Winning the Mind war – Part 8

Mansoor Khan however scripted a different story for his own life. He knew his calling was different. Even when his first film was about to be released, he tried to ensure his name didn’t appear in the credits. He didn’t want the name and fame of Bollywood because he had seen the shallowness of it all. His father, an accomplished director, had become a prisoner of success! Mansoor as a teenager saw his father’s inability to cope with failure when some of his movies bombed. He had a big name, and Mansoor saw his dad was desperate to keep up the name. The son soon realized that name and fame of this world compels one to live with a wrong identity; one works hard to maintain one’s position while being disconnected from his real, happy self.

Mansoor Khan launched his cousin Aamir Khan in his movies, and Aamir went on to become a superstar. As two more movies established Mansoor Khan as one of the biggest filmmakers in India, he decided to call it quits.

He began to understand the hardships of farmers; he worked with them, learnt of their struggles, and bought a farm in the village of Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. He soon settled there, took care of cows, made his own cheese, and now has cow-dung produced energy for cooking at home!

During the twists and turns of his own life, Mansoor discovered the subjects of Economics and Energetics. He read and researched extensively, and realized the dangerous path human civilization is treading in the name of ‘Growth’. He then researched more on environmental challenges, and shared his ideals in his book, ‘The third curve’. The book was a result of his deep study and meditation developed by living in congruence with his own self and nature. Since then he has been invited by leading organizations, including the prestigious IIM’s for discourse on energy and economics.

Today at 60, he has no regrets leaving the much sought after Bollywood. By choosing to live a life true to his real self, he has shown us the path to contentment.

His life echoes the wisdom of Lucius Seneca, “It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and to prefer things in measure to things in excess.”