NOT A RUDE AWAKENING

CELEBRITY AUTHOR AND RENOWNED JOURNALIST VIR SANGHVI GETS CHATTY WITH HELLO! ABOUT HIS LATEST BOOK, A RUDE LIFE

- NAYARE ALI

A man with a contradictory personality, Vir Sanghvi guards his privacy fiercely, yet appears effervescent on his talk shows. His latest book, A Rude Life, is a political memoir with carefully curated moments from his personal life. It’s a delightfully entertaining read, sprinkled with personal anecdotes and witty asides on his numerous interactions with the rich, famous, and often powerful personalities. In his book, he has laid his professional life threadbare and has managed to strike a fine balance by peppering serious recollections with deep—sometimes funny— insights about the people he has interviewed. HELLO! attempts to delve into the private persona of this formidable journo.

You wrote about roaming the streets of Manhattan the night your father passed away. Have you processed that grief ? It was a difficult time in my life. It was not just that I had lost a parent; my life had also changed. I would have had more time to process the tragedy had I not had to deal with how my mother was or how our circumstances had changed. I was thrown into the deep end. I think I spent all my time coping rather than processing it. And maybe, as my principal once told my mother, I became a nicer person and less arrogant as a result. I’m not good with tragedies. I’m not good at handling and processing death. I’m not great at expressing grief, so I think it’s a character flaw.