Of Idols and Feet of Clay...
This post was lying in my drafts since 2012. I saw it and didn't want it to remain in drafts anymore...
She writes about her idols...and the mention of "Men have taken over my list entirely." cracks me up and I laugh out loud in my otherwise sober surroundings...though I doubt that was the intent ...
I wondered for a moment what being an idol means...Does it mean you want to emulate them at some level? Or that you would love to live their lives, given a chance...If there is one quality in a person that you admire a lot and several others that you despise, then would that person be still an idol? As usual, a lot of questions, and no easy answers...
As you grow older your vision starts improving...and you see the feet of clay that most of your idols have...Starts with your parents, invariably...you realise how human they are, and that is one of the key steps in becoming an adult - the quiet acceptance of your parents as who they are, rather than who you think they are...
Idolising at work place happened pretty much the same way...it was my first job and not just mine, but my entire family's first exposure to a ruthless corporate world...I greatly admired a senior person at work and told myself that if I ever reach those heights (seemed like quite high from where I was standing), I would want to emulate him...Sadly, eight years down the line, he has reached greater heights, and I am where he was earlier, in terms of hierarchy...and all I see is a person who has an extra marital affair, and is professionally an unstable person at best...that was one of the biggest disillusionment of my adult life...I still cling on to that image of the person that he was, and I strive to be like that image...so that is my idol no. 1.
Sports, movies and literature never created idols for me - I loved Steffi Graf, Pete Sampras, the entire Pakistan cricket team and Bebeto (I googled him and realised he is almost 50! - does anyone remember his cradle celebration of the World Cup goal?), but never idolized any of them...though I stopped watching tennis after Graf and Sampras called it quits...Same goes for Wodehouse and Ayn Rand..I love the former's sense of humor and the latter's lack of it :P ....I also loved Amitabh Bachan, Mohanlal and Kajol ...and hate SRK...though not necessarily in that order...
After writing so much, I am wondering if I am too much of a cynic not to have any idols? But, I definitely idolize the human spirit...which shows tremendous courage when faced with adversity, which lends a helping hand to total strangers, which persists till success is obtained...which believes that "courage is not always screaming: 'I did it' ; sometimes it is going to bed with the quiet conviction that I will try again tomorrow !"
I also admire people who are passionate about something, but are still flexible enough to hear the other side with an open enough mind to admit that in life sometimes there are different rights!
She writes about her idols...and the mention of "Men have taken over my list entirely." cracks me up and I laugh out loud in my otherwise sober surroundings...though I doubt that was the intent ...
I wondered for a moment what being an idol means...Does it mean you want to emulate them at some level? Or that you would love to live their lives, given a chance...If there is one quality in a person that you admire a lot and several others that you despise, then would that person be still an idol? As usual, a lot of questions, and no easy answers...
As you grow older your vision starts improving...and you see the feet of clay that most of your idols have...Starts with your parents, invariably...you realise how human they are, and that is one of the key steps in becoming an adult - the quiet acceptance of your parents as who they are, rather than who you think they are...
Idolising at work place happened pretty much the same way...it was my first job and not just mine, but my entire family's first exposure to a ruthless corporate world...I greatly admired a senior person at work and told myself that if I ever reach those heights (seemed like quite high from where I was standing), I would want to emulate him...Sadly, eight years down the line, he has reached greater heights, and I am where he was earlier, in terms of hierarchy...and all I see is a person who has an extra marital affair, and is professionally an unstable person at best...that was one of the biggest disillusionment of my adult life...I still cling on to that image of the person that he was, and I strive to be like that image...so that is my idol no. 1.
Sports, movies and literature never created idols for me - I loved Steffi Graf, Pete Sampras, the entire Pakistan cricket team and Bebeto (I googled him and realised he is almost 50! - does anyone remember his cradle celebration of the World Cup goal?), but never idolized any of them...though I stopped watching tennis after Graf and Sampras called it quits...Same goes for Wodehouse and Ayn Rand..I love the former's sense of humor and the latter's lack of it :P ....I also loved Amitabh Bachan, Mohanlal and Kajol ...and hate SRK...though not necessarily in that order...
After writing so much, I am wondering if I am too much of a cynic not to have any idols? But, I definitely idolize the human spirit...which shows tremendous courage when faced with adversity, which lends a helping hand to total strangers, which persists till success is obtained...which believes that "courage is not always screaming: 'I did it' ; sometimes it is going to bed with the quiet conviction that I will try again tomorrow !"
I also admire people who are passionate about something, but are still flexible enough to hear the other side with an open enough mind to admit that in life sometimes there are different rights!
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