Recently these has been a lot of talk about Tiger Woods's unfortunate misadventures in his personal life,a life which he had kept insulated from external attention as he kept golfing on to supremacy over the years..Actually using the word 'talk' here should be a process of gross understatement.I myself was a passive part of this sensationalism,actively keeping alert my circuits of vision and audition,while reading newspapers and watching news bulletins on TV.
The gossip columns had a gala time,churning out newer and saucier revelations by the day and astounding hypotheses on 'what also might have been'.Comments of lesser mortals from the Page-3 World suddenly filled up the usually benign sections of afternoon editions with their own opinions.(I have personally tagged an abbreviation to these malfunctioning thought-processes existing in the obnoxious,alien world of Page-3 :the "SSSSSS",or the Scandalous Sensational Self-proclaimed Serious Significance Syndrome.For 2 full weeks,the audio-visual media thrived on the hyper-hyped hysterical(?HHH!))reactions to the 'revelation of Truth' of Mr.Woods,with lady-newscasters finding an extra zip and smirk to their voices and faces when it came to presenting 'Now The Sports World' part of bulletins.
I was puzzled,shocked,amused,ashamed,sad,bored,irritated and finally outraged(specifically in that order).It is not my intention to elaborate and summarize comments on the entire episode which is still going on strong.My outrage spilt over as I read a write-up,a few days ago in the newspaper,by Mr.Anil Dharkar,a well-known social commentator,popularly recognized in the media houses.The respected man seems to have lost completely,the balance between ethics and indignity,assumably guided by a new set of corrupt values which,on repeated public expressions,might be harmful to public perception as the intelligentsia(at least here in Mumbai)looks forward to reading his articles and columns with eager interest.
It looks like Mr.Dharkar,in his effort to keeping his self abreast with the rapidly changing times,particularly in the backdrop of a dynamic global village where serious,impressionable socio-cultural interactions take place within seconds by a simple click of an electronic mouse.While one appreciates the change in the quality of universal consciousness,knowledge,acceptance and tolerance,which constantly keeps on improving on a digital screen,we should be watchful as far the negative aspects of various social and ethnic groups are concerned,and it necessitates the presence of a cautious filter when thoughts and ideas are being exchanged,accepted and shared.It identifies those negative mutations in different social trends and their memes that have the potential to corrupt,making it easier to weed them out of their grassroots.The filter seems to be non-existent as Mr.Dhadkar proceeds to run his social observation and commentary.
He has briefly discussed many famous and successful personalities from diverse fields.It feels nice to be reminded of their glorious feats and exploits that made them popular to the extent of being worshipped.David Beckham,Richard Wagner,Pablo Picasso,M K Gandhi shall continue to live on and inspire us and our future generations.Garfield Sobers,Ravi Shankar,John McEnroe,Serena Williams are exemplaries that make us proud forever.
It is just unfortunate that many famous personalities do not have healthy personal lives which become tainted with immoral conduct,adultery and their likes. Now,does that mean one has to appreciate the negative sides of the bold and the famous,or casually overlook?Does that mean that while I shall be sharing the future feats of my daughter's hero with her,I shall drop my guard of caution when my daughter comes to know of his/her infamous acts,thus indulging her to believe that 'these things happen with my hero' and there's nothing wrong anywhere?
No.I shall guide her to know and identify between Right and Wrong.She should know the thin line across which worship and popularity of a Hero can make him trip,to the zone where conducts of propriety are not valued.
Our social commentator writes,"In all the talk about Tiger Wood's womanising,no one has looked at the possibility that THIS CHARACTER FLAW IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF MAN,THAT HIS PRIAPISM IS IN SOME WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING HIM ONE OF THE GREATEST GOLFERS OF ALL TIME. ..... IF TIGER WOODS GIVES UP THE GAME HE HAS ELEVATED SO MUCH,HE WILL MAKE ONE WOMAN AND TWO CHILDREN HAPPY,BUT MILLIONS DISTRAUGHT.WHICH CHOICE SHOULD PREVAIL?FOR ME THESE SEEMS TO BE NO QUESTION."
Priapism indeed,Mr.Dhadkar.I purpose priapism has been responsible for your ascent to a position of respect,off which,of course,you just stumbled off.
It would be ridiculous to remind Mr.Dhadkar of Sachin Tendulkar who shares the same ethnicity incidentally(or rather accidentally-a very,very unfortunate one).In his world of distorted tastes and unfortunate mix-up of priorities,where propriety and sobriety have been flushed down the commode,there is no Roger Federar or a Steffi Graf.Perhaps it was Vishwanathan Anand's priapism that made him a world champion.Perhaps the brain and the organ of priapism have exchanged places-the sheer taste of character and thought behind Mr.Dhadkar's opinions and comments makes it highly improbable that he is thinking through his brain and preaching to the literate society.
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