BalanceMayIssue2017 - 18

H E SAYS

Nihal: off the record
Forget our traditional British modesty, says Nihal Arthanayake
- the time has finally come for us all to sing when we're winning
photography by WI LL I REL A ND

HELLO, SWAGGER

endeavour, while you stutter like Hugh Grant in a
rom-com, saying things like 'There's no "I" in team'
and 'I'm just good at blagging it'. But surely these
can only be the actions of a human being who has
never listened to Stand Up by Ludacris, Touch The
Sky by Kanye West or any number of other rap songs.
If that is you, then I suggest you listen to both
songs now by streaming them on to your phone.
Make no apologies to the person sitting next to you
on public transport for the music that is about to
enter their personal space. For both songs illustrate
the futility of humility. They revel in the glory of
triumphalism. If you are the boss, floss. Even if you
aren't the boss, act like a boss and, subsequently,
still floss accordingly.

humour is arrogance, and there is no way that I would
encourage you to be arrogant. I would simply like us
all to have a bit more swagger in our step. 
Cast off the modesty and embrace the big-ups as
they come your way. Think of the hard work, the
challenges and the moments of doom and gloom you
have had to endure on the way to where you are and
stand 100ft tall, as you recognise your worth.
OK, that is a bit schmaltzy. Maybe just do
as James Brown once did when someone

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCE SS
The reason I have recently changed my mind about
humility is down to the success of the football team
I support. We have an arch-nemesis who, for more
than two decades, have been superior to us. As
is the way with football supporters, my friends who
support said team have been less-than-gracious in
the way they have spoken to me over the years.
For most of the 2016/2017 season, the team I
support has been the better team and this success
has been in contrast to the dire football played by
our sworn enemies. There is, of course, a difference
between crowing about your own successes and
denigrating the failures of others. In this context,
though, it has felt damn good being able to do both.
I wrote a Facebook post recently saying I'd be
dispensing with humility for the remainder of the
season. With each victory, I will post my glee at
winning - I've decided to act as if there is a full horn
section playing every time I bask in our superiority.

18

You might find the idea of living like this distasteful:
how profoundly anti-British it is to blow one's
own trumpet. But accept the plaudits merely as
justified recognition of your greatness and think
so much of yourself that if you were an ice cream,
you'd lick yourself.
They say that confidence without a sense of

IF YOU ARE THE BOSS,
FLOSS. EVEN IF YOU AREN'T,
ACT LIKE THE BOSS - AND
STILL FLOSS ACCORDINGLY
was ushered backstage to meet him
after a gig. The Godfather Of
Soul asked the star-struck
individual if he had been
at the show. After replying
'yes', James simply
replied in that funkfuelled tone of his:
'You lucky!' That's nextlevel swagger.  B
Nihal hosts Afternoon
Edition on BBC Radio
5 live, Monday-Thursday,
1pm-4pm, and the Asian
Network's Big Debate on
Fridays, 10am-4pm.

BALANCE May 2017

B

Share your
thoughts
with me
@therealnihal
@BalanceLDN

GROOMING: RICHARD HARVEY

R

ecently, I started thinking about
humility and whether or not it is an
overrated quality. As you sit reading
this copy of Balance, I am sure you are
a bastion of humility. Not a day passes
without rays of modesty emanating from your soul.
Each triumph is delivered with mild embarrassment
as friends and colleagues applaud your latest



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BalanceMayIssue2017

BalanceMayIssue2017 - 1
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