Essel group Chairman Dr Subhash Chandra launches autobiography at Zee Jaipur Literature Festival

Dr Subhash Chandra unveils his first autobiographical entailing his journey in the media and entertainment.

New Delhi: The mogul of Media and Entertainment world, Dr Subhash Chandra launched his autobiographical at the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival on Thursday. The book named: 'The Z Factor: Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time' entails the life story of the media avant-gardist and his journey so far. He is known for his contribution in the television industry with the country's first satellite Hindi channel Zee TV in 1992 and later Zee News.

The event was graced by well known figures like M J Akbar, Vallabh Bhansali, Krishan Chopra. 

The speakers in the panel were all praise about the man and full of appreciation. This was followed by a panel discussion. 

M J Akbar kick-started the discussion with his golden words for the book: "Every page of this book 'The Z Factor' is a fire cracker."

During the conversation, Dr Chandra said how his life was marked by challenges and how he turned down a career in arms deal and chose the path of entertaining people. 

"To create something new and do different was my ultimate goal," said Dr Chandra. 

When M J Kabar said that the book ended in a brief anguish, Dr Chandra elucidated about the last chapter of his book.

"Money makes you humble, or it may even make you arrogant," he added. 

Hailing the good job done by Zee News, Dr Chandra explained how it was important to keep one's foot in the ground while having all the money, and doing journalism. 

When asked about the losses and failures that he had faced while pursuing his dream, Dr Chandra said he had no regrets. 

The Chairman also got nostalgic of the hay days of Zee Media, the kind of loyalty Zee enjoyed among its patrons.  

Akbar also asked why he turned down the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati​', to which he answered, it was a decision taken then and there's no point in regretting about it now. "There is no right and wrong," he added.

The panel also talked about his "30 days of silence" and perseverance. "Whenever you are dealing with someone else, you are actually dealing with yourself," added Bhansali in the panel.

Dr Chandra said, "Being 'dharmic' is being a real human being, like Buddha used to say, I don't believe in any 'ism'."

Vallabh Bhansali also shed some light on the personality and hard work of Dr Chandra and his struggle, passion and commitment to the company. He also talked about the "extraordinary determination" of Dr Chandra and how they managed to pull off their pursuit despite the initial monetary challenges that they faced.

The book is a fascinating, but cannot bring out the real struggles as alive as in real, Vallabh said. 

"I saw him blossom from a Haryana man to a sophisticated media personality," added Vallabh. 

Akbar added, "He is a pioneer. He actually created an industry that didn't exist."

Akbar asked, if there was still a future which excites him, as it excited him in 1992, and name two wishes, to which Dr Chandra replied that he has two wishes:

1)We aspire to make ''smart villages'' by improving facilities for villagers and not just going the telecommunication way like internet. 

2) Revamp, popularize Asian medicine like Ayurveda at the global level. 

When asked where exactly he would like to be in his next book, Dr Chandra said, "I will continue to do what I do. And hopefully we see smart villages by then."he replied."

Dr Chandra then answered some questions from the audience. 

He also said how he practices vipassana regularly. Apart from smart villages, he also answered peoples' question saying he would like to tackle education, literacy in Indian villages.

Towards the end, he also added that startups are the future of India.