Book review
Profiles of the human side of great men and women

A Touch of Greatness is an engaging account of R.M. Lala’s meetings with luminaries he has known. Profiled here are politicians, social activists, industrialists, religious leaders and artists, whose lives demonstrate ‘what one can live for—and what one can live by’. They include giants like C. Rajagopalachari, Jayaprakash Narayan, J.R.D. Tata, Morarji Desai and Vinoba Bhave, all of whom played a prominent role in shaping modern India. Also profiled are the Dalai Lama, Azim Premji, Narayana Murthy, Nani Palkhivala and Sam Manekshaw who bring home the power of virtues like compassion, endeavour, intellect and selflessness. At the end is a tribute to a father—the author’s own—that speaks to all of us. The accompanying pen drawings enhance the appeal of these riveting biographical sketches.



About the author Editor, publisher and author, Russi M. Lala began his career as a journalist in 1948, at the age of nineteen. Shortly after this, he became an executive in a book publishing house. In 1959 he became the manager of the first Indian book publishing house in London and in 1964 he founded (with Rajmohan Gandhi) the newsweekly Himmat, which he edited for a decade. He published his first book, The Creation of Wealth: The Tata Story, to critical and commercial acclaim in 1981. This was followed by Encounters with the Eminent (1981); The Heartbeat of a Trust (1984); In Search of Leadership (1986); Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: A Life of J.R.D. Tata (1992); The Joy of Achievement: Conversations with J.R.D. Tata (1995) and Celebration of the Cells: Letters from a Cancer Survivor (1999). He has also edited, with S.A. Sabavala, a book of J.R.D. Tata’s speeches, Keynote (1986). R.M. Lala’s books have been translated into other languages including Japanese. He has been director of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust since 1985, and is the co-founder of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy, and since 1993, its chairman.