This is what Virender Kapoor has ‘managed’ to do with his new book, ‘My Honeymoon with a Pinch of Salt’.
Kapoor is a post graduate from IIT Mumbai and the Director of Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management at Pune. Excerpts from an interview...
What is your book about?
This is a book about achieving work life balance in today’s hectic, fast-paced life. Work life balance is like Global warming, every body is suffering but very little is being done about it. This book is about realisation— to understand the value of living itself. We often get into the rat race and never stop by to take stock of our lives.
The book urges the reader to undertake a ‘self audit’ and do a mid-course correction to bring harmony to his life. Today ‘how to achieve work life balance’ is a million dollar question. This book is for the next generation which is reeling under the pressures of an economic boom. It is also useful for parents with grownup kids because they would get some ... insight into how to deal with situations, especially difficult ones.
You don’t need any counsellors if the family sits across the table and resolves the issues.
What inspired you to write the book?
Today people are under tremendous pressure to perform at their work place, which is resulting in poor health, burnout and families falling apart. All this has happened in the last 10 to 15 years and has taken on epidemic proportion. Materialism, neo modernism, following the Western world blindly and ignoring certain basic laws of nature has resulted in this crisis-like situation.
I realised that, surprisingly, there was no book which addressed this problem that is killing our society. I wanted to look at this problem in a holistic way and provide a platform for people to think ... If you look at the Gita or Ramayan, these are epic tales from which one can draw huge lessons. I wanted to write a book which would allow readers to approach the problem with an open mind and take their call.
What does the title, ‘My Honeymoon with a Pinch of Salt’ signify?
You cannot leave every thing and become a hermit or a saint. Books either tell you to go gungho or preach to you to renunciate all the goodies of life. Most preach ‘tyag’ (sacrifice). This is not a practical way out.
Why can’t we take a mid-path? Instead of driving at 100 kmph to a saner speed of, say, 75 kmph. If you can’t have meals at regular timings everyday then do it at least 4 times in a week. Make small changes and there is no need for a total transformation. The honeymoon is a good period in life. These small adjustments, compromises, moderations are like a pinch of salt... which, if taken in the right spirit, can let you have a great time for your entire life.
Are the ‘case studies’ based on real people?
I would not like to use the term ‘case study’ because it sounds too business like and structured. Life is not business— it’s much more than that. All the characters are fictitious but the fact is that all these are either based on my experiences or on critical observation of people whom I know. Therefore when you read the book you find that you are a part of the book. Some thing similar is happening to you or some near and dear ones around you; and that is the strength of this narrative... Every reader becomes a part of the problem and the suggested solutions.
Do you think marriage has lost its relevance today, especially in the cities?
This is a Western perspective. Even in the Western world divorce is synonymous to ‘trauma’.
People like Elvis Presley went into depression because of an unhappy married life and eventual divorce. How do you think ordinary mortals will take a separation? It has its own backlash ... which can be devastating. An institution which is tested over thousands of years cannot become irrelevant in a decade and a half!
Young couples who go in for divorce today will experience the backlash after 25 years when they will be engulfed by isolation and loneliness and they will have no where to go.
...Cities can provide entertainment and occupation as long as one is young. But as years pass by this will not be enough to fill the void as it is not cities but your own people who can love you back.
What do you think are the right ingredients for a healthy lifestyle.
Work-life balance (WLB) is a ‘lifestyle disorder’. You put your life in order and you would achieve harmony and health. A ‘pinch of salt’, which I use as a metaphor, is a major ingredient for a healthy life. The ability to say no sometimes to too many good things is another ingredient for WLB which translates into one word— ‘moderation’. This whole book is devoted to small little ingredients which let you fine-tune your life like a motor mechanic does to an engine.
What's next on the cards?
By the end of December you will see two books for school children. These are books on value education for the 9th and 10th class. Malayalam and Hindi translations of my earlier book, Heart over Matter, Your Mantra for Success, will be on the stands by the first week of January, 2008. Another four regional languages are under production. A book on leadership is on the cards. I think for the time being that is enough on the cards!
