Today is a proud day in my life.

Seven years in the making, The Angel of God is being launched today amdist Great Fanfare at Chennai, India today.

Set in Chennai, Kerala, The Libyan Sahara, Dharawi Mumbai and other places, the book revolves around a central character called Moosa Bhai.

Born and brought up in the bowels of Dharawi, Moosa bhai becomes the very epitome of Asia’s largest slum. A survivor in a jungle.

From petty crime to murder Moosa Bhai becomes the Don of Mumbai’s underworld.

But then - this book is not another eulogy to the world of crime and criminals.

This is the first book that I started writing, but because of its complexity in narration and a story line that was deep, the other four books that came forth in the past five years preceded this.

The Angel of God is out today and I do hope that when you have your copy you will enjoy the endeavor that has gone into making it the book that it is in your hands, today. More than that, I hope you will connect with the story that is woven with loving detail and that you will see the characters of Moosa Bhai, Abubacker and Bhaskaran unravel before your very eyes.

Of course, just like every book of fiction, this too has to have a plot. But unlike many books of fiction, it’s not what the book is all about. Just like the Angel of God as a title is a paradox, the book is neither religious nor is it pertaining to any spirituality, yet it contains a mixture of everyday life. This book, I must warn you, is not about crime. It has crime only as a backdrop and it’s not a book that glorifies crime or indeed criminals.

What this book is all about is Transformation. In the many years that I have been working in this wonderful domain called HR – Human Relations to me and Human Resources to the rest of the world – I have observed organizations transform and become the stuff that they dream out to be. I have seen that organizational transformation is caused not by anything other than one man or woman who sets the tempo for change. For they realize that the biggest constant is change. Understanding the dynamics of change is the first step towards transformation. Becoming change minded, then, is the secret pact that we get into with Time and subsequently as we go about Life in that mindset – our Transformation is the result of Living that pact mindfully. That is what I have tried to portray in this book – that even in the worst of the scenarios that we can find ourselves in – we can transform, should we want to and more importantly – should we know how to.

Let’s face it – we all transform. Born a baby, its metamorphosis is slow, steady. Then that baby transforms into a young boy or girl. Slowly the young boy or girl enters into early adolescence and then into adult hood and then, perhaps, into marriage and another transformation and without ever realizing it consciously – we have slowly become what we are today. What you and I are today is the sum total of our entire lives transformation. We have evolved over our yesterdays to become our today. But the reality of that transformation is slow, and in that slowness of Life that is the time between morning till evening and from one week to another and from one month to another, till the years roll by – we become what Life doles out to us. Sure, some of us have our aspirations and our goals – but the majority of us become what Life and Circumstance and Environment make us out to be.

Just a few of us, dare to dream beyond what is bestowed upon us at birth and by circumstances. Those few of us seek beyond that which is meted out to us. We like to live out our dreams. When we do touch those dreams that are parked beyond the horizon of what is our current reality and our hope, we stumble onto another truth. That we achieve only that which we dream of. We realize of those things that we have dreamt passionately about. We realize that we can only be the stuff of those dreams that we have savored in the secret of our minds. It is then we understand that transformation is an achievement. Its not automatic. Its not a fluke. And the more that we are conscious about this fact, the more we can steer the course of our own life path.

Thus we are conscious that transformation is the vehicle that we sit upon if it’s purposefully driven by that engine called Intent. Intent is all powerful. Its fuel is commitment. Think about this vehicle that you have at your disposal. It’s called Transformation. Its engine is this state of the art, zippy absolutely great invention of the mind called Intent. It runs on a biodegradable fuel called Commitment. Put these two together and anything is achieved. You think I am kidding you? If at all I have understood anything it is this and only this – that we can transform should we want to.

The most powerful example of Intent and Commitment coming together to transform the lives of Ordinary men and women and give us all a country to call our own is the example of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi came to India in 1915 when this country was in the grip of the British Empire. They came to these shores as traders in 1600 and established one of the most powerful companies that the world has even seen – The British East India Company. By a series of powerful moves that colonial company had by 1915 transformed itself into the British Empire in India.

It is into this scenario that this little man called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi enters. His Intent is clear. His mind is set on a free India. Many laughed and scoffed him. When they came face to face with him, they retracted. This small diminutive man had an aura about him that told you he was deadly serious about his Intent. And what was his Intent? Swatantra Bharat. Nothing more nothing less. It did not bother him that he did not have an army, that he did not have money, that he did not have followers, that he did not have arms and ammunition. He was serious about his Intent. Swatantra Bharat.

Imagine that Intent. Imagine that in 1915 you could be anybody – and if you ever raised the banner of revolt – a kangaroo court would hang you or shoot you down. Such was that British grip that was on this country of ours. And yet in 32 years of his life dedicated to delivering of this intent with a commitment that the world had not seen till then – he got for us Indians the most precious commodity that we have as a Nation today. Our Freedom. What a transformation.

Today, when the grim reality of a recession economy - layoffs and other such painful actions hit us, we are left wondering at our own fallibility. The most powerful economies of the world, headed by some of the most educated names that you can ever think of from the most celebrated universities are those that are behind the economies of those countries that have begun to crumble like nine pins in this recession season. They were the best they said, yet how did this happen? The world will bear witness to a new era. And that is the Transformational Period.

We are going to witness in this period what ordinary people are going to do transforming themselves, their environments and their situations and leading other ordinary people like themselves to extraordinary achievements. You can see it happened in America. What was unthinkable there – A Colored American becoming its President is now thinkable. Barack Obama has created History. His whole election campaign and his whole plank was Transformation. Change. And I am telling you, history is being made in those United States of America like never before because one man dared to change the status quo. In doing so, and that is his election success, he touched upon the psyche of an entire nation. He touched upon the inner layers of their consciousness – America needed change. America needed a huge Transformation. And what a transformation it was. It stunned the world to concede that we are all living in a world of change. And those that were conscious about such a change, and who could master it would triumph.

In the days ahead, we are going to witness Transformational Leadership like never before in this new era. It is going to be Transformational qualities that are going to get Managers jobs and Leaders a role to play in. And of course, this is not something new. Transformational Leadership has been spoken about before, but too much emphasis on education and experience pushed the role that a Transformational mindset could achieve into oblivion. Simply because not everyone had it.

Till now.

There are organizations, people and societies in the world where neither education nor experience can explain the achievements that they have attained. In the last book that my husband and I wrote called Me! A Winner, we examined the commonality that we clearly observed in highly successful people. And we examined quite a few folks, I must say. The manner in which they transformed their lives, the environment, their families and indeed the perception that the world looked at them is simply amazing. Just take a look at Sachin Tendulkar. Hardly 13 his Intent was clear. He wanted to play for India. Nothing else mattered. Not even the trouble of having to practice countless hours at the Sivaji Park Grounds in Dadar. Guess what happened? At 16 he became the youngest Indian to play for India. What happened to him subsequently? Cricket became synonymous with Sachin Tendulkar. Or look at that awesome Karsanbhai Patel who founded Nirma with nothing but his deep rooted Intent to provide the common man a cheap detergent soap? What is Nirma today? Even while it was transforming the detergent soap consumer mindset its main rivals Unilever were scoffing the idea of someone taking off their world renowned product’s market share. Least of all a small, unheard of Gujarati who’d started off a small detergent factory in his own backyard. Or look at that awesome achievement of Srinivasa Ramanujam – a high school dropout, his mathetmatical genius is still being researched in the world 68 years after his death. Srinivasa Ramanujam was not even a high school graduate.

Or go local and see the transformation to the fast food industry that Saravana Bhavan has created. Or what Pothy’s / RMKV and a host of other such have done to the staid Nalli / Rasi brand? They’ve transformed the business; they’ve transformed the common man’s perception of kanjivaram silks and designer saris and in one twist – changed the way that business is done. Transformed. Transformed. Transformed. To touch one’s dream one must consent to transform.

And so The Angel of God is more than transformation. It talks about the amazing potential that we have within each of us – that most valuable thing that we are all blessed with regardless of our race, our color, our creed or anything else.

And unless we do we are going to remain poor. We are living in trying times, when the salaries we get from doing jobs that go beyond the normal 9 – 5 are not enough to meet the dreams that our families cherish. Unless we discover our potential, unless we are change minded, unless we have transformation firmly etched on our psyche, who is going to deliver us to our dreams?

I urge you to discover that potential, I urge you to discover the Angel of God within each of us, I urge you to discover it and let it fly – For therein you will come across the purpose for which you are created.

In as much as Gandhi found his purpose, I believe that each and every one of us has a purpose. The challenge of life, then, is to discover that quintessential purpose of our existence, in order for us to become. And Life does unerringly lead us to the right places, people and situations, for there are no accidents in Life, except reasons.

This book, then, is also about that Angel of God that we all cherish within each of us. The Paramatma within the Atma, as it were. It exists in each of us – no matter who we are. Many of us don’t find it, simply because we do not seek it. I believe that unleashing that goodness that is manifest within each of us is the biggest transformation that we can ever create. To ourselves, our loved ones, our communities, our organizations and to our nation as a whole.

I hope you will enjoy The Angel of God.