Radio
The Proust Questionnaire — ‘May all men be happy': S.P. Balasubrahmanyam
Published: February 3, 2012
The Proust Questionnaire is a fortnightly feature that alternates with the Saturday interview. These questions were most famously answered by the French writer Marcel Proust, whose personality-revealing responses came to define this form of celebrity confession.
What is your idea of happiness?
Starting the day with a smile and ending it with a bigger smile.
What is your greatest fear?
Death.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Saying ‘no' with comfort.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
All of us living under one roof.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Turning a professional, successful singer without an iota of knowledge about the theory of music.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?
A human being, surely.
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
SPB.
What is your idea of misery?
Not being able to help others who are in need.
Where would you like to live?
As it is, wherever I am.
What is your favourite occupation?
Watching television. I am a couch potato.
What is your most marked characteristic?
My smile.
What is the quality you most like in the opposite S**?
Patience.
What do you most appreciate in your friends?
Treating me as Balu and not as a celebrity.
Who are your favourite authors?
Most of them are Telugu writers, such as Mullapoodi, Kommoori, Kaarua, etc.
Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Tom Sawyer.
Who are your heroes in real life?
My father and my mentor Kodandapani.
What are your favourite names?
Rafi, Pallavi and Charan.
What is your present state of mind?
Relaxed.
How would you like to die?
In my sleep.
What is your favourite motto?
Sarvejanah sujanaabhavanthu, sarve sujanah sukhinobhavanthu. May all men be happy.
Padmashri and Padma Bhushan awardee SP Balasubrahmanyam is a playback singer, actor, music director and film producer. He has won the National Award for Best Playback Singer six times. In a career spanning over four decades, he has sung over 40,000 songs in 15 Indian languages.
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Music forms a part of me again It gives Shape to my faceless Expressions...To my Thoughts. {Alochana}
