My official statement
The Hindu
In this difficult time, I request all of you to respect my privacy and give me the space I need, which is in Australia and costs a lot of money
It is after much thought and extensive consultations with all my stakeholders that I’ve come to this decision, which is mine alone and not connected to your or anyone else’s grandfather. This isn’t a situation I ever imagined or intended when I embarked on this journey of a lifetime. I mean, I never wanted to be the centre of attraction, or even a distraction. But I have for long wanted to take a decision like this, and issue a statement like this.
You may wonder why. Am I Joseph K, about whom someone must have been telling lies? Not really, though I do live in Kafkaland. Am I an ultra-rich person getting a divorce, like Bill G or Jeff B? Not really, though it would be good to know how my conduct might change if someone transfers a few dozen crores to my bank account. By the way, I encourage those of you who can afford this intriguing experiment to go ahead and give it a try. Those not wealthy enough can always go for crowd-funding. Thanks to Aadhaar and Digital India, my bank details are readily available on the darknet.
Anyway, all I can say is that my statement is not motivated by a desire to cause offence to any community, caste, nationality, religion, brand, individual, animal or vegetable (body parts of plants as well as primates in voluntary coma). Nonetheless, in case anyone is offended before having read my statement or knowing what my decision is — which is totally understandable — I offer them my unconditional anticipatory apology.