My family hails from Nalagarh, a small town in the state of (H.P.) in India. My father, in the early part of his life, moved to Shimla (the official capital of the British Raj at the time) for better opportunities. He started his business as a textile merchant. That’s where I was born. Shimla is more like an urban area. The British called Shimla their summer palace.
About the Author
Though coming from a middle-class family, it was a tough call for my family to support my dreams. I feel eternally indebted to my mother because she supported me and was instrumental in financing my air ticket. My father helped me in obtaining a passport, which was difficult to obtain in those days.
I arrived in the UK in 1966 with very little money, bitter cold, not knowing what to expect. Only to make my dreams a reality. No doubt, my early years were very hard, and adjusting to every new was a big struggle. While I studied, I worked hard during the holidays and the weekends and paid my way through. I can say with pride that was the time I learned to deal and survive under extremely difficult times.
After finishing my studies, my first job was with a major investment bank. I worked with them for two years in their international trading division as a senior officer. But I had bigger dreams. That’s when I decided to be my own boss. At that time, though, I had very limited capital. I started my own export/import textile business. This led to extensive travelling to the Far East and Europe, which helped widen my horizon.
By the late 1970s, I owned a number of retail shops in Regent Street, London, which also enabled me to expand my business internationally. By 1989, I decided to move into garment manufacturing and sold my business in London, moved to Bahrain then to Dubai (UA E) in 1991, and set up sizeable manufacturing facilities, feeding the retail market both for UK and USA . In 2001, China opened free trade globally, and UAE could no longer compete with the emerging market. I had to make a decision and fast. I restructured the whole operation. The business survived because of my timely action of trimming down the business significantly. Now we manufacture clothing exclusively for corporate and promotional major accounts. Simultaneously, I started “care homes” business in the UK and also built up a property portfolio. Thanks to the management team I trained over the years, I am able to oversee all my businesses without being involved on a dayto- day basis. Today I am able to pursue my other interests, i.e., golf and writing.
I have pursued my passion for golf and in the interest of philanthropy I founded the annual Yash International Charity Golf Day in 2005 in aid of Cancer Research UK and have successfully raised funds ever since for this charity and have successfully completed fifteen years. I obtained my PHD in the USA in 2013. The experience of obtaining the degree became a catalyst for writing. That is when I started writing books on my favourite subjects, which I have studied during the course. And then curiosity got the better of me and decided to write this book. The start-up point for this book was the insurrection that took place on 6th January 2021 at the Capitol and the subsequent second impeachment of Donald Trump. This book is based on research conducted during the lockdown period (pandemic). Donald Trump said in 1998, “If I were to run, I would run a republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in this country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie, and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.” During the election speeches, he said he was contesting the election to clean the swamp. But instead, he ended up being the kingmaker of that swamp. During the Donald Trump presidency, “inclusion” was missing. Having said that, “inclusion” is a fancy word for “human decency.” I strongly believe that decency is the bedrock of defining what makes us human. It doesn’t mean being nice to everyone; it means being fair to everyone. It’s the care given to people one is associated with in everyday dealing; that is where inclusion comes in. What a wonderful place this world would be. That wasn’t the case with Trump. Here, I would like to mention that I am not a democrat or republican. I am very independent in my views. All the narratives in this book are facts. Donald Trump’s role as president of the USA was nothing but lies, deceptions, and misrepresentation of facts. He misled the Americans and the whole world. The USA , being the most powerful country in the world, to have had a president of his calibre raises lot of questions.
According to Yale Conclave of top CEOs in early September 2020, 77% would vote for Biden and a wide range of business figures - Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and lot of others - quickly applauded this decision. Businesses prize stability, predictability, and certainty, and Trump’s incessant whipsawing on some of the largest issues, like imposing tariffs, closing borders, retaliating against companies, leaving NA TO, criticising WHO, had exhausted the general public’s trust. Trump changed rules so often the business community couldn’t accept and cope. And last but not the least, his family members and friends benefitted from his time in the office as president. Not to forget all his lies, the data available shows he spoke 37,500 lies during his presidency. Although Biden is far from being the business world’s ideal president, hopefully, Biden will provide the road map to the whole world. It is a matter of degree. The inequality will be even more entrenched than it is today. It will be harder to dig out of the rut if you will. We’ll have many more Donald Trumps running for office. The social safety net will be even more dismantled. There will be more political and social polarisation. America may even be controlled by autocratic, totalitarian institutions. If these trends continue here in the United States, the country could look more like Brazil, a country with a very weak state, a powerful plutocratic governing class, a very small and precarious middle class, and lots of desperate people. That is the dystopian outcome that could await America in twenty years. It’s no surprise that Trump had trouble letting go of the Oval Office, but wait until he sees his TV set recreation. If there is one thing Donald Trump is good at, it’s entertainment. His rallies captivated a nation, and before that, his reality TV show was a runaway hit. It has been said that Trump, in 2021, will partner with One America News Network, already a mouthpiece for Trump, for a prime time show that will knock off Fox News. He’ll go head to head against Sean Hannity in the 9:00 p.m. slot and steal away Laura Ingraham to serve as his TV veep. I never thought I would ever write this book. Honestly, I felt honor - bound to dig deep into my own experience from watching TV and reading and to bring those memories that had perhaps been 177 suppressed for a long time. I have written this book for various reasons, and the main reason being during these four years, USA has become a divided nation, and the blame for this goes to Donald Trump. His followers treated him like a messiah. He did more damage than any good. How divided we have become? Watching and listening to trump reason; to offer sense of hope, for the people who are helpless, ineffective feel small. They need to be empowered to fight Donald Trump’s misdeeds with conviction and agility. In presenting this book to the public, I hope and pray that you will look benignly and be forgiving of the errors and omissions that it may contain. I have attempted with utmost care to be factual and correct. There are several things that it could or should contain, but time waits for no man, and this book needs to culminate here for the time being as I am sure there is much more to come after this book is published. Last but not the least, I wish to express my deep gratitude to my family members for their patience and understanding during many months of strenuous work.
Yash Paul Soni, MBA (UK), PhD (USA )”