‘Age is just a number. It’s never too late to follow your passion’: Kewal Kapoor, Founder, CHAI Kreative
The Proust Questionnaire is a questionnaire about one’s personality. It has its origins in a parlour game popularised by Marcel Proust, the French essayist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature.
A successful writer, journalist, producer and director, Kewal Kapoor spent several years in the creative industry before turning entrepreneur and founding CHAI Kreative, an advisory agency that helps startups lock in the right strategies and solutions. Parallel to this endeavour, is his pursuit of actively fighting age discrimination and creating an amenable environment for the elderly through his initiative, Return of the Million Smiles. Here are his answers to our Proust questionnaire...
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Happiness is a state of mind and body when both work in tandem to propel your journey in life.
What is your greatest fear?
Violence. Violence destroys us as a culture, as a nation and I am worried about violence consuming us as human beings.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My habit of smoking.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
The pompous display of money.
Which living person do you most admire?
The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He offers a lot of humane positivity in a world being torn apart by differences.
What is your current state of mind?
Contentment.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Being an orator.
On what occasion do you lie?
When I want to save others from breaking relationships.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My newly acquired paunch.
Which living person do you most despise?
None.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Integrity of character.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Emotional intelligence!
Who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife.
Which talent would you most like to have?
To bring about a positive change, especially in the lives of the elderly.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My dislike of expensive cars.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
To have been able to create, conceptualise and launch a brand that dedicates itself to improving the lives of the elderly and fighting ageism.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A horse.
Where would you most like to live?
England.
What is your most treasured possession?
My writing and my work.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
To be unable to connect with your own self.
What is your favourite occupation?
Being a creator and writer.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Communication skills and my command over Hindi and Urdu.
What do you most value in your friends?
The Spartan spirit – to fight or die or to win or learn but never lose.
Who are your favourite writers?
Albert Camus and Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Who is your hero of fiction?
Common man in Munshi Premchand’s novels.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Winston Churchill.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Mahatma Gandhi.
What is your favourite name?
Bholu.
What is it that you most dislike?
Violence and aggression.
What is your greatest regret?
Starting work late in the area of social change, peace and non-violence.
How would you like to die?
While solving people’s problems.
What is your favourite journey?
To my home town and my childhood home including the walk on my school track.
What is your motto?
‘Age is just a number. It’s never too late to follow your passion.'
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