Gunjan Jain debut book is an authorised anthology of
India’s most dynamic women leaders, it profiles life stories of 24 prolific
women at the acme of their careers. The book features Nita Ambani, Indra Nooyi,
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Mira Nair, Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Mary Kom,
Sania Mirza, Rajshree Birla, Shobhana Bhartiya, Chanda Kochhar, Anamika Khanna
amongst others.
Instead of profiling
the ladies alone, Gunjan has closely interacted with their inner coterie, thus
delving deeper into the persona behind the achievers. So you have India’s much
admired icons like Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar decoding the
multifaceted perfectionist, Nita Ambani.
At the launch, she
has got Bengaluru’s bio-technology czarina, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (who is
featured too) sharing candid moments of her friendship with philanthropists
Yasmeen Premji and Sudha Murty.
This book is not just
a revelation about the lives of these famous women, but more like a Bible on
India’s high profile personalities and their hoi polloi friends too. So, don’t
be surprised to read about Hollywood’s legendary star Goldie Hawn 20-year-old
friendship with Parameshwar Godrej.
Gunjan, in her quest
for ‘growth” and desire to delve deeper into the lives of her subjects
has even managed to conduct, snappy interviews with the low profile but high
net worth husbands or children of these women of substance. From Kumarmangalam
Birla to Tanya Godrej and Akash Ambani, these children with a golden spoon
reveal fascinating aspects of their mother’s lives.
The author, who visited
Bengaluru to launch her book, talks highly about the local power women she has
handpicked for her book.
Another lady to have
made it to this coveted list is Sudha Murty, whom Gunjan hails as a
trendsetter. “Imagine, she was the only girl amongst 300 male students in an
engineering college, and was a topper too. That takes a lot of courage,” she
says with obvious admiration.
So, it is a tough
call, to ask her to name her personal favourites. But, she sportingly chooses
Nita Ambani’s name from the pick, after making it clear that all 24 ladies are
special to her.
Speaking about Nita,
Gunjan admits, “Her quest for accomplishment and sense of service is
unparalled. She is compassionate and wants to genuinely contribute to society.
I have never seen this in anyone before,” reveals Gunjan who was obviously
thrilled to have Nita as the host of her first book launch in Mumbai.
Gunjan’s personal
record is pretty impressive. She has a degree in economics and finance from
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, besides a masters in wealth management from Cass
Business School, UK. Gunjan is currently enrolled in a general management
programme from Harvard Business School.
Gunjan holds a
diploma in image management from the London Image Institute as well as the
Academy of Image Mastery in Singapore. And if all this not enough to overwhelm
you, she also has a diploma in international etiquette and protocol from the
Institut Villa Pierrefeu in Switzerland. Ask her if she constantly seeks
challenges, and she simply states, “I constantly seek growth to better myself.
And this quest got stronger when I was working on this book.” 
