When It’s Fun and What you Love, Yes It Can Still Become Your Job

Shiv Jhangiani knew he was destined for a career in football — he just never knew that a career existed off the field. Hear the story of how a freak injury and a decision to step away from the game gave him the confidence to find a path to make it his career (again). Read the entire interview here.

Signal Class (Eric Koester): Introduce yourself and your book.

My name is Shiv Jhangiani and I’m the author of 1.3 Billion: A Football Revolution in the Making.

How did you fall in love with the sport of football?

I lived in Greece for seven years and that’s where I kicked on and really developed my love for the game. I knew that it was going to be tough because I was the outsider in Greece. I was the brown kid that didn’t really fit in, the only one that wasn’t the same as everyone else, didn’t understand the language but football is really what gained my respect. As I went on, I just developed my love more and more for it.

I think in India is where that moment really came out. I had an opportunity to get to FC Metz on trial but knew I needed to get ready. I needed to be in the best shape possible, my technique need to be spot on.

I spoke to a coach and I actually decided to completely take a step back from my social life and decided to wake up every day for eight months before my trial at 4 AM, train before school, go to school, train after school and then have individual training, and then have French lesson and go straight to sleep. My day is from 4 AM to 8 PM. I didn’t see any of my friends outside of school but I dedicated it all to football and really is something I would not regret ever because I knew that I would not be able to get what I did out of it without doing that.

How was your football playing career taken away?

Honestly, it was one of the worst things ever. I was 15 at that point. I just come to the end of my first season with FC Metz in France and the coaches, a week or two before they told me that, they really thought I did very, very well in my first season, a lot better than they expected me to do and wanted to sign me on as any other player that they had as soon as I turned 16 and was eligible to sign to them by FIFA Law.

And then, this was the last friendly game against Singapore’s National team, the under 18 team just a friendly game before going home to stay in shape, just enjoy a last kick after the season and about 17 odd minutes into the game and I see the ball flying over my head as it right back, I’m leaving it out, shipping it out, letting it go and play for a throw. Next thing I know, just as the ball is about to go out harmlessly, someone comes flying at me as I’m turning and just catches me right under my knee. And I’m telling you, I hear a snap and I knew that was a big injury and I didn’t know it would be that big but I knew it was something.

How did your book reignite your passion for football?

Well, it was really tough because I had to move away from my family, from my home basically at the age of 14 and put everything into one basket. I was really betting on myself becoming a professional and that was what I was dreaming about ever since I can remember.

Having that taken away from me was probably one of the hardest things to deal with. But I think I’ve dealt with it the right way because I channelled all my passion and all my determination and put right into the chart next to it because that’s the closest I think I can get to being in the world of football. Although it might be in a completely different way, I think it’s going to be in a way that I can apply what I’ve learned a lot better than I would have been able to as a professional football player.

What did you think when you heard “you’re going to write a book”?

Honestly the first thing I did was pull out my phone and see what the last day I can drop out of the class was. I just was not sure about writing a book. I’m not going to lie, I don’t like to read books myself so writing a book is never something I’ve even thought of.

I knew that if I had to write a book, I knew the topic will be straightaway. I knew it will be football. There’s nothing outside I would want to write about and nothing else I could write about, really. But it just was a task I never saw myself taking.

Why did you pick your book topic?

I remember moving to India. I lived in Greece for seven years and I’ve lived in seven different countries growing up. Everywhere I lived except for the US and India, football has been the biggest sports.

I moved to India at the age of 11, I think. I moved from Greece and my first year I gone to Madrid for a training camp. Some scouts at a local club that they call Hatafutte had actually come spoken to my coach. Unfortunately, my coach didn’t handle things the best way. My parents weren’t too happy that things didn’t work out.

But I moved to India and there’s no opportunities to play football in an organized manner every weekend. There were no youth leagues. There was no one to really go to to play football every week and it seemed. That was my biggest concern. I thought I was falling behind and I was falling behind because I remember when I was in Europe and I was in the same level that I was. I don’t want other Indians to have to face that problem.

I think we need to develop that for ourselves. We need to have an organization where kids could be playing football every day, every week. There just needs to be a whole organization around the sports in India that doesn’t exist currently.

I think in the large scheme of things, I just want to start a movement really towards football in India. That movement started with stuff like ISL in 2014. India is actually hosting the under 14 World Cup this year. It’s a movement that’s starting and it’s gaining momentum. I think it’s about highlighting the right things, getting the right people involved and then just pushing from there because obviously there’s going to be the potential in the country with 1.3 billion people. It’s about exploiting it properly, I think.

How did you pick your book topic?

I remember speaking to you about this. I was really skeptical at one point because I was trying to decide whether to write about the scouting process in football or whether to talk about developing football in India. I really wanted to write about the football in India part but I remember asking you about this because there’s just not much material that exists around it especially in the literary world. There are some articles, there are some videos and stuff but in the literary world, there’s basically nothing to do with Indian football.

So I thought starting from zero could be really, really tough especially given that I’m so young, don’t have the opportunity to go to India and meet everyone on site. But in the end, I think it was something I really, really enjoyed and I’m glad I took it upon myself to do it.

Who did you meet while writing your book?

I remember, the three that really stick out to me were the vice-president of Barcelona, Ivan Gazidis CEO of Arsenal and Sunil Gulati who is the head of the US Soccer Football Federation. Those were the three that really, really stuck out to me.

I think the first thing that I notice in each of them, as soon as I mentioned India, they were excited, for each of them. They all loved it. Sunil Gulati actually has roots to India. That was the one that I was pretty sure something will click but with the other two I wasn’t too sure what their reaction would be. And I was a little scared going into it because I knew if that first question didn’t really click with India, then the whole interview would go haywire and I couldn’t really rely on anything then.

But the excitement that I felt in both of their voices just right after the first time I mentioned India was really what inspired me to keep on going and it was really motivating for me, to be honest.

How did you feel when you first saw your book cover?

It was just crazy because as I said, I never used to enjoy reading books growing up. You’ll never see me with a book. And then, to have a book in my own name in the front, seeing a cover that I had designed, spoken to the publishers 12, 15 times going back and forth to decide on the cover, seeing everything laid out that I’ve written just in print, it’s really amazing to see and not something that I expected to happen.

How does it feel to publish your book?

Honestly, I’m very excited about the opportunity to have a book published out there, something I have created completely by myself and just something that can lead me to work where I want really in the field I want to work in. I’m really excited for the day it launches and sending it out to everyone that I know, just telling them that I’ve written a book basically.

Did you have doubts while you were writing your book?

There are definitely doubts. I remember we tried to set ourselves word limits but I never really thought that I was going to stick to that limit. I always thought I needed to go above and beyond that limit to really express my own story. I thought the limit thing was just really on your part really trying to motivate us to get somewhere and just trying to give us some proper concrete deadlines. I knew at the back of my head the whole time that I needed to go do more than that if I really wanted to make anything of this book.

It was tough. I remember being six or seven weeks away and having basically nothing down on paper. I had all the ideas. I used to brainstorm a lot, I used to spend a lot of time thinking and I was just really hesitant to put stuff down on paper because I thought while this can actually go out to print and it was a very scary thought. What if someone questions what I am saying?

Eventually, as I kept on going, I was like… And I remember reading some books on, “This person does not sound like they know what they’re saying.” Just because it’s in print they probably do and everyone else will assume they do. It gave me the confidence to keep on going and just really push on just write without thinking about everything that could come after.

What did you learn writing your book?

Yeah, I got a few pushbacks some saying it’s too vague of a topic. How can you cover India and football in 100 plus pages? You can’t be doing that. other people are saying sports and the ones watching TV, they’re not reading books so you’re not reaching out to your own audience if you’re writing a book. Who’s it going to get to?

But I think at the end of the day, if I saw a book like that, my biggest thing was I know and I use this to my advantage, I know that I don’t like books. If I can create a cover, create a book that I myself would go and read, then I’m pretty sure other people might read it just because I’m a lot lazier than most of them.

Are you nervous to have anyone read your book?

I think the clubs in Europe really because those are the ones that I want to speak to about developing the game in India because they are the ones that have the expertise. They lead the world in producing players in the highest contracts, everything you can think of in the world of football.

I think using that expertise and bringing them to India will be the best thing. I’m just scared to give it to them, see what they think of my opinion because why would a 19-year old from Georgetown know what the solution to a problem that no one has been able to figure out for about 20 years? Why would he have the solution? I think that’s the one I’m scared about.

How has the book affected your career path?

Well, for one thing, it sets me apart from a lot of other people my age at schools like Georgetown. It’s a school that really has good academic reputation because I’ve gone and done something. I’ve turned my passion into something concrete.

I’ve had a few interviews with jobs at banks, consulting firms and companies in sports world as well. Whenever I bring up the book, they’re just amazed. It’s all they want to talk about. They’re just like, “Wow, it’s amazing that you’ve turned something that you love so much into something concrete that you can actually be selling and proving to people, I’ve gone and done something with it.”

I think it sets me apart and then hopefully it can get my foot into the door of the world of football. It might be a different way to do it but I think it’s a way that could work just because not so many people do it that way especially this young.

How has your book helped you stand out?

Well, it was all very hard for me because I came from a very different background from most of the players. I remember going to Metz and not fitting in to start because everyone was so different to me. It’s all they’ve ever thought of in their life, it’s all their parents have thought of for them. Whereas for me, my parents always tell me that my education had to come first.

I think this route makes a lot more sense. I think it could have been more powerful from being a professional football player because I remember all the media attention I got just at the age of 15 when I was moving out to France and everything.

But honestly, I think this is a way that I can have more impact in the long term just because it’s a longer career. I can help with my expertise from my experiences in Metz and through my knowledge I gained in Georgetown and other schools.

When did you realize this book could change your career trajectory?

I think it was after I finished my introduction. I think the introduction on my book is the part where I want the reader to get to know me, to understand where I’m coming from, my perspective on things and how I’ve gained the experience that I think is necessary to be where I am today.

I think that moment when it came after the introduction was where, “Okay this is how I set everything up.” I just had everything set up to follow through. I knew for sure that there were some check marks that I needed to check off. I could actually pitch India to be the next big thing in football.

How have you grown from writing a book?

Specifically with books, I think I just look at them in a completely different light because I never really respected the amount of work, the amount of thought that must go into writing a book. I just thought like, “Oh, it’s a book.” You can never really think of what’s behind the book. You never really think of the story of the book.

This has really thought me a lot because I’m telling my own story basically. I have to put — I know exactly how much work I have to put in to get to this stage. It really gives me a lot of respect for the authors. It pushed me to understand the book a lot better than just looking at the cover like, “This is a cool cover and reading the blurb.” You actually need to go through and read every part of it because it can be so different. It’s taught me to respect books and authors a lot more, I think.

What has surprised you about the reaction to your book from football executives?

I thought that India might have been at the back of their minds but I didn’t think they’d be really pushing for it. Speaking for Carlos Vilarrubi from Barcelona, he’s telling that they opened three training camps in India in the process of looking at opening eight. He was like, “India is definitely one of our biggest targets right now,” Asia as a whole and the US are their two biggest targets.

The way he was talking about it, he just knew a lot about India which is something I expected from the vice-president of one of the biggest football clubs in the world to know about India, which is a country that doesn’t have any impact on the game.

Do you believe that there is a next Ronaldo or Messi living somewhere in India?

I definitely do. I don’t think the question is whether there is talent in India because I know for sure that there is talent in India having played in India myself. I just think there’s a lot of flaws in the system that needs to be figured out where it’s to do with corruption, whether it’s to do with organizing, whether it’s to do with money and allocation of money.

There’s a lot of things that needs to be sorted out and I know for sure there is talent. Some of the best players I’ve seen were actually in India but they just don’t get the exposure and the scope that players in Europe or South America would just because of the way that the sports works in that country.

I think there’s definitely lots of talents to be found in India. It’s about how to find it and how to go about things and how to set up the sports in India now.

How can India become a world power of Football?

I think the first thing that needs to be done is the AI needs to be looked at very, very carefully because it’s the governing body for football. Things aren’t moving efficiently. There hasn’t been enough progress in India. There needs to be a big, big change in the whole government setup in my opinion.

Other things that needed to change is we need to get more money from foreign investors who have the experience because while it’s great getting investors from India, we don’t have the expertise within our own country right now to develop the sports.

We need the help from the outside to come in and we need someone to come not just for the financial gains in the short term but that is willing to stick it out and really help develop the game in India to get it to a point where we can be qualifying for World Cups on the regular.

We should not be worrying about qualifying for World Cups. That should be the last of our priorities. Our worry should be how well we can do at World Cup for a country as big as India.

What advice would you give to someone starting out this process?

I think I should work which I ended up doing at the end, but I think I should have worked backwards. Look at where India needs to be 10, 15, 20 years from now and then work backwards from there. What are the milestones we need to be hitting? Where do we need to be by 2020 if we want to qualify For the World Cup by 2038? What type of stuff do we need to be building in the short term that we can ramp up in the long term beyond the ’17 World Cup now?

We can’t wait to renovate all our stadiums but we can’t do it all today. We renovate six or seven, organize that for this event and then push on from there. We don’t just sit on our laurels. Have those six or seven and push on it and renovate 12.

It’s more things like that and I think working backwards could have been helpful. It could have been quicker and more efficient but eventually I got to that stage and very glad it happened the way I did because I think I discovered more than I would have the other way.

Give us the pitch for the book.

My name is Shiv Jhangiani and I’m the author of 1.3 Billion. My book is about the potentially developing football or soccer in India. India is the second biggest population in the world right now. We’ve got a huge history in sports. Our culture is very geared towards sports like cricket and hockey, predominantly.

The attendance level for football in India have increased crazy amounts. If you would shift from the World Cup for 2010 to the World Cup in 2014 has increased by 60%. The ISL in its first season in 2014 had the fourth highest attendance of any footballing league in the world after the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and the German Bundesliga.

There’s no question whether there is a love for the sports in India. That’s proven. It’s not about tapping into the underlying culture of football in India and just really developing the sports from zero to a hundred very, very fast.

Who should read your book?

Sports fans as a whole would enjoy it just because it’s a rags-to-riches story. It’s going to be the story of underdogs coming out of nowhere. I think India has the potential to do basically anything it sets its mind to with the working culture that we have in our country and then the pride that we all have for our own country in India.

As soon as we set a target for ourselves, as soon as we can get a unified vision in the sports, I don’t see any reason why India wouldn’t be the best in the world in the coming years.

To Watch the Interview:

To connect with Shiv for speeches, presentations or consulting work,sj617@georgetown.edu. Purchase 1.3 Billion on Amazon. Watch his interview on Youtube at Signal Class.

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