This is not a book about project management at least, not in the way you expect
Spanning three decades and some of India s most ambitious industrial landscapes, from the salt flats of Kutch to the hills of Assam, The Roads We Build Within is a deeply human account of a life lived in motion. Through refineries, factories, pipelines, and remote project sites, Rajiv Phanse discovers that the true challenge is not managing timelines or technology, but understanding people.
Told through vivid, self-contained episodes, these real-life stories capture moments of wonder, humour, danger, and quiet transformation: a near-fatal accident, a devastating setback, fleeting encounters that turn into lifelong bonds, and the resilience required to begin again. Along the way, the author reflects on trust, leadership, failure, and renewal with an honesty that is both disarming and profound.
More than a professional memoir, this is a journey of curiosity and connection. It gently dismantles the myth of the engineer as mechanical and distant, revealing instead a world rich with emotion, relationships, and meaning.
In the end, this book asks a simple question: what truly builds our lives the projects we complete, or the people who shape us along the way?
About the Author
Rajiv Phanse prefers to be introduced simply as a warm, curious human being with a wide embrace of life. His many passions include people and places, travel, books and poetry, photography, sports, nature and wildlife, tales of hunting from a bygone era, films, theatre, music, safety, meditation, lifelong learning, and the joy of making friends.
Professionally, he is an engineer and a human resources practitioner, a Total Productive Maintenance trainer, a Six Sigma Green Belt, and a DuPont Behavioural Safety trainer. Over the course of his career, he has worked with some of India s leading organizations Reliance Industries Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Aker Powergas Pvt. Ltd., Jacobs Engineering India Pvt. Ltd. as well as overseas in Morocco, and is currently with Tata Projects Ltd.
Widely regarded as an authority on project management, Rajiv brings rich and diverse experience spanning the entire project lifecycle from conceptualisation to commissioning across multiple industry sectors. His professional journey has also included roles in maintenance, operations, supply chain, and business development, along with leadership positions heading large industrial units. Notably, he has the rare distinction of having worked in project management from all three perspectives client, consultant, and contractor what he describes as knowing the coin from all three sides: heads, tails, and the edge , a vantage point that deeply enriches his understanding.
His work has taken him across the length and breadth of India, often to remote and remarkable locations. There, extended stays and close engagement with local communities introduced him to extraordinary individuals and the profound richness of human relationships. He believes that an open mind is the gateway to endless possibilities and wondrous experiences.
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