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Mind Without Fear

Introduction

Mind Without Fear is the memoir of an Indian-American Businessman, Rajat Gupta, published in 2019 by Juggernaut Books. He was the first foreign-born managing director (chief executive) of management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company who was later convicted of insider trading and sentenced to two years in prison. The book presents the perspective of the man on the charges raised against him as well as a moving account of his childhood, his rise to power to becoming an international icon. It is, as Gupta himself claims, his side of the story and borne out of his regret of making the mistake of not testifying in the trial. In the book, he claims to be not guilty and tries to show himself as a victim of circumstances. The book is an attempt to clear his names to the people who considered him a role model and to tell the full story. The title of the book is a reference to a poem “Where the Mind is Without Fear” by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, published in 1910 and again in the anthology Gitanjali in 1912. The poem invokes the values of truth, dignity, freedom and honour—all of which Rajat Gupta hopes to attain through the publication of this memoir. The book is written after his release from prison and as he is beginning to move forward in future, he wishes to set the past straight.

Summary

The book is divided into four parts, “Crisis”, “Karma Yoga”, “Trial” and “Imprisonment and Freedom”. It begins with a preface where Rajat Gupta lays down his intentions for the book. He builds his character, as the very first line reads, “I am an orphan. Immigrant. Businessman. Leader. Philanthropist. Role model. Convicted felon,” tracing a trajectory of a heroic and inspirational rise to success and a sudden fall from power. In the book, Gupta moves back and forth between the proceedings of the trials and events from his life, from his early childhood in a Bengali family in Calcutta to a Baidya father and a Punjabi mother, to his schooling in New Delhi and his life at Harvard Business School where he completed his MBA. From the school he moved to Mc Kinsey as a young hire and twenty years later, was heading it. He describes in detail the various events that shaped his life and formed the core of his ethical and moral self. The story is a moving account of an immigrant who manages to carve a space for himself in America. The first chapter finds Gupta being sent to solitary confinement over a trivial incident involving his shoe laces, highlighting the corrupt systems of judiciary and the unchecked power of the officers inside the prison. The book goes on to record his experience of being accused, standing to trial and being sentenced while also exploring the history of his ill-advised relationship with Raj Rajaratnam and the betrayal by his trusted mentee Anil Kumar, both accused in the case along with him. The first part of the book follows the early proceedings of the trial of Rajaratnam with Rajat Gupta’s entry into the trial as an accused and the turning of the case into a criminal proceeding. The second part skips back to his fifteen year old self residing in Delhi. The subsequent chapters discuss the death of his parents, his coming-of-age story and his meeting with his wife Anita at IIT Delhi. They also move on to his life at Harvard Business School and his life as an immigrant and a cultural Other. After HBS, Gupta was recruited at Mc Kinsey following a strong recommendation by his professor and in the next few years, as he worked his way up the ladder, he also learned to accept his difference as a source of strength. He also talks about his philanthropic endeavours, including his contribution to the cause of fighting AIDS and the founding of Indian School of Business in hope of giving Indian students an opportunity of receiving a world-class business education in India. The third part returns to the trial and Rajat’s conversations with the lawyers, his story of the exchange with Rajaratnam and his personal and professional life at the time as his reputation also crumbled. The final chapter of this section ends with the verdict and the accompanying depression. It also raises questions about the legal system of the US. The fourth and final part of the book discusses his life in prison. He narrates his struggles in the prison as he dealt with the changed circumstances physically and emotionally. In these accounts, he reveals his growing faith as he started to compare his life to that of a sannyasin, or a renunciate.

Background

In 2009, the SEC accused Rajat Gupta of passing confidential information from a board meeting at Goldman Sachs to then Galleon hedge fund founder and billionaire Raj Rajaratnam. Prosecuters allege that in 2008, after attending a board meeting via telephone, Gupta made a call to Raj Rajaratnam. The call lasted for 16 seconds and the day after the call, Rajaratnam made $800,000 through quick trading. The prosecution claimed that Gupta told Rajaratnam about Berkshire Hathaway’s coming investment in Sachs. Despite Rajat Gupta’s repeated non-guilty pleas and prosecutor’s inability to provide anything more than circumstantial evidence, Rajat Gupta was sentenced to 19 months in prison in 2012. While sentencing him to two years in prison, Judge Jed S Rakoff said: “He is a good man. However, the history of this country and the history of the world is full of examples of good men who did bad things." The trial and the subsequent imprisonment caused a lot of fervour in the US business world for it was one of the rare moments when someone of Gupta’s stature was convicted. Rajat Gupta’s lawyers claimed that Rajaratnam had cheated Gupta out of $10 million in an investment and the call was made regarding that issue. Gupta later added that he wasn’t even sure if he talked to Rajaratnam or his secretary. The wiretaps also failed to reveal anything concrete. Gupta’s friends Mukesh Ambani, Deepak Chopra, and Kofi Annan wrote to judge Rakoff on his behalf. Gupta claimed that his lawyers advised him against testifying and telling his story in court, fearing that he may not be able to handle the cross-examination. He called this his big mistake and felt that he should have told his story in court. Gupta continued to plead his innocence, to no avail. After his sentence, Mc Kinsey dropped his name from their alumni directory and called clients worldwide to say that they would have nothing to do with going forward. Gupta felt that he was wrongfully accused and had become a scapegoat after the Economic crisis of 2008 while the real perpetrators were never held accountable. The memoir marks the first time he narrated his side of the events and presents his story of the scandal. In the book, he talks about his feelings of betrayal and hurt towards his close friends and institutions, particularly Mc Kinsey, as well as a questioning of the judicial system of America which he felt were biased against him.

Reception

In an interview with the Indian Express, Gupta explained his reasons for writing the book, ‘I thought it would be interesting to write this story because I feel that young leaders, inclined towards business and finance, would relate to it. I hope they would learn some lessons from it. Also, I didn’t have a chance to tell my side of the story earlier.’ This published memoir is the strongest defence presented by Gupta against all charges and is written to set the records straight. It has been received positively by most people in the industry, attracting attention of young people aspiring to mimic his rise to success. A review of the book in Telegraph India called it the “biggest gamble of all”, putting pressure of various claims made in the book by raising questions about his actions. The review constructs Rajat Gupta as a ‘literary character for the ages’ – he is a ‘fallen angel’ whose life goes beyond his individual trials to become a ‘parable for humanity’s virtues and vices.’ It is a tale of multiple themes, of betrayal, hurt and hubris, following the rise and fall of an epic hero. The comparison becomes all the more pertinent considering the literally allusions to Gita made in the book which position the man as a parallel to Arjuna, the warrior-hero of the Mahabharata, fighting for truth and justice. Thummaya Poojary, in a review for Your Story, considers the book an important source of understanding the nuances of the business world and the legal intricacies of the insider trading case. The book has been hailed as an easy read which convincingly presents Gupta’s point of view. Many reviewers praise the depiction of a human struggle in the book, and celebrate it as the triumph of human spirit against all odds. The Financial Times however calls it an attempt to convert a ‘clinical trial into a drama of eloquence,’ and the book ‘a potboiler’ made from the Bollywood formula of emotions, drama, family bonding, and personal achievements. The reviewer Rishi Raj continues to question Gupta’s innocence and motives behind writing the ‘less-than-convincing’ story. As a testimony as well, the book is questionable due to its construction as a saga of an immigrant life. A New York Times review understands the book as a plea for forgiveness while Gupta remains ‘aggressively unrepentant’ in this ‘dishy score settler’.