…continuing with our queries…
…one of the recent queries that came up was - Why not affiliate to a NGO and say percentage proceeds will go to this charity ?
…my only question is, is that Freedom ?
The other day was watching the Real Heroes program…
…my friend asked me how do you relate it to FREEMan – I just told him, look closely you will find a sense of faith, freedom and at service mentality in all of them. You can clearly see the selflessness and the disciplined collaboration. Invaluable, un-comparable excellence is there to see…
Here, one caveat is, if someone were to ask me – is that then what true freedom is all about… must say ‘am afraid may not be so’ – because it all depends on the space of mind the person doing the activity has operated from… but yes it can deliver excellence… [this entire part is a matter of discussion of a different forum]
In fact, one of the heroes, who was awarded th lifetime achievement award, put it aptly – he said please don’t put me too much in limelight – am a person who would be found having a ‘cutting chay’ at a roadside; if people recognize me then life will just become that much more difficult for me – the compere asked him, so you don’t want to be know…he just remarked – only the thoughts need to be known !! In times, where everyone is all out to seek credit for the doing the silliest of chores, this was indeed some fresh breeze …

But why not a big launch of the book?
…by now, am sure you know my answer… does that uphold the spirit of freedom…

One of the question is worth mentioning - the distributor exclaimed, ‘It looks like a catalog, why don’t you use thicker paper and a hard cover’…
…will leave it to you to answer that one :-)

continuing from the PREFACE

As I have mentioned in the preface, I am a FREE man was more a session and so on and so forth…
But as I started penning it down for a book…various questions got thrown at me…
Will It be a motivational book ?
Will it be a self-help book ?
Will it be management ?
Will it be philosophic ?
I remember choosing the’ motivational’ category, while I was talking to one the writing consultants from UK…
And pat came the reply…without mincing any words…
Who will read it…? You are not a popular person…
…then I mumbled some maybe management, may be self-help etc. etc. and the finally the conversation ended there…
Recently was sitting with one of the distributors…and here was that question again…
Which category will this book belong to ?
This time I managed more poise…and answered “motivational”…
And pat again came the reply…Who will read it…
But heart of hearts, let me share with you,
as I stand in these myriad of motivational books, speakers, cds, dvds, podcasts…some foreign, some indian…some English, some hindi, some marathi –
I have to say, honestly speaking I don’t believe in categorising…for me all are in the same journey following different routes at best….
Personally you decide where you want to place this book …just as I write this…”inspirational” may be - does that strike a chord somewhere…
…whatever you call it, one thing I know, I wrote this to extend that sense of freedom that I have been enjoying…
...and if it does not create a sense of FREEDOM in you – even in a small little way…I know my mission has only reached its first milestone …

Coming back to the distributor, the next more interesting question, my distributor threw was …
150 rs for 40 pages…this can be Xeroxed in rs. 20…who do you think in India who will buy this…
…I just said, for the moment, am interested in only those who will…because only those… will get a grip of the subject…
(is that a selling gimmick – you might ask)
Honestly no, while the idea is to reach the masses, I strongly believe in reaching leaders first as the concept, in however diluted a form, will then definitely reach more and more in due course of time…
Just told him, that for me, writing as of now is not a business venture…
It is more a way of reaching out…
Next question was who is the author ?
Going by the core spirit of FREEDOM mentioned in the book, have tried my best to keep any kind of bondage to a minimum…
So we though the author should be FREE man only…
Given a choice, I would have avoided, all the company information…but then the matter might lose its authenticity…was the argument given.
In fact we even debated whether to dedicate this to father, mother, guru…
…but doesn’t that compromise the spirit of freedom….
Acknowledgement…you will find that have just place a mirror there…
…again to uphold the core spirit…
Even the images have been chosen in such a way that they soothe…
…the paper quality has been maintained high…again to celebrate freedom…
The book can be read only through the right side pages or through the left side pages…both should soothe and free…
“But can’t you make it 100 pages at least…by putting some case studies ?” asked the distributor
…I told him that was the original plan…but then that I would have been packaging…
I want it to be like a bullet…piercing and fast…
…so decided against case studies…
Moreover, as I hang around with various people, young, old, male, female, one thing I realise is genuine readers are hardly few…
…not their fault…today too many types of media are taking up their leisure time…nobody has time…
But they are intelligent…
So I always wanted a book that one can toss over in 20 mins at best…
So have kept it that way…
…as I see it “I am a FREE man” should not take more than 20 minutes to read…may be this will inspire more people to read…
What’s more…there are lots of people out there who have extraordinary wisdom, knowledge information…but very little time to pen it down into a book…
...through this book, I wanted to reach out to some o these extremely knowledgeable but busy people to put together small books like this one which can benefit the future generations big time…
…why wait till you retire to write books…share your knowledge instantly…
…as I see it, this is not a book, it is a product…a new product…
That is valuable and instant
…let me call it 20-min fast-age instant wisdom capsule