‘I became an observer of my life as a fly on the wall’: How adman Prahlad Kakar wrote his memoir

When you think of advertising in India, one name which stands out is that of Prahlad Kakar. His colourful life, (mis)adventures, and entrepreneurial instincts form the core of his memoir Adman Madman: Unapologetically Prahlad, which he co-wrote with Rupangi Sharma.

At the Kasauli Literature Festival (KLF), Kakar talked to Scroll about his life, early influences, advertising, and the changing face of the industry in the age of the attention economy. Excerpts from the conversation:

Since you co-wrote this book with Rupangi Sharma, what process did you employ to work together with her?
I tried dictating the book, which didn’t work because the articulation became flabby, repetitive, and loose. An enormous amount of editing was needed. Then, during the process of working on the book, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, so we started working on Google Docs and discussing the structure [of the book] over video calls. We both decided that it’d be much better and more accurate for me to write in long hand, which became a pain in the arse. Who in the world writes in longhand today? Anyway, because I can’t type I started writing in the long hand, and Rupangi’s workload became much lighter consequently. However, my spelling is atrocious, and my handwriting illegible, which Rupangi...

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