Thursday, December 02, 2004

Weapons of Mass Deception

Idol worship is bad, and nowhere was it much truer than it is in India right now. The people that the Indians idolize are usually a bad influence and should dropped like hot potatoes. You finds all sorts of people have a Demi-God Status. There are actors such as Rajanikant, religious pontiffs such as the Kanchi Sankaracharya, pretty damsels such as Aishwarya Rai and Cricketers such as Sachin And Azharuddin.

Come on. Think about it. Is the eternally pompous Shankaracharya (who kept dappling in matters that he could neither solve nor undertsand, at the least) worth any faith? And what did Azhar do with all the faith that people had in him? And what about good ol' Aishwarya Rai grudgingly admitting that the Taj is more beautiful than her? Are idols with such egos really worth the respect they get?

It is an insult to the intellect to idolize such shallow and artificial people. Take any actor for that matter. Salman Khan keeps shooting black bucks and killing people with his car. Amitabh Bacchan (he used to be the face of dignity not so long ago) contents himself selling washing powder on Television. It is a thorougly humiliating experience for any self respecting Indian to see the most popular actor of the land having to sustain himself by parading himself on advertisements on TV. He reminds me of a prostitute.

Our cricketers are no better. It is apalling to note that a country with a population of a billion (100 crores) turns to eleven people for entertainment. Maybe it is time, people started doing something about domestic cricket. Maybe we should start spicing up the local cricket scenario. Something like an NBA model in America.

Let's not even get started on Statesmen. I must say most people do not idolize Laloo here - or Manohar Joshi. It is somewhat heartening to note that no educated person actually idolizes these crass opportunists. Scientists. Are there any? If they are, they're cloaked in the inaccessibility of IITs or IISc. The others who work for the DRDO end up politicians. They might come up in life - they may become directors, Governers or even Presidents. But they cease to be scientists.

The fact that Idols are hard to come by is therfore understandable. However, the fact that we have setteled for such pathetic excuses for Idols is definitely not forgivable. Maybe we would be better off without nay.


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