India, Feb. 28 -- Your parents' generation valued stability while you were a product of 1960s hippiedom. What was your relationship like?

Well, my parents were really supportive. But they were questioning what I was doing. My father had really imbued in me a sense of making my own money, so I did every menial job imaginable. I worked my way through college. Then, when I got out of school, I took a year off, but I would always bartend or work; I was always making money.

My parents wanted me to get a 'real' job. What we used to call, a grown-up job. Like a reporter for the Hindustan Times. But I resisted. I worked in an advertising agency. They were really proud of me then, because I was in a legitimate company. Then, I told them I was go...