Let Me Hijack Your Mind

Alyque Padamsee (Author)
Alyque Padamsee Alyque Padamsee (1931-2018) was director of the Theatre Group of Bombay and chief executive of Lintas India. Considered the guru of English theatre in India, he had over seventy-six major productions to his name, including Broken Images, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar. Informally known as 'God' in advertising circles, he successfully launched and built over a hundred brands. Padamsee was communications adviser to Chandrababu Naidu, the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, where he supervized the presentation to the US President Bill Clinton and to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and was a recipient of the Padma Shri. He is the only Indian to have been voted into the International Clio Hall of Fame, the Oscars of world advertising.
He is the author of A Double Life, his memoirs in theatre and advertising, published by Penguin.

Vandana Saxena Poria (Author)
Vandana Saxena Poria, the co-author of Let Me Hijack Your Mind, is an OBE and top 100 UK-India influencer. She is known as the 'Human Alarm Clock', due to her disruptive thinking which ignites people into action. A UK chartered accountant, she has extensive experience in translating academic and industry texts into digestible stories and training exercises for corporates globally. Vandana spent three years collaborating with Alyque on this book prior to his death.

In this one-of-its-kind book by the late Alyque Padamsee, he invites us to re-examine and think afresh about some of our most deeply held beliefs, from love, marriage, terrorism, leadership, money, gender, faith to education. Let Me Hijack Your Mind is Alyque's parting gift to Indians, exhorting them to throw out the old and embrace new ways of approaching everything, which will lead them towards a more exciting and contented life-and a better society and country. It is a way to open windows in their mind to think about life aside from greed, power and money. This is a book designed to throw everyone off-balance in a good way, because it is crammed with fresh ideas on how to live, how to dream and how to completely reset our mindset and attitudes. As Alyque says in his inimitable style: 'Get people out of stuffy thinking.'

Some of the provocative questions he asks are:

- Why should marriage be 'till death do us part'?
- Why are terrorists breaking the law of their very own holy books?
- Why are multinational companies obsessed with GNP (Gross National Product) instead of GNH (Gross National Happiness)?
- Why do men fear women? And why do women hate themselves?

A fun, racy and often shocking read, the book busts some of the most well-known taboos, includes life hacks drawing on his experiences in advertising and theatre, as well as new 'commandments' for the present generation.

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.