" You are either
really smart or extremely dumb."
Throughout your whole life you meet people who may or may
not agree with your POV. People who are as adamant about their world view as
you are. For me, most of the times, there's no point in arguing with them as
they will hold on to their opinions and you won't relinquish your belief
systems either. Hence, it would only escalate to a stubborn war-of-the-words
with both parties refusing to budge. Saving your precious time and energy for
something much more fruitful and respecting the other's thinking would be the
only way out.
It was during one of my charred-with-carefreeness college
days, that I had the chance of coming across someone who, because of my one
such candid admission, gave me an earful every single time we came face to
face. The lady in question happened to be one of my professors. I'm sure that
we've all had teachers who have been great influences on our minds, who've had
sizable contributions in shaping us the way we are, the kind that make us want
to go back to school/college again. And then there are those who we had to
endure. Most of them out of fear. Some out of respect, which some perceive as
also a by-product of fear.
Amidst a rather tolerable lecture for Foundation Course, she
sprung a question towards us.
"Who, according to you, is your ideal?"
She further elaborated to the just-woken-up-from-a-daze
faces.
"It could be anyone, your Mom, Dad, an elderly person,
a known personality."
Pah! That's easy! Everyone started coming up with answers
ranging from celebrities to parents.
I was racking my brains trying to come up with a name. Any name.
When it was my turn, I stood up and replied, "No
one."
Her expression still graces my memory. It was somewhere
between being aghast and ridiculed, or both.
"No one?" she asked, stunned.
"No one."
"Not even your parents or grandparents?" she
hoped.
"No."
Then came the reply that started off this piece in the first
place. I was miffed. Having an opinion that differs from the rest is NOT a
crime in my dictionary. I shrugged my shoulders and replied,
"Maybe."
I was told in a stern voice to sit down.
Why do we as humans always need an ideal? Someone who we
want to be like? Aren't we perfect just the way we are? Why can't we lead life
and learn our own lessons and navigate unchartered waters with inexperience?
Isn't that what our 'ideals' did too? Weren't they just as human as we are? They
made mistakes too. How can they be placed on a higher pedestal?
There are innumerable well known and respected personalities
from various fields who are revered like Gods. They are made out to be someone who
possesses a persona that exceeds mere mortal boundaries. While it is absolutely
essential to acknowledge the gargantuan and laborious efforts that these people
employ in their various disciplines that earns them their credentials, treating
them as someone incapable of making blunders and touting them as ideals is the
worst form of exaggeration.
There are people who stand by certain principles and the
same people denounce it somewhere down the line. Many a times, in a discreet
fashion, which then forms the base for a crispy headline. The same people who
worshipped the 'inspiration' start loathing him. Then begins the name-calling. People
who expound themselves as being morally correct are the first ones who illustrate
just the opposite. One weak moment, and snap!
We create idealistic notions of certain people in our heads
but forget that they are but human beings too! I don't mean to disrespect anyone
when I say this but I don't think we were made with such a degree of finesse or
perfection that it would warrant us being idolized. We are all
characteristically flawed. Be it people we admire from afar - celebrities we
read about every day, great leaders that have paved/scarred nations, alleged God men with displaced ideologies, politicians with faces aplenty or those we
meet during the course of our normal lives - teachers, friends, colleagues,
etc. We are all fickle creatures. I don't deny the fact that I myself admire some
known faces as well as those unknown. People that I don't know but see every
day. But I know that the moment I start idolizing them they will be preceded by
a bad decision adversely affecting them and/or the people around them.
Sometimes its effect resonating through ages, on people who aren't even born
yet.
Hence, it is better to rather piss someone off with your
true opinion than adopt a code of belief riddled with double standards.
