m i l LI o n a i r E P E O P L E & PA R T I E S

Paulo Coelho in Dubai

The
spiritual wizard
weaves a spell

216 ) milLIonairE
 m i l LI o n a i r E P E O P L E & PA R T I E S

More than 85 million people around the world own a

book written by Paulo Coelho. Going by the reaction
to the author’s visit to Dubai, millions more would like
to. Millionaire meets the messenger and his audience

text Shalini Seth

milLIonairE ( 217
 m i l LI o n a i r E P E O P L E & PA R T I E S
I f you want to know Paulo Coelho, reading one or more
of his books is not a prerequisite. Instead, you might do
better to speak to one of his fans, or many. “He changed
my life,” says one, as we walked to the launch of his lat-
est book, The Witch Of Portobello, in Dubai. Walking from the
car park to the event at Bastakiya in Dubai’s old heart, she tells
me about having finally reached a decision to leave her husband
of 24 years after reading Coelho. It’s about signs. “He under-
stands women like no one else,” she says.
As news of his imminent arrival spread in the small emirate
a few days before the launch, I have been experimenting with
the Coelho effect. “I am going to meet Paulo Coelho,” I would
say conversationally and watch the ripples the statement made.
From distant India, someone wants an autographed book. A
guest at home spends the better part of the evening trying to
relate the magic the author weaves and his rare insight into “the
heart of someone who has known loss”.
This is relating at a deeply emotional level rather than an in-
tellectual appreciation of Coelho’s writing. “[His books] are not
very deep, not very profound. But, as someone who has seen love
and seen loss, I can relate to them. It is one thing to think these
things, it is another to be able to pen them,” one rather high-
powered executive says. “We are Coelho-readers and proud of
it,” appears to be the theme of the dream.
Girls wearing fluffy lilac skirts stand smiling on the way to the
inner courtyard, where hundreds of candles dot the pathway
218 ) milLIonairE
At Dubai’s Bastakiya Art Gallery, girls wearing fluffy lilac
skirts over black body suits stand smiling on the way to the inner
courtyard, where hundreds of candles dot the pathway. Inside,
there are more hallmarks of modern spirituality. Humidity, cand-
les, pink flowers, muted lighting with star-shaped chandeliers,
and, a rarity for Dubai, an open-air event, which has the hostess
emphasising: “It’s hot but it is beautiful.”
Those in attendance, mostly Coelho fans, are not the kind
that would swear or sweat. There are more women than men,
and between shy, faraway glances everyone holds a copy in a
sacking bag that is bound to leave fibres clinging to black dresses.
Little sessions of prompted introspection are in progress. Coel-
ho’s presence has had its effect.
The telling is important. It is not just that the experience
changed them – it is spirituality that is acceptable and even fa-
shionable. In interviews with celebrities, sports-stars or middle
managers that would be likely to scorn self-help books, Coelho
features regularly.
In Dubai, Tatweer, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Dubai
Holding, with its “portfolio of life-improving industries”, has
invited the author for the world launch of The Witch Of Porto-
bello, in Arabic and English. The reason is simple – the protago-
nist of the book, Athena, is a Romanian orphan who is adopted
by a wealthy Lebanese Christian family and moves to London
 m i l LI o n a i r E P E O P L E & PA R T I E S

He can connect with

his readers anywhere in
the world quoting his
love for the Gita in India
and the Arabian Nights in
Dubai. His magic realism
takes his characters to
faraway places: the Pyrenees,
Slovenia, Andalusia
and the Sahara

and then to Dubai. The novel also includes an Emirati character,

Nabeel Al Ehi, a wise man who teaches Athena various things.
Most of those present at the event have read advance copies of
the book. A fellow journalist wonders sotto voce to me whether
Coelho has a formula combining marketing with spirituality,
then asks the author aloud about the secret of his success.
Coelho, dressed in black, sporting with a ponytail on a shaved,
balding, snowy head of hair, answers what is not asked: “When
you start thinking about secrets of success, you look for a formula.
If you don’t find the formula you are lost. I do not try to repeat
the same formula because the reader will notice. If the readers
notice and if they buy the second book it is like reading over
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1982 Hell Archives
and over again… We are talking about 20 years of best selling
1986 Practical Manual of Vampirism (withdrawn) books… Thank God, I am here because I don’t like to repeat the
1987 The Pilgrimage reason why I am here.”
1988 The Alchemist Coelho was born in 1947, in a middle-class family in Rio de
1990 Brida Janeiro, Brazil, where he attended law school. In 1970, he aban-
1991 The Gift
doned his studies to travel throughout Mexico, Peru, Bolivia
1992 The Valkyries
1994 Maktub
and Chile, as well as Europe and North Africa. He published his
1994 By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept first book at the age of 38.
1996 The Fifth Mountain The arrogance is vastly justified. Paulo Coelho is recognised
1997 Love Letters From A Prophet and admired in 160 countries. His work has been translated into
1997 The Manual Of The Warrior Of Light nearly 60 languages. He has 17 written products to his name, in
1998 Veronika Decides To Die
a career spanning 20 years.
2000 The Devil And Miss Prym
2001 Fathers, Sons And Grandsons
His personal fortune is informally estimated at $100 million.
2003 Eleven Minutes With sales of his books and the copyrights related to his work,
2004 The Genie And The Roses the Paulo Coelho industry already accounts for $1 billion, ac-
2005 The Zahir cording to reports. How much Warner Bros paid for the movie
2006 Like The Flowing River rights of The Alchemist is not known, but Coelho said: “I re-
2006 The Witch Of Portobello
 

milLIonairE ( 219

“What do you think of the Arabian woman?”
Those in attendance are not the kind that would swear or
sweat. There are more women than men, and, between shy,
faraway glances, everyone holds a copy in a sacking bag
that is bound to leave fibres clinging to black dresses
cently made a $2 million offer to recover the only rights I ever
sold, The Alchemist [to Warner Bros]. They are studying the
matter.” Last year, the Spanish publishing house Planeta paid
almost $1 million for the rights to publish his works worldwide.
And the world waits to read him. After all, clichéd as it may
be, everyone has loved and lost. He can connect with his readers
anywhere in the world quoting his love for the Gita in India and
the Arabian Nights in Dubai. His magic realism takes his cha-
racters to faraway places: the Pyrenees, Slovenia, Andalusia and
the Sahara. While the books are set outside Brazil, he stresses
that he sees the world “through Brazilian eyes”. Apart from pro-
moting culture in Dubai, he is the ambassador for Mondialogo, a
project by DaimlerChyrsler and UNESCO.
The reader is all-important to Coelho. “They have the right
to choose whether they want to buy the book or not,” he says,
Paolo Coelho gets 2,300 messages each
week from his fans. The Alchemist has been
a bestseller in all of the 150 countries where
it has been published so far. It has sold over
29 million copies worldwide and has been
translated into 57 languages.
He is listed in the Guinness Book of Records
for the most translations (53) of a single title
(The Alchemist) signed in one sitting
(45 minutes).
In Argentina, the collection, Biblioteca
Paulo Coelho, or Maktub, published weekly
through the newspaper La Nación, sold
835,000 copies. The first issue sold out at
news-stands in just three hours.
Coelho’s newsletter, The Manual On-Line, has
over 70,000 subscribers.
speaking about posting the first 11 chapters of the novel on his
blog, paulocoelhoblog.com.
Millionaire asks him about his readers, given that they are
some of the most vocal fans in the world. And some of the ri-
chest. Coelho tells us about a competition of sorts that he ini-
tiated on his site. The first 10 people who wrote in were going
to be invited for his party in Spain. “The first 10 were from
Qatar, Japan, from Venezuela, from US… I thought that they
just misunderstood… Then I send a mail that I am not paying
fore their tickets, that they would just be guests for two hours
or three hours. And they all wrote back saying that they were
aware of that, and came nonetheless. We had a fantastic time!”
Getting to know Coelho is high on the agenda for the au-
dience gathered in Dubai. What does he think of life? What is
his opinion on world issues? Does he like Dubai? Does his life
follow the direction that his books take? Does he follow signs?
There are many questions thrown at him.
One journalist, head demurely covered in a scarf, asks with
a shy smile: “What is your opinion of women from this region.”
Coelho fields another question first, while everyone is waiting to
for him to come back to this one. “When you write something,
you put your soul there. That is how we can connect to each
other… it is because I put my soul there. It is because we are
sharing our souls,” he says.
Then he looks at the woman steadily and answers: “I cannot
answer that question.” Some time later, after the public ques-
tion-and-answer session is over, you can see her in animated
conversation with him. The writer is accessible to readers and
fans, the man is not.
In another interview, Coelho speaks fondly of the Rio de
Janeiro apartment in which he lives with his wife, Christina. “I
love the sea. I love to live near the great expanses of water. From
afar, the sea looks clear and uncomplicated. But, when you are
actually in the water, it could be rough and complicated. My
Coelho’s presence weaves a spell
writing is just like the sea. Deceptively simple and uncomplica-
ted, but, in the end, it prompts you to ponder.”
Asked if his books are autobiographical, the answer is rather
obvious. “I wrote The Alchemist, but I have never been a shep-
herd boy. I have never travelled and crossed the Sahara but so-
mehow it is a matter of my life,” he says, saying nothing.
And adds: “Yet, this all is my dream. I wanted to be a writer
since I was 15, but I did not dare to do that – they thought I was
crazy when I wanted to be a writer. My parents thought I should
be an engineer, so they put me in a mental institution when I
was 18 or 19,” he says, repeating information that is listed in the
frequently asked questions section of his website.
But there is some reassurance for those who follow signs. Coel-
ho says he waits for one each time he is starting a new book. “For
each book of mine, I always look for a fact, a spiritual fact… that
is why I am one of my characters… I am each one of my charac-
ters,” he says. “In order to start a new book, I have established
my own sign – that of finding a white feather. Otherwise, there
are no rituals.”