It’s always better to remember your roots

Photo: Shah Rukh Khan

By Shevlin Sebastian

A friend told me a journalist met a famous politician. He asked her how many Twitter followers the newspaper had. She mentioned a number. He smirked and said, “I have double that. So why should I talk to you and waste my time?” 

I had a similar experience. A few years ago, a famous woman police officer came to Kochi from Delhi. I met her to do an interview. She asked me the same question about the number of followers the newspaper had. I made a guess. She also smirked and said, “I have double that of your newspaper. Is there any need to talk?” 

Her words stumped me, and I remained silent. No interview took place. It was only a day later that I came up with a riposte. I should have said, “Madam, it was the media which made you famous. You are biting the hand that fed you.” 

This is familiar behaviour. For over three decades, I have seen many people in sports, arts, politics, literature, and films who have come to newspaper and magazine offices in search of coverage. Sometimes, they got it. Sometimes, they didn’t. But once they became famous and successful, they would keep the press at bay, even the ones who provided coverage at the very beginning. 

Being ungrateful is a widespread human trait. About 99 percent of people are ungrateful to the people who helped them on their journey. Too many of them have also pretended they did not climb the ladder to success. They seem to indicate they reached the top by magic. This is dehumanising. By refusing to acknowledge your roots, you damage your inner self.  

One who seems to have kept his head on his shoulders is superstar Shah Rukh Khan. On Instagram reels, you can hear him say that there were many people who played a role in his success. It was not a one-man success story. Without the contributions of others, he would not have become the star he became. 

Shah Rukh always spoke about the need to spend time with yourself at least once a day, to get an inner perspective and balance. In that way, he was able to counter the intense adulation that would have swept any other man aside. “There’s a personal me, there’s an actor me, and there’s a star me,” he said.

Shah Rukh has kept outward success from contaminating his soul. 

Fame, power and money. These are the three most dangerous things in the world. If you get an overdose of even one, it can send you into a tailspin. It is the rare human being who can remain unswayed and remain true to his inner self. 

Once you get swept away, your ego gets bloated up, you think no end of yourself; you preen and surround yourself with sycophants. This has a tragic effect. Your intuition goes to sleep as your sense of importance runs rampant. That is when you make career mistakes and errors on the home front. Within a few years, you are unwanted and sometimes you become a laughingstock. Your career comes to a stop. Many turn to drink and drugs and professional sex for solace. 

For all those people who are in the limelight today, they need to ask a simple question. Who was in the limelight ten years ago? Those names are no longer there today. They should ask a supplementary question: where are they now? Answer: Nowhere. 

Here is a cautionary tale. Rajesh Khanna, the first Bollywood superstar, had 15 solo superhit films between 1969-71. He had become a craze all over India. Women begged him to marry them. Producers kowtowed to him. Directors begged him to act in their films. Ten years later, his films were coming out but they no longer rocked the box office. He had become a has-been. 

Imagine how many actors started at the same time as Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Where are they now? Some may have died. Others have faded away. Amitabh is one of the rare artists who has stayed relevant and popular over the decades. But for a few years in the 1990s and 2000s, it was touch and go for him. 

After setbacks on the professional and financial front, Amitabh anchored a quiz show, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati.’ That became a superhit and revived Amitabh’s professional career and financial resources. Imagine what would have happened if that had flopped? He would have headed towards oblivion and irrelevance. 

So both the politician and the police officer at the beginning of this story should partake of a small dose of humility. Otherwise, they will inadvertently press the self-destruct button and become has-beens.