A thought-leadership series
Who Gets to Tell Your Story?
Our first instalment was about stories that remain untold, even within the close-knit of families. Once we sit down to uncover those stories, do we really get the whole story?
After all, we spend our lives becoming different things to different people. But when our story is finally told, whose version becomes the truth? This is what we address in our second of the series.
Let’s give you an example. Consider a successful businessman. To his employees, he was a demanding perfectionist. To his children, a father who missed too many school functions. To his friends, a generous man who never forgot a favour. To his wife, the young dreamer who once worried about paying the rent. Four people. Four perspectives. One life. Who is right? Quite possibly, all of them. And that raises a question every storyteller must confront: when memories differ, how do we do justice to the person behind them?
Memory is Subjective
What do we mean by that? Science has proven many times over that memory is a complex mechanism. We all like to believe our memories are perfect and because we were there, we remember everything correctly. If only it were that straightforward!
Two siblings can grow up in the same household and remember entirely different childhoods. One recalls a father who worked tirelessly to provide for the family. The other remembers a father who was seldom home. Neither might be wrong but it is just that their experiences might be different.
Time is Disruptive
A decision that seemed reckless at twenty-five may appear courageous at sixty. A disagreement once considered unforgivable might become an amusing family anecdote. This distinction matters. Recollections are not merely information to be transcribed. They are perspectives to be understood, contextualised and, where necessary, examined alongside other accounts. Remembering something vividly does not automatically make it the complete truth.
Everyone Loves A Success Story
Successful lives are documented in a series of milestone ticks. Business grows, awards follow, philanthropy flourishes. Legacy passes on. It becomes a parade of achievements and glossed over magazine features. But how did one get there?
It is innate human nature to edit the negativity, the uncertainty, the failures out of success. But how can success be achieved if there were no challenges? How many of us can say there were no sleepless nights or a trusted partner let us down or then a personal loss derailed life. When documenting journeys of entrepreneurs, professionals, philanthropists and families across the Indian diaspora, it becomes important to make the reader understand that achievements are what was accomplished, decisions take to reach there, and everything in between reveals the character. And that is the hero of the story.
People Cannot be Footnotes
Every journey, even that of a self-made individual, has supporting characters. The mother who believed her child could accomplish anything. The spouse who supported the household when finances were tight. The grown up children who came back to help their parents. The boss who challenged their employee’s potential. Every person serves a purpose. Then how can they be reduced to just footnotes?
They make a journey complete, and their contributions can illuminate entire chapters. This becomes particularly relevant when documenting family enterprises and multigenerational legacies, where individual achievements are often inseparable from the sacrifices and encouragement of others.
The biography may be of one individual, but the story seldom belongs to that person alone.
Listen, Verify, Validate
The process of listening opens doors to many possibilities and versions. Then how does one reconcile them into one version? It is all too easy to choose the easiest and least risky way forward. But then in doing so, the story loses. A credible biography requires more than collecting interviews and arranging anecdotes into an attractive narrative. It demands research, verification, careful questioning and the judgement to distinguish documented fact from personal interpretation.
So, when we say WE LISTEN, what do we mean? We understand what is meant. We establish how of that can be verified and what might still be missing. We ensure that every narrative is validated. And everyone feels seen, heard, and understood.