If you’ve been lashed and beaten for a long time by two very burning yet essential life questions: ‘Who am I, and, what do I want?’ and you don’t really know where to start, firstly, thank your luck if you find yourself reading this article.
If you’ve been taken hostage by the uneasy feeling of being lost without a cause, then you’re really in the right place reading this.
If you’ve been shamefully running from pole to post trying to get some measure of sympathetic relief minus the philosophical heavy-handedness served by your wise old aunt, then have absolutely no shame to start here. Where you ask? With, F?@K KNOWS. It’s a book! And in all seriousness, one with a serious message.
Now if you want to get a practical head-start on your quest for discovering the answers to your life’s questions, and quirky tips on how to achieve your life’s goals through no-nonsense exercises, then this is a book that your hands should be straddling, instead of…God knows!
And hey, it’s not a run-of-the-mill ten-a-penny guide project. It’s part-novel, part lessons textbook, all under 230-odd pages. Also, expect deadpan comic delivery.
The only warning I’d give to serious lit-buffs is to swallow the “easy on the tongue” language like a magic pill.
The after-taste shouldn’t be so bad coming from Shailendra Singh, recently named among the “50 Most Powerful People in Electronic Dance Music 2013.” He’s the inceptor of one of the world’s top 5 and Asia’s largest music festival, Sunburn, and owner of Percept Inc., India’s largest entertainment and media communications conglomerate with a regional presence in the Middle East.
Just one among the plenitude of international recognitions he has received is the MTV Staying Alive Award at the MTV Immies in 2004 for his film production ‘Phir Milenge,’ the first commercial Indian movie that opened discussion on AIDS/HIV on mainstream cinema. This man is no stranger to success.
Bottom line: You’ll be reading some rock-solid advice straight, like they say, “From the horse’s mouth.” With his maiden attempt at writing that has landed his book onto the Number 1 “Best-sellers list” on HT Nielson Bookscan in creative non-fiction, it looks like the whiz media man has now ventured outside the “entertainment” quotient that he’s famous for and jumped onto the serious writer’s bandwagon. Or not quite.
I sat him out for a chat, and if what you read below is any indication to the tone you’ll be greeted with in the book, then all promotional directions will be found at the bottom of the article for your benefit. Read below the edited excerpts of a fairly chummy conversation.
The title of the book looks like an obvious attempt at grabbing the attention of the reader. Is it?
No it’s my attitude actually. It’s not a marketing gimmick. If I asked you, ‘will you be happy in your new job?’ you’d say, ‘God Knows.’
If I asked you, ‘will you be happy the rest of your married life?’ you’d say, ‘God knows.’ I think life is unpredictable, and is logically difficult to understand. So my premise of F?@K Knows comes from that thought-process, that we intellectualize life so much.
Are you trying to be the next new-age guru from India?
Yeah right. I think the entire world will be in deep trouble if I get any more successful.
I just started reading your book two hours ago. I’m at the very first instruction pages of ‘how to read this book.’ Quite a lot of orders there. The most amusing of all-‘read on the pot,’ and ‘one chapter at a time.’
I think that like most other experiences in life, you must feel, absorb and enjoy. I think you should give the pauses that are relevant. I think there may not be any deep meaning, but the funny way in which I’ve said the things in the book need a little time and patience to enjoy the experience. And yeah, I truly believe that the pot is the most private spot that any human being has. Because I want your full attention when you read my book.
Why should I or someone else be investing their few precious hours into reading this ridiculously titled book?
If you already know the answers to the question, ‘Who am I, and what do I want?’ then the majority of the message in the book will be irrelevant to you. But the majority of us, including me, find it difficult to articulate the answers to these questions, because the goalpost changes very frequently. So it’s the fact that this book may possibly enlighten or spark off a few interesting thoughts on your life. But beyond that, I think it’ll entertain you. It’s worth a couple of dollars…for a good read, for a good laugh. It’s not a bad one. If it can entertain you a bit, I don’t think it can hurt too much. I think it also depends on the reader’s state of mind. And hopefully they give me a five-star rating.
During the process of writing this book, did you find your own answers to the ultimate questions?
I did, just before I started the book about four years ago. Every New Year’s on Jan. 1 I would ask myself, ‘Who am I, and what do I want?” And I couldn’t answer that four years ago. My mind was very distracted and prostituted. I didn’t write this book to become an author. It was only to put down my experiences and share them with everyone. I mean, I was enjoying myself when I was writing it. And I think you can only do that when you know yourself. Because you can spend the majority of your life just pretending.
Was the writing process difficult for you, considering it’s your first attempt?
No, I’m surrounded by brilliant people, especially Nicole Sottung who co-wrote the book with me. And I’m in the field of communications, so to be honest it was painless.
Where did you gather your inspiration from?
My inspiration for storytelling comes from cinema. I’m a huge cinema buff. I’ve produced about 70 odd-movies. I love cinema, I understand cinema. I think it’s a very powerful medium of communication and I think the combination of both allowed me the confidence to put a book out there.
So this was an attempt at storytelling, not writing necessarily then?
Yeah, I don’t want to be known as a writer. It’s way too intelligent for my profile. I’m just a dumb, semi-successful guy. I’m not that smart and intelligent. These guys (writers) are damn intelligent. They talk slowly…drink five cups of coffee every hour. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink too much coffee. I don’t qualify as a senior learned…you know.
The first of many more books from you then?
Yeah, sure. This book’s success is paramount for me. I’m not an arrogant idiot who keeps doing things that don’t work, so, if this works, you’ll have another book in November this year.
Since you’ve quite gotten yourself in the business of personal motivation now, any pearls of wisdom you want to adorn us with?
Self-belief leads to confidence and that leads to success. It’s that simple a formula. So if you believe in something however big or small it is, and you do it, it’ll happen, I promise you. It’s happened to me…a rags to riches story.
P.S: The reason this story went to press, and you’re reading it was simply because I finally gathered the answers to some of my own questions, courtesy the author’s book. Or you can rest assured, you never would have.
The book F?@K KNOWS, authored by Shailendra Singh is available for purchase on Amazon.
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