{"id":3493,"date":"2022-10-04T06:24:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T06:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betadevelopment.in\/apm\/?post_type=avada_portfolio&p=3493"},"modified":"2024-08-27T12:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T12:43:55","slug":"let-me-hijack-your-mind","status":"publish","type":"avada_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/betadevelopment.in\/apm\/portfolio-item\/let-me-hijack-your-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Me Hijack Your Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Foreword By Ronnie Screwvala<\/h3><\/div>
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In this book, Alyque Padamsee is doing what he does best: provoke you.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my opinion, Alyque Padamsee was one of India\u2019s greatest non-linear thinkers. The Brandfather of advertising and the father of theatre in India, Alyque\u2019s passing shook us all. Yet, few of us experienced the extent of another dimension of Alyque. And that is what this book is about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alyque was all about living with violent happiness, throughout his life, in whatever he did. You\u2019ll hear many from the theatre and business fraternity, including me, describe him as someone who always helped you maximize your potential and be your best. When people are at their best, Alyque says they become joyful, confident and curious. The result? It doesn\u2019t just improve life for them, it also improves life for everybody around them, creating happier societies.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a huge part of the population that is not joyful. That are mentally still in chains. That believe they have to struggle with life and can\u2019t do anything about this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not one to allow this to happen, Alyque set out to create a guide for commandeering your mind and helping you realize what your own subconscious chains are.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>What are those chains?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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Through this book, Alyque delves deeply into entrenched social norms that most of us have subconsciously been hostage to and that bring unhappiness into our lives. He then turns our problems of unhappiness on their heads and forces us to examine their root causes again. He asks us whether it still needs to be like this or can we now give up these ghosts of the past that live on our shoulders, weighing us down? And he does this entertainingly, bringing in anecdotes from his incredible experience gained through seventy-seven theatre productions and over half a century in advertising, but also his long-lasting work through another side of his life.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>Why does he feel the need to provoke? <\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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India\u2019s secular fabric, composite culture, and pluralism were values that Alyque held dear. He felt that India (and the rest of the world) was a very unfair place, and many marginal voices have gone unheard due to the silence of those who did not speak up, that too for centuries. He was concerned about how religion was tearing apart the world, governments were not doing their job and the general brainwashing that went on in what is considered \u2018news\u2019. He felt it was causing the vast majority of the population to feel trapped, be unhappy, doubt themselves and accept the situation like victims. But they weren\u2019t trapped, and he felt his last job on this planet was to provoke them into action. Because their lives and, more importantly, billions of other people\u2019s lives depended on it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For decades, Alyque had worked relentlessly on improving society in whatever ways he could, be it working with the government during the 1992 Mumbai riots (at great risk to himself), or with Dalits on untouchability or supporting movements for justice and peace. His public service adverts were legendary, from tomatoes squashed in a jar to represent having too many kids, to coconuts being smashed to represent what happens if you don\u2019t wear a helmet. He was ingenious at creating and visualizing stories that haunted you and slowly changed your thinking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This book is his final way of helping you change your thinking so you too can live with violent happiness and, at the same time, bring up those who are less fortunate than you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no more important time than now to find a way to maximize the potential of everyone around us. With climate change and an increasingly VUCA1 world, we need it more than ever!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/i><\/i><\/span>But how exactly do we maximize this potential of everyone around us?<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
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It all starts with your mindset\u2014it is time to cast off those imaginary shackles of the past, to put those OLD ways of thinking to sleep, forever. It is time for you to question everything, from your religion to the way you work, the way you were educated or how you think about family and relationships. It is time to go against the tide on topics you feel strongly about, even though it\u2019s going to be hard. Remember, the wars of yesterday were won with bullets that killed. But the wars of today will only be won with bullets that disrupt the status quo. That disruption will start a chain reaction to bring greater happiness for you and all around you. And that\u2019s what Alyque is showing you in this book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a book you can dip in and out of, again and again. It is going to stir up the opportunity to take a risk and talk about taboo topics like sex, extremism or death with your friends and family and blame it on Alyque\u2014he would love that! You can have casual conversations with others on the questions he brings up. You can move the conversation forward. Most importantly, you can start to reform your own views on topics and norms that you have accepted as gospel truth. It is unlikely you will ever forget the marriage licence or look at arranged marriages in the same way again. When you next pick up a newspaper or go online to read the news, you will no doubt remember what he says about compartments in life. When you see a beggar on the street, you will realize you are a bonus baby. When you see an advert, you will wonder what part of you is being massaged. And you will question everything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope Let Me Hijack Your Mind will inspire a new generation to speak up and change the thoughts around them to bring in greater equity for the billions who are in dire need of moving forward. Will you be that change agent that Alyque is looking for? You might just help change the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Shashi Tharoor<\/h3><\/div>
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“I knew Alyque Padamsee as a creative genius — a brilliantly idiosyncratic director with a sharp mind and a coruscating passion for improving India. All these qualities are apparent in this wildly original book, which rips conventional wisdom apart in its quest to unlock the reader’s mind, challenge our assumptions and provoke new ways of thinking about our old problems. From sex to taxes, gender relations and marriage to work and money, and advertising to education, Alyque up-ends every cliche, violates every taboo and tears holes in our defences as he essays his tips and “hacks” for living a better life and concludes with his own Commandments. A breathtaking, eye-opening, mind-expanding read.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

QUOTES<\/h3><\/div>
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Synopsis<\/h3><\/div>
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This is a book designed to throw you off balance, because it is crammed with ideas and fresh ways of thinking of how to live, how to dream and how to completely alter your mindset and attitudes! Alyque\u2019s adventures in Idea-land have thrown up new concepts like the marriage licence\u2026 a fatwah against terrorists\u2026bonus babies\u2026and a myriad of other concepts in revolutionary thinking.<\/p>\n

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The Authors<\/h3><\/div>

The late Alyque Padamsee was a Padmashree, which is one of the highest national honours in India. Known as the Brandfather of Indian Advertising, Padamsee headed Lintas in India and was responsible for some of India\u2019s most iconic ads from Liril\u2019s \u2018girl in the waterfall\u2019 to Surf Excel\u2019s \u2018Lalitaji.\u2019 Besides his advertising accolades, he was a renowned theatre actor, director and producer, who also directed 76 theatre productions, including several blockbusters such as Evita, \u2018Jesus Christ Superstar\u2019 and \u2018The Death of a Salesman\u2019. He also experimented with more innovative productions that have caused the audience to rethink their ideas on modern living and get so involved in the theme of the play, that they would take it home with them.<\/p>\n

Padamsee\u2019s co-author, Vandana Saxena Poria is an OBE (British equivalent of Padmashree) and respected serial entrepreneur, who is known as the \u2018Human Alarm Clock,\u2019 due to her ability to awaken people with thoughts and ideas. She is connected to a multitude of networks and ignites them to be interactive with each other. Vandana spent three years collaborating with Alyque prior to his death.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The New Ten Commandments<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Vandana Saxena Poria Co-Author<\/h3><\/div>
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The phone rang.<\/p>\n

It was my executive assistant, Glenda. She was in a panic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Kiki Watsa (Premila Lal) is having a lunch and wants you to be there. She thinks your OBE could be of interest for the guest she has over for lunch.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I laughed. Nobody says no to Kiki Watsa (Premila Lal, Glenda\u2019s larger than life mother-in-law and well-known author of India\u2019s original cookbooks). I didn\u2019t even ask who the guest was. I just said yes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And there began one of the most audacious adventures of my life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The guest was none other than Padmashree Alyque Padamsee. Even though I had grown up in the UK, I knew this name well. Not just because of his advertising career and theatre life, which most people in India knew him for.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Read More<\/center><\/span><\/a><\/h1><\/div>
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But because he had played Jinnah in Attenborough\u2019s Gandhi. I had seen it when I was younger, and the film had a profound impact on me.So now I was going to lunch with him and his two daughters, Ra\u00ebll and Shazahn.<\/p>\n

I did my homework. Aside from being an absolute living legend in theatre, advertising and social work, he also had this multi-talented family of ex-wives and children who were all making waves in their respective fields.<\/p>\n

And countless prot\u00e9g\u00e9s. From Shiamak Davar to Dalip Tahil to Kabir Bedi to Sabira Merchant to Ronnie Screwvala. He made India proud\u2014on a global stage.<\/p>\n

So, as you can imagine, I was intrigued to meet the man who had been an inspiration and guide to all of these icons. From my work on mindset, I knew how heavily your family members influence you, much more so than you consciously realize.<\/p>\n

I got there early, and Kiki was fussing over last-minute arrangements. I then heard a bellowing voice. \u2018Kiki Watsa, my darling, how are you, you old chestnut? Have you been a good girl? I bloody well hope not!\u2019 Followed by a hearty laugh.<\/p>\n

I was in shock. No one I know had the courage to talk to Kiki that way. But she giggled like a schoolgirl and gave him a bear hug. The closeness and warmth of this fraternity was something to be marvelled at.<\/p>\n

I have to say that even though I have met royalty and many other celebrities on countless occasions, this man had an inexorable charm about him. Whether it was his voice or grand gestures, I was immediately curious to know more about the way his mind worked.<\/p>\n

When we finally sat down at the table, he looked at me and said, \u2018So, Madam Vandana, tell me about yourself.\u2019<\/p>\n

I told him about my youth in the UK, becoming a chartered accountant instead of a DJ, my ten years in Eastern Europe with a start-up, selling out to a listed company and the past decade in India in the business world. I told him about my love of bringing people and organizations together, with my work at Common Purpose, the UK\u2013India Business Council and the Institute of Chartered Accountants. And I told him about my unquenchable thirst for understanding why people are the way they are, networking dynamics and how they can make big changes happen that benefit the masses. He wanted to know everything, especially about my children, Jai and Zara. Years later, he told me that he felt he had been a neglectful father and never once failed to ask me how my children were doing in our meetings or calls.<\/p>\n

But the thing that bonded us was when I told him about the series of visionary novels that I was writing. They include other worlds, where men were not the decision makers. He was particularly taken aback when I told him of a female-centric planet I had developed, where women are the dominant force.<\/p>\n

He laughed a deep, hearty laugh as I described how it worked\u2014 very different from our planet. \u2018I like your thinking. I like that you have challenged something that is taken as gospel. Turned the world on its head. My, my, I would never have taken you for a chartered accountant. You should have been in advertising. Tell me more . . .\u2019<\/p>\n

And there began a beautiful friendship.<\/p>\n

At the end of the lunch, he asked me to come to Mumbai to visit him to chat about life, the universe and everything. I agreed.<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, I turned up at Christmas Eve, Alyque\u2019s home in Breach Candy. The amazing Ida, his housekeeper, had cooked us a wonderful lunch. And we just talked. We talked of politics, both Indian and global, his time in the UK, his children, his love for theatre, for social causes and his passion for advertising. He had a refreshing view on life and wasn\u2019t afraid to \u2018tell it how it is\u2019. And he thought so differently about everything. We talked about 3D printing of body parts and brain transplants, about how life would have been if dinosaurs had still been around, the confusion of love and lust and how the world could be changed for the most downtrodden of global society. How offices should be run like extended families and how children could be encouraged to learn the most boring of topics in a way that they would enjoy.<\/p>\n

I was fully charged\u2014like a bolt of electricity had hit me. He had that effect on most people!<\/p>\n

I really wanted to \u2018mine his mind\u2019 and understand why he thought like that\u2014what and who had inspired his thinking. So, he graciously told me about his childhood, his influences from marching ants to Einstein, and of course his education (and hatred for the current system). He raved about his prot\u00e9g\u00e9s who had become global stars and the others who had made their mark in India.<\/p>\n

I visited him a few times over the next months, and the discussion was always scintillating. Anyone who has ever met AP will tell you that he tickles the mind, then wholeheartedly ignites it.<\/p>\n

At one of our lunches, he said to me, \u2018You know Vandana, I wrote a book years ago. Well, I didn\u2019t write it, I had a collaborator Arun Prabhu who finally got it down. But that was years ago\u2014it became a must-read at MBA schools. I think I have a book in me now. But I don\u2019t know how to get it out. I am a visual person and very good at talking, but I don\u2019t know what the hell this book is going to be about.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018How about . . .\u2019 I said gingerly, \u2018I record our conversations over the next few times, and we see what themes come out?\u2019<\/p>\n

Over the next two to three years, I visited Alyque every few weeks. We talked and talked. We talked about his life, his regrets and his high points. He would send me notes through his secretary Anne Sequeira. He allowed me unfettered access to all his old speeches and all of his contacts, and I went with him to several of his speaking engagements and theatre readings. There I would see how loved he was, by all age groups. He really was a living legend in every sense of the word. Everywhere I went, I would take copious notes and recordings with different people, to find out what the elusive theme was to his life\u2014the one he was looking for that would make the meat of this book.<\/p>\n

Alyque would often phone me up with a crazy idea that we would argue about for sixty minutes and then agree to discuss later. Then we would do our recorded sessions, where I would poke him on everything he said. I would challenge him on something he said or ask him why he thought the way he did on various topics from the state of education to religion. I was always in a complete spin by the time I left, and his family told me that he was too. Somehow, we had this ability to push each other into reflecting on why we are the way we are at the deepest level.<\/p>\n

The trouble was that there were so many themes! And I was getting mired in all the chaos that was Alyque Padamsee\u2019s brain. So, one day, Glenda and I got a big whiteboard and took down all the areas we had discussed over the years, the hundreds of pages of notes, to look for commonalities.<\/p>\n

There it was.<\/p>\n

He had a way of hijacking your mind.<\/p>\n

He had this enviable gift of showing a completely different perspective on anything and everything, so you would expand your thinking and see new views of an old problem. And he saw all of them in glorious, technicolour detail. He also had a host of techniques to try to solve problems.<\/p>\n

Alyque passed away before we could finish the book. But there was enough there on paper that he was happy with. We finalized all the chapter headings and the major parts of the content. He was absolutely insistent that this must be an uncomplicated short book that was written very simply and would be accessible to people all around the world, of any age. He knew his immediate fraternity would be aware of many of the ideas in this book, but he wanted it to reach a larger audience across the globe\u2014especially the younger generation. He believes we have failed them, and their only hope for success is to get out of the thinking that has been handed down to them.<\/p>\n

And the book you are reading is what he wanted to say to the world.<\/p>\n

Human beings are fundamentally unhappy, within society, across the world. And that is because we have been conditioned into thinking that the rules that we have been brought up with are right.<\/p>\n

And it is time to hijack our minds.<\/p>\n

Any mistakes or errors in this book are entirely mine. I am grateful to the whole Padamsee family for giving me the opportunity to share this with you and I hope it does make you think differently. Because if we all did, we could change the world into a more equitable and inclusive place.<\/p>\n

Alyque, I hope you are up there amongst the stars, partying away and putting on plays for the powers that be. And I hope I have done you justice.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Chapters<\/h3><\/div>
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