To unite a divided India

Entrepreneur-filmmaker Shailendra Singh has embarked on an all-India journey to celebrate the country, and to felicitate unsung heroes, accompanied by a powerful anthem, ‘One India My India’ which he has created and directed

Pics: Shailendra Singh. Photo by Albin Mathew. A rousing welcome at Kanyakumari 

By Shevlin Sebastian

At Convent Junction, Kochi, when entrepreneur Shailendra Singh steps out of his jeep, he is a sight to behold. A black T-shirt with the words ‘Made in India’ in front and ‘Shailendra Singh’ at the back. A lower garment, in green, is a mix between a lungi and the kimono. On his arms are etched two statements: One is in Sanskrit saying ‘Ahimsam Yodha’ (‘I am a warrior’). Then there is ‘Mangal Da Puttur’. His father’s name is Mangal Singh while in the astrology charts, his planet is Mars. Near the wrists, there is the Om as well as a peace symbol. 

This multi-dimensional personality -- film-maker, entrepreneur, advertising star, music promoter and best-selling author -- is on an all-India rally called ‘One India My India’. He started on October 2, from the Gandhi Ashram at Kanyakumari, touched Kochi and is on his way to Srinagar via Coimbatore-Bangalore-Humpi-Kolhapur-Goa-Pune…..a total of 15 cities across 11 states, a distance of 7170 km in 18 days. 

For the rally, he has created and directed a hypnotic and moving anthem called ‘One India My India’ featuring singers Mithoon, Sukhwinder, Jubin Nautiyal and Godswill, with lyrics in Hindi, English and Punjabi by Sayeed Quadri. Shot in 20 cities of India, the highlight image is of an elephant in Kerala raising the Indian flag skyward with its trunk. With over 30 lakh hits and counting, it is well on its way to make a mark like AR Rahman’s ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’. 

Shailendra was inspired by producer Quincy Jones’ blockbuster song, ‘We are the world’, released in 1985, in which a host of stars like Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie lent their voices. “That was the only anthem that wanted to unite humanity,” says Shailendra. “I wanted to do something similar for India.”  

Meanwhile, when asked the reasons behind the rally, Shailendra says, “All of us are different from the outside. One is a Bengali, Malayalee, Punjabi or a Tamilian. But inside everybody is the same. The blood is red. The heart beats in the same way. All our organs are the same. My message on this trip is that everything divides us -- caste, religion, politics, money but the one thing that can unite us is love. And that is what I am propagating -- love.” 

At each stop, Shailendra is also meeting ‘Unsung Heroes’. In Kerala, he felicitated Mesh Manoharan, a trained scuba diver, who rescued 70 people on his kayak during the 2018 Kerala floods. At Hampi, he commended the muscular Shiva, in blue T-shirt and jeans, who has cremated more than 10,000 unclaimed bodies. Another hero is Padma Shree awardee Dr Ramana Rao of Bengaluru who has treated more than 20 lakh people free of cost. “In India, the true achievers are not felicitated or recognised for some strange and unknown reason,” he says. 

Shailendra, who has travelled to many countries, is an unabashed India lover. “It is the greatest country on the planet,” he says. “We are the world’s largest democracy. India lets you be who you want to be. Of course, we have a lot of problems. That’s because 1.4 billion people are trying to live together. But India is the only country in the world where you can go to a stranger’s house and ask for a cup of coffee and he will provide it with a smile and without asking any questions. In Germany, if you go to a house unannounced, they will call the cops. A couple of hours before Kochi, late at night, we stopped for idlis and the lady did not even charge us.” Incidentally, the entire journey is being streamlined live on Facebook and YouTube. 

And for this trip, Shailendra has not taken on any sponsors. “I don’t want to propagate the thought process of anybody who has commerce, politics, or power in mind,” he says. “I want to be pure.” 

This desire for purity has come after an immensely successful career. Here are a few statistics: 23 start-ups in 23 years. 500 multinational clients. Shailendra built the third-largest youth festival, ‘Sunburn’ in the world. He has made 72 films and is a National Award winner. He was also the first to launch a talent management agency, Percept and is a successful author. 

Asked for tips on success, he says, “You have to follow your passion. Sachin [Tendulkar] fell in love with batting at the age of eight. There is a theory [expanded upon in American writer Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling ‘Outliers’] that if you practise something for 10,000 hours you will become great.” 

But today, Shailendra is looking for a higher purpose in life. “Every sunrise, I ask the Universe to allow me to share all of myself before I die,” he says, and adds, “Too many people are living but they are not alive. I want to be alive at every single moment for the rest of my life.” 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode)