BANGALORE: José Covaco's (MTV host) debut non-fiction attempt,Ladies, please! Dating Truths by a Man, is a book that will help young India figure out the minefield that is dating. A supposedly humour-filled book, the author promises that it will help women, if not figure men out, save them from a few nasty dates and tell them when to run screaming. Because at the end of the day, ‘boys will be boys’ (a phrase that's been popping up a tad too often, these days).
"I've never really thought of writing a book at all actually, but I've had most of this in my mind for a very long time. I've seen so many women confused and unhappy because of men and relationships. So when Random House asked me to write a book about dating, everything just fell in place," says Covaco.
According to the first time author, men are in fact really easy to understand. "But we just haven't been very honest with women about ourselves for various reasons. So how could women possibly know? If there's one thing girls should know about guys, it's that we're checking you out. But there's so much more to us than just that much. We have feelings too. They might not be very important feelings but we do have them," he reveals.
When asked about the most important lesson he's learnt from his own dating experience, he says, "Dating is a bad idea. Because there is no such thing as dating. Only relationships." Now married, Covaco strongly believes that he was married to all his previous girl friends as well. "I've never really seen the difference between being in a relationship and being married to someone. Except when you ‘officially’ get married, it's much harder to run away because of all the legalities," he says.
But is it okay for a girl to ask a guy out, we ask. "Please do," he appeals.
"Society has made it the norm for guys to ask girls out first and that's just stupid. That's why everything takes so long! Think about this ladies. It doesn't matter how a guy feels about a girl because eventually, if you're going to be in a relationship, it all depends on whether the girl is interested or not. Guys will date anyone that's even remotely close to their idea of attractive. So ladies, save time and make the first move," he urges.
Covaco is full of little nuggets of truths on dating. If you're a girl who is about to go on her first date, he says, "Carry pepper spray. Take your parents along. Hold hands for the first month."
About his own reading habits, Covaco says, "My favourite non-fiction and fiction writers are the people on Twitter. I don't really read many books. The last book I read was I am legend by Richard Matheson, and I only read that because I love post apocalyptic zombie stuff. I read a lot of comics though. Superman, Batman, Justice League, The Flash. There's much less text and the pictures are great."
What's next for the video jockey and newbie author? "As far as books are concerned I'm thinking of writing a book on married life and how to survive it, if I survive. Maybe even a book on the trauma involved with writing a book. There's lots to do and so many dishes to wash. There are plans to do more radio, TV shows, stand up comedy and lots more digital content," he says.