BREAKING THROUGH: A Memoir

I have a habit of reading book reviews almost every day. I somehow manage to keep a list of the books which interest me. I order books randomly, sometimes thrillers sometimes biographies. Last week I ordered “Breakthrough” a memoir by Ishar Judge Ahluwalia. I knew nothing about her and was so lazy that I did not even Google her (strange but true!).The book duly arrived on a Sunday morning. I started reading it and after I finished it page to page in one day! I don’t remember reading a book page to page for last 40 years. I used to do it during my summer vacations but with the workload I had never done it for years.It’s a relatively tiny book 178 pages but a brilliantly written book. I have a test which I do at the end of the book. If I feel that I would like to meet this person and say thank you for writing this book I really appreciated it means the book is extraordinary. After reading this book I really felt sad because Isher Judge succumbed to her brain tumor last year.Coming from a family of 11 children with barely educated parents how this girl scaled the heights in her career is an amazing read. What strikes you is the humility with which she writes her journey. Earlier in the book she writes about her application process to US universities. She coolly mentions that her referees were Amartya Sen, Jagdish Bhagwati! Later on she mentions that all her 3 professors at MIT went on to win noble prizes. Someone else would have bragged about it no ends.Another touching episode is about her hip surgery while she was a student at MIT. Paul Samuelson (a Nobel laureate) was her professor when she had to undergo a hip surgery when she was studying at MIT. She casually mentions that he not only arranged the surgery with a top surgeon but paid her medical bill as well. No professor would pay his students medical bill unless he or she was in complete awe of his/her student! Later on she also mentions casually that she went to MIT after 25 years and her professor recognized her!Her anecdotes about Dr. Manmohan Singh are also very well written. She casually writes about how she counseled Iqbal Dhaliwal about studying economics! I had never heard his name. She then mentions he is doing well as the Global Executive Director at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at the Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he is married to Gita Gopinath the current head of IMF ( at least I know her!).There are a few humorous anecdotes as well. She mentions scholars like her playing pranks on their professors, only in her case the professor was Bimal Jalan!However when I read this book during this pandemic I felt that we have such a brilliant collection of scholars in India but our administration ignores them. If our governments were a little bit more sensitive towards our scholars then we probably would be in a different orbit as a country. She has also nicely described qualities Dr. Manmohan Singh, he comes out as a very humble and honest individual. It is astonishing to read that Dr. Singh returned the unused money to one of his campaign supporters after the Loksabha election he lost!I would recommend this book for everyone. It’s a memoir of humility if nothing else.

Isher’s simplicity and grace shines through in this memoir, along with her towering intellect. Whether in India or abroad, she remained deeply connected to her roots. As an economist she was not swayed by ideology and constantly looking for new challenges.I loved how she blended personal and the professional in her narration. When she talks of her association with well-known public figures, whether Sudha Murthy or Manmohan Singh, it never feels like she is ‘dropping names’.She also spoke about her family life, including the challenge of not being labelled ‘Mrs Montek Singh’, bringing up 2 boys as a working mother and the joy of becoming a grandmother.This book is a must-read for anyone who wants a glimpse into economics and policy-making, as well as a remarkable human story. The rise of a Hindi-medium schooled girl from a lower middle class family into the world of academia.The most remarkable thing is that Isher wrote this book in the few precious months she had, after being diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour. She penned it in the hope that it would inspire young people, esp women and those from less privileged backgrounds to dream big. To believe that anything is possible.I hope the book is widely read and fulfils her fond wish.

Read this book if you want to know about the remarkable journey of one of India' finest economists, public policy researcher and intellectual. This book is also a very fine example of how a memoir should be written. Isher neither minces words nor holds back her punches, which is the way it should be.While; one would have liked more details of the momentous events that she witnessed first hand, what she managed to cover, given the debilitating disease that she was fighting in her last days, is as remarkable as her story. One must encourage the young to read this truly inspiring book!

A readable book that told me some new things. But it steers clear of critiquing the people and milieu that populate it, not least the author herself.

It is an engaging and disarming story that holds you spell bound as you travel with the author through her remarkable life, experiencing with her the everyday joys and struggles, the drama, getting to know her family & mentors and experiencing the events that shaped her . Most of all you rejoice at her achievements, but cannot escape the tears either. A must read for all young women who aspire to balancing family with a successful career. As she says, it is in you to have it all.It is a great gift for young women!

Nothing at all to dislike. Utterly memorable reading with deep empathy for family, society and as a country. To be fair, I have not heard much of the author before reading this, thanks to no background in economics as a field. But this book opens up a whole new dimension. Immensely well told story with no malice and bitterness towards anybody, this should be a mandatory read for everyone

This is the story of a gritty and intelligent woman who carved a niche for herself professionally and refused to be just the shadow of her more famous husband Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Rare are the instances where both husband and wife have penned their memoirs. After reading Montek's 'Backstage', this book fills up more details about their journey together.

Overall it was a nice read though it got a bit drab in between. Ahluwalia's writing is descriptive and easy to fathom.

Great and inspiring, showing strategic thinking, persistence, and determination to do good. As an African living in the U.S, I was very impressed with the family’s decision to leave lucrative jobs in Washington to return to India so they can give their children Indian roots, and serve the people of India. Very inspiring book to read. I recommend it as well as the book “ backstage” written by Montek, her husband.

A lady who knew what she wished to achieve in her career and did it against some odds

I learned a lot.