Mahul Brahma
Prof (Dr) Mahul Brahma is a Professor and Dean at Adamas University, India and a Visiting Research Fellow at Bath Spa University, UK. He has authored seven books including The Mythic Value of Luxury, Quarantined: Love in the time of Corona, and The Luxe Trilogy – Decoding Luxe, Dark Luxe and Luxe Inferno. He is a former Chief Editor and TEDx Speaker. He has won several awards, including Sahityakosh Samman in 2022 and the Outstanding Leadership Award in Global Education Awards 2022. He is former Head of corporate communication, branding, CSR, and publications for a Tata Group company. He is an actor and has recently acted in Anik Dutta’s biopic on Satyajit Ray ‘Aparajito’. He is a golfer with seven handicap.
Sir, when did you start your journey as an author
I started my career as a journalist, so writing has always been an integral part of my professional and personal journey. My first book, ‘Decoding Luxe’ was published almost a decade back. I had then just completed a stint with the India partner of the New York Times as a Senior Editor, editing a luxury supplement. Post which, I have been writing columns on luxury for The Economic Times and then for DNA newspaper. The columns and the newspaper, due to their own character, were not doing justice to what I had to say about the evolution of luxury and the mythic value of luxe. Therefore, I decided to write the first book of The Luxe Trilogy.
Since then, seven books and a decade later, I have come a long way as an author but still have miles to go.
Please share your thoughts about your latest book ‘Mostly Missing: Be Silly Be Slow’
When one goes into life, with the wandering alleys of the times, one tends to forget the raison detre of the birth-death cycle–to live. And that is what goes missing… mostly. In the daily humdrum of the days of our lives, we miss out on living. And what goes mostly missing is to consciously experience our days and our nights. The two critical aspects that goes mostly missing in experiencing our lives fully as we become more and more mature are slowness and silliness.
There is not much literature on these two vital aspects of our lives that is mostly looked down upon in a world dominated by speed and seriousness, or the act of it. Yes, being dead serious or acting is the only acceptable solution if you want to be taken seriously by your family, friends and peers. Along the way, your professional life has been mixed with your personal life… earlier they were two peas in a pod and now it is in a plasma state, hard to distinguish. The concept of work from home has eliminated the blurred line between professional and personal space. It was blurred, yes, because the work-life balance was unbalanced to begin with.
The natural outcome was the change in demeanour at home… seriousness finds entry into a space that is meant to be silly, and the fast pace enters a life that is meant to be slow. Slowness and silliness thus have no room left in your office-home space. It’s in need of the hour!
This book, in two parts, explores these two vital elements that are on the verge of extinction in our lives… that are mostly missing! #BeSilly #BeSlow.
Talk with us about the sanctity of slowness
Does speed, like any drug, provide an escape? Speeds help escape from the high-stress job or even relationships? Does it help escape from the societal pressure to cause social envy… The pressure to showcase ‘happiness’?
The act of showcasing happiness has become a trillion-dollar industry… from tourism, hospitality, expensive phones, DSLRs, exorbitant camera lens, makeup and beauty, wardrobe, cars and bikes…and what not! Collectively, they serve the purpose of showcasing a good life on social media. It looks like the entire global economy is running on the social envy pill…the one that makes others jealous of your success.
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu defines social capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance or recognition”. Thus the race to increase social capital… a constant urge to stay on top of the social ladder. A natural fallout is social envy…a bigger car, a higher-paying job, a bigger house, foreign trips, 5-stars… and the list goes on.
Look at the tendency of using superlatives… the one-upmanship… is a never-ending story.
A quick story of old Calcutta on the competition between two Zamindars on how expensive their open-top phaetons (horse carriages, modern day convertibles), were. So these two Zamindars started adding horses, one after another as a mark of their power and prosperity. One of the adding of the horses rose to an unviable level, one of them replaced the horses with zebras!
And Checkmate. The roads of Calcutta have witnessed zebra-drawn phaetons. Such is the legacy of social envy.
Horse has always been a symbol of speed… even today… with super luxury car company like Ferrari or Mustang using it as their logos as a signifier of the need for speed. The irony is that in ancient India, an animal which is majestic, powerful but slow… the elephant has always been a signifier of class, prosperity and luxury.
It was only the Maharaja, and later the Zamindar, who could afford an elephant. Even maintenance was pretty exorbitant. That is the beauty of slowness… the elegance… the real class of Gajagamini.
In the day and age of fast food, we have indeed forgotten to savour the lingering richness. Life is on the go and we don’t have time. Now if we don’t have time and we have surf over 800 platforms and channels, isn’t speed a necessary and sufficient condition? But why do we need to surf over 800 platforms and channels? Is information overdose knowledge?
You have also acted in many Bengali films Hoyto Manush Noy, Elixir and Aparajito. So can we have a brief about your journey as an actor too
I started my journey as an actor with ‘Elixir’ in 2015, a short film that was screened at Cannes Film Festival in 2016. My first feature film as an actor was ‘Hoyto Manush Noi’. My first short film as a director was ‘Post-It’ and it has won three prestigious awards. With director Anik Dutta, I have acted in two of his films–‘Barunbabur Bondhu’ with legend Shri Soumitra Chatterjee and the legendary film on Satyajit Ray ‘Aparajito’. Even after seven years, it feels like I have just started and have a long road ahead.
You have been a Chief Editor, then you have headed corporate communications and CSR, and for the past almost two years you are a Dean of Adamas University. How have you made three major transitions in your career spanning over two decades?
Communication has been the thread running through all my career changes. I have started my career as a journalist and has risen to the level of Chief Editor. It has been a fulfilling journalist career for me, having worked with the best brands. Corporate Communication and Branding and later CSR was a natural extension. The corporate life in the Tata Group has been a wonderful centre of learning and growth. At Adamas. I have used my knowledge, expertise and experience to become an institution builder, to transform the School of Media and Communication, into a centre of excellence as a Dean. The school has ranked 7th nationally in Outlook ranking.
Your message to all the youngsters who aspire of becoming something
Years of conditioning and the decreasing patience of the ecosystem have made you accept the action definitions that are “appropriate for your age”. Thus, any act that does not fall within the well-defined age-appropriate norms is not acceptable or rather silly.
If you define your life in terms of socially acceptable norms, then believe me, only death is acceptable. You will not be called names only if you are dead.
Life is beautiful and dynamic, and you are unique. Your acceptable norms are unique. Passion is silly.
Follow your heart, follow your passion… be seriously silly!
