Monday, April 04, 2005

Humble Advice

It's one of my favourite saying - 'Humility, that low, sweet root, From which all heavenly virtues shoot'.

I must admit, how-much-ever I try, I am not able to follow it to the 'T'. Often, I do get carried away. But these are the lines which I always remember. To think of it that even the lesser mortals like me are not able to resist the temptation, then it's very understandable how difficult it must be to remain humble for those who really posses some "greatness".

The point is that those who are great in any field must take special care to keep away from sounding boastful, gaudy or narcissist. However, what actually happens is the reverse. The more accomplished one is, harder one finds to keep feet on the ground. Case of eccentric genius or they just get too addicted to adulation they get( or no more get), nobody can tell.

We have a lot of examples around us. One way to flaunt the genius is unabashedly, and brashly without any pretensions. The perfect example is Ustaad Bismillah Khan, the Shehnai Maestro.

In contrast, some try to hide their narcissist tendencies with fake humility. Shahrukh Khan fits the bill here perfectly. Read any of his interviews, and you will notice that first he will tell you very politely how great he his or how much hard he works. Later he would hasten to add a "by the grace of Allah" or "due to love of his fans", to tone down the stuff.

A third breed comprises of those who have the misconception about their greatness. They are either nothing or a spent force, but fail to realize that. Shatrughan Sinha is one such example. Read his the supposedly witty replies in Filmfare. They are no more humorous. They are narcissist, every line of it.

It's not always the black cloud, you would also find silver linings. Amitabh Bachhan is the humility and genius personified. Sachin Tendulkar carries himself beautifully, and Rahul Dravid is the other one who has no airs about himself.

Perhaps this is a human tendency, resulted due to slightly faulty upbringing. I watched three interviews in recent past, and the contrast of them made me wonder. One was Sharukh's interview after receiving Padma Shri, the other was Amir Khan's in Walk The Talk, NDTV 24 X 7, and the last one was Abhishek Bachhan's in Seedhi Baat, Ajtak. Shahrukh was boastful, Abhishek was humble while Amir was some where in between the two.

In the end, Aaga Hashra's these two lines show us the way.

Arz Woh Arz, Ki Jismein Koi Israar Na Ho
Baat Woh Baat, Ki Jissey Koi Inkaar Na Ho

Arz: Request
Israar: Obduracy, Obstinacy or Adamancy.
Inkaar: Refusal.

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