We are a confused lot

DHEERAJ KUMAR

(Writer is IIMC alumnus and Senior Associate Producer in CNBC-Awaaz.)

I would start from the lines which I read recently in an article that there is a strange comfort in unseating icons. For when an idol is discovered to have feet of clay, the pressure on the rest of us lessens  to  a  great degree.  I completely agree with this analysis of ourselves but I would add here that this problem has been aggravated by our existing generation. Its not that in the past you didn’t come across incidents of fallen heroes, but in our period, such incidents have been on rise. There is no rocket science involved to know about the reasons of these things. It is well known fact that any society is made by the people live in it and as the time changes, the dynamics and values of the society change as well.

What we are seeing today in the form of Radiagates (the term coined by media) is simply a mirror image of what we are today. Most of us have the inclination towards earning name, fame and money as soon as possible and many a times, we not only compromise on our values, but sacrifice our ethics as well.  But when a Neera Radia appears before us, we criticise it because we want to show that we are not like Neera. But is it so? Are we really as honest as we show? You know the answer better.

NEERA RADIA

First we start to worship blindly any achiever, give him or her the status of demi-gods and follow him or her everywhere. But in this whole thing, we forget that those achievers are human beings like us, they are not Gods, they do have emotions and weaknesses as we have and they are as vulnerable to harsh situations as we are. And when any of the achievers does any sort of mistake or error, we start hating him as the filthy animal. His or her celebrity status is grounded and then we start searching another face to worship. Is this not hypocrisy?

At the same time our current generation is confused about what to do or not? Each member of this generation wants to be extra ordinary as s/he is not happy about the current status of an ordinary person. And for this stardom s/he is ready to pay any price and follow the icons blindly. But this following has an interesting aspect; when the icons are destroyed, we enjoy the lost of his/her celebrity status as that gives us false impression that our feet can be fit in his/her shoes. It may seem a bit strange to hear but this is the reality, you can feel it if you think about yourself honestly. All of us are continuously on the lookout for opportunities to grasp our own celeb moments and that’s why seeing any celeb losing its status give us sadistic pleasure.

I would finish with the questions from the same article which I have mentioned above. Isn’t it far better to live an ordinary life well, minus the pressures and insecurity of celebrityhood? Here I remember famous quote from an unknown writer that Celebrity is the person who works hard for a good measure of his life to attain the status and then wears the black goggles so that people may not recognise him.