 when again self-doubt begins to emerge.

These are few of the many teachings which Subroto Bagchi’s ‘Go Kiss the World’ delivers. With immense interest he has discussed the role of his colleagues and his seniors including Azim H. Premji when he was Chief Executive of Wipro’s Global Research & Development. They all helped him in shaping his personality when he was a young professional. Once you go through the chapters you will get instances on mentorship, leadership, how to manage seniors and your colleagues, as well as how to learn from them. By this time, I believe that idea to read “Go kiss the World” must have been planted in most of the young legal professional’s minds. I was completely unaware of this unblemished book written by an entrepreneur, it was my close relative who gave me this book when I was at sixes and sevens regarding my career path and was explaining my anguish as to how directionless I have become. This autobiography has nothing to do with law, but the life examples are such that the reader can very well connect the dots and cuddle with what life throws at them.

Young lawyers are also a professional in making. The requisites which make a professional are universal irrespective of any profession a person is in. In the legal structure one shall face similar situations as exemplified in the book, therefore, I am of strong opinion that this book is not only for the entrepreneurs but for every ‘legal professional’ as well. Therefore, according to me ‘Go Kiss the World’ is good read and will definitely guide young aspirants of law as well as the graduates who are on the verge of becoming a professional. Subroto Bagchi has answered who is a professional via his speech at DCSMAT Institution. He has explained quite vividly what challenges, hurdles and distractions a young professional may face during their journey in making a name for themselves. Along with this he has also showed the path as to how one should anticipate and react to these encumbrances. If you ask me the book is not ‘life’ but rather ‘live’ lessons for the young professionals. Please go ahead, read it and ‘kiss the world’.

About the reviewer

Anshumaan Bahadur is a 2014 graduate from Chanakya National Law University. He is currently practicing civil litigation in Delhi High Court, District Court and tribunals. Loves to travel and write blogs on various topics from a legal perspective.