Thursday, September 8, 2011

Role Models - Reel Models

Is your role model a film star only because he can hit ten goons in a single shot? Or, is he a cricketer who is your favourite only till he is in form? And if you have no intention of contending this idea - it is better you skip this blog. Do you have any role model(s) from the same profession as you are in? Then you don't require to read my blog because you have passed the test. This is not to insult anyone- I am a fan of Sachin, Rajini, Amitabh and the list can go on and on but my reasons may be different from many.


Many times, I am intrigued by the fact that a vast number of people who have changed the course of mankind, in whatever degree it may be, go unnoticed all through their life; sometimes even after history is written. And at another extreme, a huge number of our so called "Celebrities" may not manage to make it into the memories of people beyond a short span(or a generation in many cases).

The same Venky Ramakrishnan who won the nobel prize in chemistry giving lectures in India saw huge multiplication of his audience after he won the prize; and people turned to see him, not to listen to his lectures. And I am very sure that there may be a huge number of Phyiscs graduates in India who wouldn't even have heard of  Sudarshan even remotely. I, Sasikanth Gudla, don't even know the name of an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer from Andhra Pradesh(hailing from Andhra Pradesh)! The only person I have heard of is Mayuri Chandran because there was film on her.Why is that some stupid(and sometimes nasty) reality show hosts get more popular than eminent citizens who have life time of work behind them? Why is it the bulk of us know only the names of Cricketers, Cinema Stars and Politicians only? And horrible enough the last group of people don't even figure in lot of people's role models!

I have always wished if regional media could air atleast a 15min programme(or a short interview) once in a week or atleast in a month about an eminent personality of that state. Or the popular FM Radios could have a five minute slot mentioning someone and his achievements once in week- if that is not too much of an asking.


Barack Obama became famous only in a year's time and went on to become the president of U.S.A. Anna Hazare was unknown before April 2011 to 95-98% of the nation.  It is a different matter that he had even the Padma Bhushan in his kitty almost a decade or two ago. I know of only these two cases when Media did a good job and only the latter at a personal and more gratifying level.

Today the young and children in India need role models who are soldiers, scientists, entrepreneurs, economists, farmers etc... and not just Celebrities.


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