Our culture has kind of let the concept of the Renaissance Man die out. We don't really tell the kids that it's okay to bounce around the world, work odd jobs, and do six different things.
I come from a very humble background. My father had to work really hard to become an assistant director. For a large part of his youth, he worked in a mill and took up odd jobs to make ends meet. We lived in a small room and could only afford a meal a day.
At the age of 16, I ran from my house, did odd jobs till l landed work on television and then in film industry. My first job was at an STD booth in Delhi. Then I came to Mumbai, where I distributed DVDs, and that is when I got my first TV show offer, 'Left Right Left.' I have never planned things in my career.
The odd thing is, I don't consider what I do work, because it's what I love. But it is also an enormous amount of pressure, and you have to work an enormous amount of hours.
I started off in this business in 1998, and I didn't fit in. There was no place for me, and I always felt like an oddball. Nobody really understood my work or what I wanted to do in my references.
I work out four days a week in the off-season, and in the warm, running weather months, I do five days. A push/pull regime of weightlifting, cycling, and the occasional Saturday or Sunday run with my oldest son, even if it's cold out.
I had a lot of success in big tournaments as well - won Masters Series in Rome - so a lot of things are coming together. I've done a lot of hard work in the off-season. A lot of physical work, a lot of work on my serve and on my return game.
You don't have to do offbeat films to prove that you can act. I have done it but only to prove myself that I can fit convincingly into every kind of films. I want to do the 100 crore film where the hero does all the work, and I get to relax.
Any one of us could fall on hard times. Work and housing have the potential to be unstable, especially for those earning low wages or relying on family and friends. It should not be a criminal offence to sleep on the street.
I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have.
I've had the good fortune and blessing to run for the offices for which I really wanted to do the work.
We work pretty fast. I might be working, and I might knock out two, three songs. Quavo might come in two, three himself. Offset might come and do the same.
We can learn from all around the world. Germany, particularly, has been successful with rooftop solar generation. Other countries like Norway and Sweden have done work on it. Some of them have done offshore wind projects. So we're looking at learning from the best from all across the world. My approach is to get the best out of each one.
When I was on the radio, I used to be able to go a lot farther than I can now. You don't really remember until you're on the radio again, sometimes in your old radio station and sitting with the guys you used to work with and you go, 'Oh yeah, I can't say these things anymore. I'm handcuffed.'
I like Oklahoma. It's a quiet place. You can work, and nobody disturbs you.
The old adage is, 'Write what you know.' But if you only do that, your work becomes claustrophobic. I say, 'Write what you want to know.'
As a biographer, I try to uncover the adventures and personalities behind each character I research. Once my character and I have reached an understanding, then I begin the detective work reading old books, old letters, old newspapers, and visiting the places where my subject lived. Often I turn up surprises, and of course, I pass them on.
When you feel stuck in a hard time, jump-start a pro-change attitude by letting go of possessions that no longer work for you - like old clothes and old shoes.
People say, 'How does having kids change your writing? Do you see the world through their eyes?' No - you just become a faster songwriter... In the old days, you'd be like, 'Oh I'm gonna work on this song for a few days.'
I had a job since I was old enough to work - since I was, like, 14.
