A Cereal Entrepreneur

Autobiography | Capt Gopinath

Simply Fly is a book I got early last year, and finally got around to reading recently. That makes me feel stupid in retrospect. Capt Gopinath is an ex-army officer, who left the army to become a farmer. He dabbled in running a motorcycle repair franchise, an Udupi hotel, and finally became famous for setting up a helicopter company. Actually, not. He never did become very famous, but his subsequent venture into the airline business, Air Deccan, did. It was India's first low-cost airline, and was so successful that all the other airlines started similar arms and/or bought out other low-cost airlines.

Anyway, to the book. Capt Gopinath either has excellent narrative skills, or a terrrific editor, or both. The book is a page-turner. I kid you not. It's smooth and crisp, and to the point. You get to know a lot about Capt Gopinath, and you want to know even more.

Ahhh, why waste more time on reading this review? Go read the book instead. It's what autobiographies should be, and rarely are.

It's published by Collins Business, and the hardcover costs a mere ₹ 499.