Life is too short to waste time on frivolous emotions of the negative kind and judging by the length and volume of my hair, I assume none of all that really gets to me. So, all the cool people and friends I have met along the way in my Life—Life (with a capital L) is indeed a journey—a big thank you to all of you!!
I would love to praise my Lord and God, Jesus Christ, for giving me everything I ever wanted, taking good care of me and the people in my life, and showing me the true path. I dedicate this book to his selfless sacrifice and love for mankind.
I would first like to thank the people in Packt, who have made this possible in spite of my grueling schedule and procrastination habits (ugh!). Thank you all so much!! Thanks to Hemal Desai for taking up the project and guiding me with the initial drafts. A special mention goes to Manasi Pandire for owning the project, taking care of all the backend work, and putting up with my pertinent delays; and Namrata for doing the amazing layouts.
I would really like to thank Andrew Apanov for showing me his business and routine and giving support when there were tough times for me. His amazing knowledge of the music business kept me alive and busy. Thank you, and I do hope we can work again.
A very special friend of mine, Vinod Paul, is one of the most amazing persons I have had the privilege to know, and his humility, integrity, and friendship are priceless. I thank him for being there for me when times were tight. Wish you a very happy married life in the Lord's grace!
The cool folks at Malcrove, Mohammed and Aziz, deserve a special mention. They have some really big plans, which I am happy to be part of. They discovered me and we will hopefully take the journey as far as it goes. Big up!
Heartfelt thanks to Xylibox for helping me out with the internal reviews of my early drafts.
Saving the best for the last, I thank my Dad—Mr. J.M.R. Marak (IAAS retd.)—for being an achiever and a father figure. Thank you for everything you have given me and I aim to continue "being" rather than "having" in my life. To paraphrase Gandhi- "My Life is my message."
Finally, if I have missed out any of the key contributors (which is unlikely), please do understand that you have my best wishes as well!