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The blueprint of a joyous, creative life

Nawaid Anjum

As a life skills facilitator, P.S Wasu has been conducting a workshop called The Fine Print of Life since 1996. The workshop "impacts the mind models from which people operate and brings about a paradigm shift in the way they relate to life". It also enables them to "reorient their worldview, recreate their contexts, reset their life's agenda and reinvent themselves". Wasu's first book, The Fine Print of Life, is the blueprint of a joyous and creatively fulfilling life. Here, he talks about what the book is all about.

ON ITS CHARACTERS: PANNA LAL, HIRA LAL, MOTI LAL, MISHRI DEVI AND BARFI DEVI

The names are old-fashioned and sound a little comic, conjuring up images of clumsy figures bumbling their way through. Collectively, they represent all men and women living in this world. Essentially, we are all comic figures bumbling our way through, not knowing what we really want from life.

The refinement and sophistication that we value so much are essentially projections, serving as a camouflage for our inherent clumsiness. Seen in the right light, this clumsiness is at the same time the most graceful aspect of our being. So, we might as well celebrate it. Hence, the names Panna Lal, Mishri Devi, etc.

Though no stereotyping was intended, all male names have the connotation of richness and all female names have the connotation of sweetness.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT from other

self-help books?

This book is different from other self-help books in the sense that it is explorative and not prescriptive. It does not show the way, but enables the reader to create his own way. There is some finesse at work too in the book. The ideas have been put across in such a way that they sound very familiar - long forgotten and now suddenly remembered. The reader looks at the contents as a reflection of his own mind. It seems that he knew all this earlier, in some remote part of his mind and now it has suddenly come into his awareness through the book. This owning up of the contents ensures deeper impact. As the reader gets in touch with his own inherent wisdom, he finds himself intrinsically motivated, ready to take on the challenges of life with joy and confidence.

Significance of the title

Life is an amazing game. Its rules have not been clearly spelt out anywhere. While some of its rules are fixed and unalterable, others are fuzzy and ambiguous, lending it an aura of mystery. Metaphorically speaking, they are mostly in the fine print and therefore overlooked by us.

Not understanding the fine print fills us with bewilderment when faced with life's problems. When we understand the fine print, we play the game of life the best way possible and enjoy it too. The book attempts to delve into the fine print of life and spell it out as clearly as possible, enabling the reader to live life to the full. The book allows the blossoming of one's potential, enhances creativity and personal effectiveness, sharpens intuition and decision-making skills and infuses leadership qualities and change-readiness.