The Readers’ Desk

The Race Never Ends is, for me, much more than a book. It is a glimpse into a journey I have had the privilege of witnessing closely — as Nikhil’s wife, companion, and confidante.

I have seen the person behind the achievements: the dreams, the doubts, the sacrifices, the setbacks, and most importantly, the quiet determination to keep moving forward.

What touches me most about this journey is that the race was never only about reaching a destination. It was about resilience, courage, and finding the strength to begin again, every time life demanded it.

I am immensely proud of the journey Nikhil has travelled and, more than anything, of the person he has become along the way.

For me, The Race Never Ends is a reminder that some journeys are not meant to have a finish line — they are meant to shape us, inspire us, and become a part of who we are.

The Race Never Ends resonated with me because it speaks honestly about burnout, as a cost of corporate success that is seldom discussed. I have experienced that pressure myself, and Nikhil Maheshwari’s account of life at the upper levels of finance felt both familiar and revealing.

An impressive designation and salary package may look like success from the outside, but they do not necessarily bring contentment within. That sense of fulfilment is deeply personal and cannot be measured by position or income alone.

Coming from a former investment banker who has lived that world, the book offers a valuable view of what high-level corporate life can give, and what it can quietly take away. It leaves one thinking about the price we are prepared to pay for the lives we call successful.

I finished The Race Never Ends and found myself thinking about it afterwards.

Much of the book is about a habit most of us know well. We work towards one thing, then another, and tell ourselves that life will become easier when the next task is finished. Usually, another task takes its place.

Nikhil’s story made me think about how easily years pass in this way. We are busy, responsible, often doing what seems necessary, and yet some part of life is always being left for later.

What I liked about the book is that it does not tell the reader what to think. It simply tells the story plainly and leaves you with a question about your own life.

The Race Never Ends, by Nikhil Maheshwari, is a candid memoir about ambition, achievement and the private cost of constantly striving for the next milestone. Beginning with the aspirations familiar to many middle-class Indian families, the book follows a life shaped by education, work, responsibility and the pursuit of success.

Maheshwari writes with unusual openness about exhaustion, loss, family, identity and the gradual realisation that professional achievement does not by itself answer the larger questions of life. The book is reflective rather than prescriptive, and its strength lies in the honesty with which the author examines his own choices.

Written in a clear and accessible style, it should speak particularly to students, young professionals and anyone who has ever wondered whether success is enough when the race itself never seems to end.

I began The Race Never Ends expecting a memoir about success, and found instead a quiet unease beneath it. Nikhil Maheshwari’s writing has a curious way of drawing the reader into that unease.

There are moments in these chapters when an ordinary working life suddenly begins to look unfamiliar. One starts to ask whether we are pursuing success, or merely obeying its instructions. The writing does not preach. It leaves the questions sitting beside the reader.

My thanks to The Good Earth Publishers for accepting my request and allowing me to read these chapters in advance. I now look forward to reading the complete book when The Race Never Ends is published.