Award-winning motivational speaker based in New Delhi, India

KV GautamKV Gautam is a top and award-winning motivational speaker and corporate trainer based in New Delhi, India. He has spoken at several organizations in several cities. He has delivered motivational speeches at corporate organizations, educational institutes and government organizations. He is also a well known cartoonist and author. He has written best-selling novel Love in Crazy Times and motivational book Impossible is Fun.

Gautam delivers customized motivational talk for your particular audiences. He has organized seminar on Leadership Excellence, Sales Motivation, Adaptability and Change, Achieving Your Highest Potential, Accelerating Growth, Positive Attitude, Innovation, Fostering Creativity, Teamwork and Collaboration, Customer Service Excellence, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Employee motivation sessions and specific business training for corporate clients.

The motivational speaker has also delivered motivational talks to youth on 6 Steps to Success: A Roadmap to Achieve Your Goals, How to Choose Right Career, How to Turn Your Passion into Career, The Secret of Happiness, How to Manage Stress, How to Influence People, How to Start Up Successfully, How to be Successful in the Corporate World, Tips on Good Parenting and specific need based topics.

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An MBA by education, motivational speaker KV Gautam has extensive experience is several fields like creativity, corporate world, entrepreneurship and writing. At several stages of his life he has been an author, a cartoonist, a corporate executive and an entrepreneur. It takes him to a position where he can see the world from a unique point of view.

A celebrity speaker K. V. Gautam has given talks in all major cities of India, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. He has conducted motivational seminars for major corporate houses including Vodafone, The Times of India, Nestle, Metlife, HSBC and LIC, and educational institutions like Delhi University, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, St. Stephen’s College, Anna University, VIT University and BITS Pilani. His talks are full of insight, inspirational and engaging. The vision of the motivational speaker can be thought provoking for people stuck in a rut.

Gautam was invited to deliver a speech at a TED event at TEDx JUIT at Solan, Himachal Pradesh on 24 August 2014. KV Gautam has been the subject of a major documentary film Comic Fingers. The documentary film got rave reviews and was screened at 16 international film festivals in the year 2016.

Achievements of motivational speaker K. V. Gautam

  • K. V. Gautam was honoured with Young Icon of the Year award by film actor Jacky Shroff on 24 August 2019
  • Honoured with Sanjeevni Bhushan Award for inspiring people all over India in 2017
  • Writer of motivational book Impossible is Fun and bestseller Love in Crazy Times
  • Award winning cartoonist
  • Invited to speak at prestigious TED event on 24 August 2014
  • Subject of a major documentary film Comic Fingers, screened at 16 international film festivals
  • Invited as Chief Guest at Delhi University at its cultural festival on 23 February 2015
  • The motivational speaker was invited as Special Guest at prestigious institutions like IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, St. Stephen’s College, Anna University, VIT University and BITS Pilani.

Talks and Seminars for Corporate Clients

  • Leadership Excellence
  • Sales Motivation
  • Adaptability and Change
  • Achieving Your Highest Potential
  • Accelerating Growth
  • Positive Attitude
  • Innovation
  • Fostering Creativity
  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Customer Service Excellence
  • Entrepreneurial Mindset
  • Employee motivation sessions
  • Specific business training

Vodafone Sales Meet

Vodafone

I delivered a motivational talk to sales team of Vodafone. The theme of the talk was how to keep a positive mindset and exceed the expectations. It is important to be enthusiastic about the products so that the customers feel the same.  Talked about how to change according to the change in the behaviour of customers and adapt to the change to offer a better service compared to the competition. 

Nestle conference

KV Gautam at Nestle event

At the Nestle conference I talked about how to achieve your best potential. By keeping an entrepreneurial mindset it was possible to be a leader in your work. Without a positive attitude it was not possible to take the company to the next level. I also stressed on the importance on innovation in the customer delight, by keeping the products and services ahead of the times.  

The Times of India event

KV Gautam at The Times of India event

Was invited by The Times of India to deliver a motivational speech on 31 May 2015. The speech was followed by a question & answer session. Got a great feedback from a responsive crowd. The topic was ‘Follow Your Dreams and Success Will Follow You’. 

LIC Agents meet

KV Gautam at LIC event

I was invited to motivate LIC agents in 2016. Got an enthusiastic response from a young crowd. Talked about how to achieve your sales goals by maintaining a positive mindset. Obstacles on the path should be ignored, while keeping the goals very clear in the mind. Success of our life depends on us, not in the hands of others. If we keep us self motivated nothing can stop us from achiving goals of our lives. 

  • 6 Steps to Success: A Roadmap to Achieve Your Goals
  • How to Choose Right Career
  • How to Turn Your Passion into Career
  • The Secret of Happiness
  • How to Manage Stress
  • How to Influence People
  • How to Start Up Successfully
  • How to be Successful in the Corporate World
  • Tips on Good Parenting
  • Specific need based talk
Motivation

TEDx JUIT event

KV Gautam at TEDx JUIT

I delivered the prestigious TED talk at TEDx JUIT on 24 August 2014.  In the speech I talked about my life and how I took an unconventional path in life. I informed the audience that I went against the tide to create a different path for my life. The speech was full of anecdotes of my life, and struggles and victories. 

Delhi University Annual Festival

KV Gautam at Delhi University

I was invited as a Chief Guest at Delhi University on 23 February 2015. I talked about how it is important for students to be ready for the challenges of the future. I talked about how the technology is changing every aspects of lives of humans. This is enabling change at the fast rate, unimaginable till few years back. I encouraged students to keep upto date with the changes taking place in the world and be future ready, by adapting themselves according to the changing environment. 

Lingaya's University

KV Gautam at Lingaya's University

Was invited to deliver a motivational speech to faculty members of Lingaya’s University in Faridabad on 6 June 2015. Stressed on the importance of teachers in today’s world and appealed to the present professors and lecturers to feel proud about their profession and instil a sense of critical thinking in students. 

WAC event

KV Gautam at WAC event

Was invited to motivate students starting their careers at WAC (What After College) event at Shah Auditorium, New Delhi on 1 August 2015. Encouraged youngsters to choose different career options, follow their hearts and take advantage of new emerging opportunities, and not limit career options to those suggested by family and relatives.

Books

Impossible is Fun

Impossible is Fun book by KV Gautam

KV Gautam has written the motivational book Impossible is Fun. The book shows six steps for setting and achieving big goals in life. The book reveals that we can take control of our life and achieve success as far as we are able to make required sacrifices. Life is how we perceive it. We can think positively and prepare a detailed plan for achieving our goals. The book also teaches how we can take advantage of changes taking place in the world and become what we truly want to be. It encourages us to live the life we want, not the life expected of us by others. It inspires us to explore immense possibilities of life.

The book has been a bestseller in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.

You can buy Impossible is Fun on Flipkart.com or Amazon.in

Love in Crazy Times

Love in Crazy TimesLove in Crazy Times, written by KV Gautam, is a national best selling novel published in 2012. The story of the book is about 3 friends and their struggles and triumphs in a metropolitan city. It’s a gripping tale of search for love and freedom, braving heart-breaks and family pressure.

It’s a story of the  generation that grew up during the economic liberalization of India, facing challenges amid new economic opportunities. The story has elements of romance, humour, emotions, drama and a bit of social message.

You can buy Love In Crazy Times on Flipkart.com or Amazon.in

Documentary film

KV Gautam is subject of a high profile documentary film titled Comic Fingers. The film was directed by Aneek Chaudhuri. 

Comic Fingers was produced in 2016. The film talks about life of KV Gautam. The documentary film has been screened at 16 international film festivals with glowing reviews. 

The film was selected to be screened at Dominion Film Market, DocuTIFF, Festival de Cine Turco, Baikal International Festival, We the People’s Film Festival, Essesimo Film Festival, Elche International Independent Film Festival, Cefalu Film Festival, Arroios Film Festival, OFF Cinema, Blackstar Film Festival, Mequinensa International Film Festival, Apchat International Festival and EIDF, Korea.

 

Honours and Awards

  • Sanjeevni Bhushan Award as a motivational speaker in 2017. The award was given by Sanjeevni TV group in New Delhi 
  • KV Gautam was invited to deliver a speech at a TED event at TEDx JUIT at Solan, Himachal Pradesh on 24 August 2014. TED is an international event where celebrities and intellectuals are invited to share ideas.
  • The motivational speaker Gautam was invited by Delhi University as Chief Guest at their annual cultural festival on 23 February 2015.
  • He was invited as a guest to conduct a workshop at IIT Kanpur, a premier engineering college of India in October, 2009.
  • Awarded with Certificate of Merit in the national contest of International Poster Contest-1993 on the theme of “Population and Our world.” The contest was organized by the United Nations Education Fund (UNFPA) and National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT).
  • Received First Prize in the Poster Contest on the theme of population control. The event was organized by Population Education Fund, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in 1993.
KV Gautam at TEDx JUIT

Bigg Boss offer

KV Gautam was offered role of a celebrity contestant in the popular TV show Bigg Boss 10 in September 2016. He did not accept the offer as he felt it did not suit his public image or personal temperament. The rejection got lots of publicity and coverage from the leading media houses and TV channels for the motivational speaker.

Bigg Boss 10

Media coverage

Celebrity speaker KV Gautam has been covered by leading media houses and TV channels like Indian Express, DNA, Dainik Jagran, ABP News, India TV, Zee TV, Sahara Samay, All India Radio, Tehelka, Bombay Times and Firstpost. The motivational speaker has appeared on several TV shows of channels like India Today and NewsX.  

KV Gautam on NewsX TV channel
KV Gautam on NewsX TV channel
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KV Gautam in Indian Express

Clients

Vodafone
Nestle
LIC
Metlife
HSBC
Motorola
Times of India
TEDx
Delhi University
IBM
Lingaya's University
IIT Kanpur

Photo Gallery

KV Gautam at The Times of India event
KV Gautam at TEDx JUIT
KV Gautam at Lingaya's University
KV Gautam at WAC event
KV Gautam at WAC event
KV Gautam at Lingaya's University
KV Gautam at The Times of India event
KV Gautam VIT University
KV Gautam at Salvan Public School
KV Gautam at Manav Rachna International School Gurgaon
KV Gautam at WAC event
KV Gautam at Delhi Literature Festival
KV Gautam at Manav Rachna International School Gurgaon
KV Gautam at Anna University Chennai
KV Gautam at Anna University Chennai

Video Gallery

Quotes by motivational speaker K. V. Gautam

“The only real purpose of education can be inculcating the habit of critical thinking.”

“Most of people keep making the same mistakes all their lives simply because they do not want to admit that they were wrong in the past.”

“We all can become whatever we want to become. But most people end up becoming just what they are expected to become by their society.” 

“Respect is earned, not demanded. The people who demand respect usually do not deserve it.”

“Choose a friend carefully. He will try to pull you up or down to make you equal to him!” 

“Choose your enemies carefully. You will have to get down to their level to fight with them.”

“The moment a man is born he is shackled in social bondage and expectations.”

Testimonials

“Motivational speaker KV Gautam can change your life,”
Raikishori
The Times of India
“We never knew about our potentials until we heard the corporate trainer Gautam,”
Palash Mishra
American Express
“KV Gautam can start a very positive change in your organization. The motivational speaker has a clarity of thought and vision which you need a lot,”
Aditya Singh
The Grand New Delhi, Delhi
“Motivational speaker Gautam rocked us. I realized my potential only after listening to him,”
Utsav Kesharwani
IIT Kanpur
“KV Gautam sir made a lasting impact on me. I am a fan of his motivational speeches,”
Monika Jha
VIT University

Glimpses of motivational talks

How to adapt your business to change

ChangeHow many brands remain relevant over a long period of time? How many brands you heard in your childhood remained strong even when you have grown up? Change is the only permanent thing in the world. Sadly, most businesses die just because they fail to adapt to the changing times.

We are living in the world where fast changes are taking place all the time. The speed of change is mind-boggling for both individuals and businesses. How many of you remember Orkut? No one any longer uses the most popular social networking site of India at one time and everyone is hooked to Facebook now. It’s not only the tech companies that are seeing constant churn. Even old world businesses are facing the ever threatening changes that are disrupting their business like never before. At one time we knew to buy products only from a mortar and brick store. Very soon online seller Amazon will take over the world’s biggest mortar and brick retailer Walmart in sales. Not surprisingly, due to the growth in the e-commerce and fast growing digitalization, new mobile handsets become best selling without even selling in mortar and brick stores. Surprising changes like this are spread all over the industries. Technological development like driverless cars and electric cars are posing major challenge to the billion dollar car manufacturing industry worldwide.

The biggest disruption in all industries are caused by technological innovation. Overnight old ways of doing business become irrelevant as new players come up with disruptive methods to delight customers. Globalisation is also causing big disruption in the ways business is being done. Suddenly a new international market is receptive to your products. And the next day the new market is closed for your products due to sudden government policy change in that country. As globalization is causing disruption in the way business is done worldwide, the backlash against it is also causing unpredictability in the markets. Constant changes in the policies of domestic government can also cause instability in the business.

Change is a painful transition. Psychologically speaking, all changes are painful even if they are for the good. This is a reason humans by nature are wary of any major change in their life. In fact, according to psychology, people even deny any change happening due to the discomfort it brings. Businesses also become comfortable with status quo. Any sudden change can cause internal disturbances in a business organisation. Management in many top organizations tend to deny any change to avoid finding a solution to the problems caused by the change.

Once upon a time Kodak used to be the market leader in camera manufacturing industry. It was a highly profitable company. In fact, the company went on to invent a new and better way to take images using digital technology. The new product was the digital camera. However, the Kodak management felt that if the digital camera is sold in the market then the company will lose the revenue it earns from selling film reels. So, the company decided to sat on the product. Very soon, competing companies like Canon and Nikon flooded the market with cheap digital cameras and drove Kodak ultimately to bankruptcy. The top management of Kodak refused to see the writing on the wall and were unwilling to let go of the old way of doing business.

No longer any business can afford to remain smug about its business model. The top management of any company should realize that if they do not adapt to change, then some other company will do so and will race ahead of their company. The best way to handle future is to create it. Apple, under visionary leader Steve Jobs, had successfully disrupted the portable music player device market by launching the highly popular iPod. Then the company came up with the idea of putting a small computer inside a mobile handset. Steve Jobs realized that by putting music player also inside the mobile phone will cause loss of business for iPod. But he knew that if Apple did not disrupt the market some other player will do. So, he moved ahead and changed the mobile phone industry by launching iPhone. The profits made by sales of iPhone more than covered the loss of sales of iPod.

It’s necessary for businesses to constantly keep looking for innovation and technological advancement of their company. If you don’t keep your business upto date with changes in the technological advancement then sooner than later you will be out of the business.

There are several ways to handle change in a corporate organization.

Adopt new technologies

It’s important to adopt new technologies. You just can’t want for the new technologies to take over the entire industry before considering them. If you are too late then your business already must have suffered.

Help employees upgrade skills

As change is the only constant thing in the world, don’t expect employee skill sets to remain relevant for ever. Invest in employee training to upgrade to new skill sets. Also hire new employees with new skill sets if there is a requirement.  

Be comfortable with ambiguity

Most of us want to know everything and want to be 100% sure about everything before taking any action. However, the way businesses are run many of the times we don’t know everything and we can’t fully predict the future. When the internet was first invented it was something like a curiosity. Then it became a niche activity. Soon, it became mainstream and now it is mandatory for all businesses to adopt the digital medium. We should take steps keeping in mind the best we know about the market.

Don’t complain

Complaining about change does not help. It is nothing but a waste of time. If everything remained the same we all would be living in caves and jungles. We have reached the current civilisation only due to gradual changes taking place in the world. We all have to be part of the great march toward the future. Otherwise we would be left behind.

Focus on your niche

Many times we are faced with dramatic changes and don’t know how to handle that. In those situations it is better to stick to the best the company does. Capitalizing on the strengths will help weather the storm of change waving through the industry.

Six steps to achieve big goals in life

Define goal

The first step to achieve success is to define your goal. Most people spend a good deal of their lives figuring out what they truly want. Some people may not be able to find out what they want to do even after they have spent their entire lives doing one thing or the other. It’s not easy to find your true calling in life. You are lucky if you know exactly what you want to do with your life. Many people try several things before stumbling upon the purpose of their lives.

Be ready to pay price of success

Once you have figured out what you want to do in life, it’s important to realize that every dream requires lots of hard work, determination and perseverance. You need to pay the price of your success. Every dream has its own price tag. The price is in terms of hard work, time, risks, mental efforts and money. Theoretically it’s possible to achieve any goal as far as you are ready to pay the price of the goal. However, the reality is that most people set a goal for themselves but do nothing to achieve it, as they are unwilling to pay the price for achieving their goal.  

Stop making excuses

It’s important to realize that your life is owned by you. It’s not a property of your family or society or even your friends. You are the driver of your life. Of course we all depend on family and friends for advice. However, the key is to remain independent in decision making as far as possible. If you are dependent on others for every single decision of your life then your life will be shaped by them, not you. Take charge of your life and make decisions about your life without interference from others. We humans by nature are prone to look for an excuse if things go wrong. If you ask many people why they are not able to achieve something they claim it’s all due to their friends, society, government or the whole world. However, the reality is that you are owner of your life and you should own it. Take firm actions and be prepared to face the consequences. Don’t look for excuses.     

Stay positive

If we want to reach our goals it’s important that we keep our minds full of positive thoughts. It’s important that we get rid of negative and destructive thoughts that hamper our efforts. We carry the burden of negative thoughts in our head and get bogged down by them. It’s important that we get rid of them.

Expand your horizons

We are never too old to learn something new. You should keep learning new things in life. It will not only help you achieve your goals but will also make you happy and will keep you mentally and physically fit.  

You should acquire new skill sets that are relevant to achieving your goals. In today’s competitive world it’s not easy to attain success unless we are well-equipped with several skill sets. If you are not well aware about the art of marketing or selling then you are not likely to succeed in several fields. If you are self-employed or a businessman then it’s very important that you market yourself and your services. Another important skill is the art of communication. You should take time and effort to learn how to communicate your views to people properly. If you are not able to communicate to people well then you are unlikely to achieve a great success. Most successful people are articulate. At least you should lose your shyness and feel comfortable expressing yourself to strangers and the general public.

Be flexible to achieve goals

The modern world is complex. There are so many factors that may help or hurt our chances of success. So, it’s very important that you are flexible about routes to success. For example, if you want to become a pop singer and get a chance to do playback singing then it’s a good opportunity for you. You can always switch to pop singing. The opportunity opens its door to us in many new ways. We should keep our eyes open.

It’s also important to keep analyzing the path we have chosen to achieve our goals. On the road to achieve a goal we may need to change our strategy. We can do it whenever need arises. Things keep changing frequently and we don’t have control on all external factors. For example, if you start a business, it may work or not work depending on several external factors beyond your control. However, you can surely control your own actions and strategies. You can change your strategy frequently to suit your unique needs. Be firm about the goal but be flexible about the ways to achieve the goal. It doesn’t make any sense to stick to a strategy which doesn’t work. We should not be committed to a way, but committed to a goal.

NOTE: Motivational speaker K. V. Gautam has inspired audiences with similar kind of talks in all parts of India and major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad.

K. V. Gautam’s speech at TEDx JUIT

TED is an international event where celebrities and intellectuals are invited to share ideas. The motivational speaker Gautam was invited to deliver a speech at TEDx JUIT at Solan, Himachal Pradesh on 24 August 2014. He talked about how he led his life without caring about opinions of people. Below is the transcript of the speech delivered at the event.   

It’s difficult to remain yourself if everyone around you is trying to change you into a different person. It is also not easy not to be influenced by opinions of random people. As a matter of fact we all are limited by our own ignorance, biases, prejudices and beliefs. My brush with colourful opinions of people started in my early age.

When I was a small child I saw all kinds of faces around me. I found expressions of faces of people quite interesting. Even before I could go to a school, I used to observe people and their faces for hours without feeling bored. It was only years later that I realized whatever they talked about was mostly exchanging their personal biased opinions with each other. I also realized that all people had different opinions on one subject. In a way they interpreted reality very differently than how I observed it. Truth had many versions. You picked your version depending on your preference.

When I started to go to a school, I found it to be an interesting place. My interest in the school was 100% but in mathematics it was 0%. I left mathematics notebooks blank. Later I found math notebooks more useful for sketching than for solving difficult questions of mathematics. I started to draw random figures in my mathematics notebook. I found it very entertaining and a good pastime. It was a time when the only source of entertainment was watching movies in theatres once in few months. Electricity supply was erratic and Doordarshan was not enough to keep us entertained. I found drawing a great way of passing time. However my mother was not amused. After warning me few times one day she tore apart all drawings from the notebook and once again warned me against drawing on math notebooks. She failed to stop me from pursuing the activity which was both pleasant and worked as an emotional release for me.

Sometime later on my way to school, I saw The Times of India newspaper hung upside down with some fine lines drawn on the front page in a newspaper stall. I was fascinated and started to buy the newspaper whenever the drawing appeared even if I did not understand what the lines were all about and what they tried to communicate. I used to observe the drawings in the paper for hours. I used to cut out cartoons from the newspapers and started a collection. Only after spending my pocket money on the newspaper for more than 2 years I realized the drawings were political cartoons and they were drawn by cartoonist R K Laxman. Sometime later I became so impressed by Laxman’s cartoons than I wanted to know more about him. I also came to know about works of other cartoonists. Then I decided to become a professional cartoonist.

When I reached 10th standard I had made my mind that I would become a successful cartoonist of India. I was not aware if it was possible or not but I had my mind made up in spite of all odds. At that time I won the first prize in a state-level drawing competition and it boosted my confidence.

My parents and people around me gave me the impression that my life and career would depend on my performance in 10th class exam. I was not convinced. How could a school teacher decide my fate in life? During the exam, I was shocked to see how students cheated openly and how their parents helped them. It was a mockery of the concept of exam. I preferred to write without external help and cheating and stopped my father from coming to my exam center. One day I got the shock of my life when the teacher himself started to give out the answers and encouraged students to cheat. I stood up and protested how he could do that when he was supposed to stop cheating in the first place. He gave me a casual look and then sheepishly continued helping students.

When results came out I scored well and passed with first division. But other students scored better than me. People gave me an impression that my life was finished and I could not do anything better in my life as I could not score 90% marks. I just refused to believe them. I thought no one could ruin my life just because I refused to cheat in an exam. My beliefs and a healthy amount of disregard for people’s opinions came in handy.

Soon it was a time for choosing the right subjects in further studies. All people around me told me that science was the only option for a good career. Arts stream was seen with contempt. However, I had no interest in mathematics, chemistry or physics. So, in spite of protests from all, I opted for Economics and English as my subjects. Everyone gave me the impression that my career had no hope.

After passing my graduation I was expected to take exam for a government job as my father was a government employee himself. I told a friend that I wanted to become a cartoonist. He said it was wonderful then asked me what the meaning of the word cartoonist was. My father was shocked when I told him than I had no interest in government jobs and I actually hated all government employees as I thought they were lazy and corrupt. Though I knew he was not so. What shocked him more when I declared that I would become a cartoonist in my life. He was not aware about a career option like that. The only artist he had seen in his life was a sign board painter. He was worried to imagine me painting a sign board in his neighborhood. He tried his best to convince me that I must follow a safe career option of a government employment. He also informed me about benefits of a government job like job security and pension. He also told me that he would feel very proud if I could become a senior officer like his boss. I was not moved. When I told my mother that I would become a cartoonist and showed her my cartoons she asked me if I would keep drawing the funny lines even in my old age. Obviously, she presumed that drawing cartoons was a childish activity and old people should not do that. In spite of a lot of emotional pressure I stuck to my ground. My parents became a bit comfortable only when they saw my political cartoons published in leading newspapers.

Due to my young age of 19, initially many people did not take me seriously as a political cartoonist. Even before I finished my studies I had my cartoons published in several newspapers and magazines. When I started to look for a job in newspapers I faced problems as I was young and people did not take me seriously as a cartoonist. They thought politics could be understood only by old people. Once I approached a senior editor of a leading newspaper with my political cartoons. He saw the cartoons and rushed excitedly to his staff showing the cartoons saying “Look at this. This small boy has drawn these cartoons.” He was amazed to see a boy making cartoons but did not take me seriously enough to give work.

When a leading newspaper started to publish my political cartoons on its front page it surprised many people. Once a friend of mine was traveling with his father, who reading a newspaper with my cartoon published in it. My friend excitedly told his father that the cartoon was drawn by his friend, a young boy. His father refused to believe that a boy could draw a political cartoon as in his thought only an old man could do that.     

When I became comfortable in my cartooning career I decided to do something more. I was recognized as a cartoonist. But I did not want to die just as a cartoonist. I thought I could be more than that. One fine day I decided to write a novel. When I told this to my friends they were surprised. They advised me against it. They gave me a list of issues I would have to face if I wrote a book, like finding time for writing, getting a publisher and then promoting the book. I realize people have a fixed image about you and they don’t like it when you break or change that image. My friends had my image as a cartoonist and they were confused when I broke the image and did something different from what they expected me to do. I went forward nevertheless. My novel Love in Crazy Times was published to their surprise.  The book became a national bestseller and I got fan mails from all parts of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. 

The medium of the internet attracted me. I did self-study to know more about the industry and started to think about a web venture. People around me once again warned me against investing money in a business. Still I launched an entertainment portal and it started to do well. Inspired by its success, I thought of launching a bigger business. I bet my entire savings in an e-commerce venture in 2011. I did not have enough money to make it a big success. I thought I would get funding from investors and grow. I was slightly late in the market as design and development of the shopping website took time. By the time I reached venture capital firms it was too late as they had already funded several similar businesses and refused to back my venture. My business was soon faced with large-funded ventures which started to wage a price war to drive small completion out of the market. My venture was a failure. I learnt the lesson that I should not do something where my strengths like creativity could not be used. Later, I changed my business model and started to offer web services to business houses and then it started to do well.

The failure of the e-commerce venture was a blessing in disguise. That sinking feeling of seeing my much-loved venture die a slow death inspired a wave of creativity in my heart. I realized failure could teach us a lot and it can also be a great muse. By the way, I feel if you want to get instant inspiration then simply fall in love and propose to a beautiful girl, and then get rejected by her. It can set you on a great creative journey. 

I thought about writing a screenplay for a film as I was a big cinema lover and I realized the potential of that powerful medium of communication. I thought that a cartoonist reaches out only to a limited number of people as our nation had a high level of illiteracy. I wanted to reach out to the masses with my work. I started to write the script of a film. Once again my well-wishers gathered around me to give their well meaning advice to me. They told me Bollywood was a tough market to crack. They told me it thrived on nepotism and neither I was a Khan nor a Kapoor. One friend suggested that I needed to befriend daughter of a film producer to make my career in the film industry. As usual I disregarded their advices and kept writing the script. It was for a comedy film as I realized Bollywood did not have many good comedies.

After writing 3 film scripts I thought about learning the filmmaking process. After reading many film making related books and making two short films I had the confidence that I could direct a film myself. My friends were surprised to see my short films. They could not believe I could also make a film. It did not go down well with their image of a cartoonist who was only supposed to draw funny lines. I approached top film producers of Bollywood for producing my film. A couple of them showed interest in the script and had advance discussions but finally refused to produce the film. A prominent producer-director claimed my script had no sex in it. Interestingly, he himself has failed to deliver a hit film for more than a decade in spite of adding a generous dose of sex in his films. I told him my film would work due to the story and comedy not due to sex or item songs. He was not convinced. I realized unless I made a feature film they could not be convinced about my directorial abilities. Then I approached small film producers. All of them told me to rope in a top film actor only then they would fund my film. When I approached top stars their managers informed me that they were either busy for the next 3 years or were not interested in working with new producers and directors. The manager of a flop, but well known actor, told me that the actor worked in films of only those who have directed hit films. Ironically the actor himself never delivered a hit film on his own.

I realized that I would have to make the film with my own money. I am ready and determined for a long battle. Now I will make the film with new actors. The technical crew members have already been finalized. To keep myself motivated I wrote a motivational book recently and sent it to book publishers.  My well-wishers did not left their hope of changing me. They still advised me not to write a motivational book as I was not a motivational speaker. I asked them who was born as a motivational speaker?  They were speechless. 

I feel creativity is about exploring yourself. As we go on a new journey of creativity we find more about ourselves. Once we stop creating new things we stop exploring ourselves. I think creative people should keep exploring new mediums for expressing themselves. It is not necessary to be stuck to one medium only. When people label you it can become a burden for you. A creative person should disregard people’s expectations and should focus on his own creative satisfaction.

People with their biased opinions are never able to fully know what we are capable of. We should not become a victim of what people think of us. We should not live a life designed by others. We are born alone and die alone. In between we must explore our full potentials.

Trivia

  • Motivational speaker KV Gautam loves to read books on popular psychology and marketing
  • He was offered role of a contestent in the popular TV show Bigg Boss 10 in 2016, but rejected the offer
  • His childhood hero was R K Laxman
  • He wants to travel the world but gets to visit places mostly on client invitations
  • He loves good comedies
  • He likes writings of Orison Swett Marden

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