We have been searching and featuring some unheard of success stories for the past many years. Now as we welcome the new year, we also prepare to celebrate two successful decades of Maneesh Media, a media house with a difference, which today is known for the efforts it personally makes to bring Indians together, connecting beyond boundaries, all in one book, all under one roof.

Could there have been a better way who stands out as the charismatic visionary, right in front of us! While on our way to inspiring many others, here’s someone who inspires us, motivates us, at times astonishes us. Mr. Chandmal Kumawat, the Chairman, Maneesh Media, who has fought, struggled against fate, stood firm in the storms, to define success in his own words, exemplifying how Rome was not built in a day, or by one. Various forces have joined to build it.

CBB: Why Maneesh Media?

Mr. Chandmal Kumawat: Well, we call it a media house with a difference. The difference is in the way we build relationships, and not just associations; in the way we have relationships, not just clients; in the way we talk, not just interview; in the way we listen, not just hear; everything we do has a personal touch to it. What we do is not promote anyone, but seek to inspire those who look for it, like I did once, the common people who we might not ever get to know.

CBB: How?

CK: Like I told you, all this happens on personal interactions.

CBB: Uhmm, how did Maneesh Media come to light?

CK: Oh, we are just 20 years young. I was working in a very different field, with a hidden urge for success. With time grew my urge and I started to seek ideas, find my calling. I’d listen to people talk of how someone had a become a big shot, how some known family had long ago dreamt big, etc. Such stories were seemingly inspiring me, a bit a while, to keep going. I still hadn’t found my calling, but I thought I had at least started towards it. I was on a look-out of more such inspirational stories, for my personal inspirations. Meeting them, listening to their success stories awed me. How does a person, who hadn’t studied much, had no family backup, replicate success for him? Wasn’t this what the world needed to know and grow? And then usurped the idea of honouring some people, but how… it went unanswered yet.

I took the first step in 1999 with Rangeelo Rajasthan, a souvenir on hotel industry to help the travellers to Jaipur. The idea was to help the many industry leaders by easing their trip to this city. Well, small step it was, but then, the first. And today, we are here for 20 years, a time period which has given us a vast experience, many inspirations, many relationships, many memories.

CBB: From a pocket book to coffee-table books, was it tough?

CK: Tough is just a thought of mind. When I started in 1999, did I had a clue what it would lead to? All that I had in mind was to do something, do different. We took a leap when US President, H.E. Bill Clinton, visited India and our book on Presidents of America was released by him with support from Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. An experience still fresh in my memories. It gave me the boost to continue and I wondered, such experiences could boost up others too. By the time I was ready to fly to the UAE the first, my son, Manish too had joined me, which boosted my confidence to dream even bigger.

CBB: What, in all these years, have been your greatest achievement?

CK: (laughs) Honestly, there have been innumerable. To begin with, Sachin Sankhala, a child like my son, irrevocably helped in my flawless first trip to Dubai when I was gearing up for my first international project. Do you ever forget the people who believe in you while you are taking your first step? Shri Vasu Shroff, a friend, a guide, continues to augment my morale to a new high, introduced me to many people I still work with. Shri Vasu Lilaramani, a friend who introduced me to the international standards of book publishing world and helped me release Dubai 2007. The bond which started in 2013 with Dr. Kiran C. Patel, continues to grow stronger. He helped one of our books be released by none other than Indian PM Hon’ble Narendra Modi. Meeting Mr. Harishchandra V. Mistry, a man of quiet hiding a sea of knowledge and humility inside him, was our leapfrog into a new genre of biographies and autobiographies, which is today being appreciated the world over.

CBB: Are you content with the way Maneesh Media is creating its own niche?

CK: Content, no. Happy, yes. Content is not a feeling when words like growth and success buzz in your mind. Happy, because I see people boarding this train of inspirations.

CBB: Having found the inspiration, in fact, distributing it among others now, do you ever feel like slowing down now?

CK: Never. But with growing age, I am sure I too will slow down eventually, though I will hate to. You know a lot times it is just a smile or a happy face that sees you through. With my family backing me, my sons giving wings to my ideas, are things that never let me slow down.

Before my family and friends could join me, I was joined by a young man, Waseem Ikram, watching him continue in my journey, as many come and go becomes another of my reasons to continue.