We all follow the lives of celebrities
vicariously and voraciously, but why? It is probably because we are trying to
lead lives in parallel to them, albeit in imagination. We slip into the shoes
of celebrities to escape from the daily grind of our lives, to see how it would
be to have a lifestyle like them, to see the places they go for vacation, the
parties they attend….
Whether we are at a party or office, the hot
topic of conversation is Bollywood, whether Aamir Khan did the right thing by
baring his body? How many tattoos has Deepika Padukone got? Well why do y’all
care, and I applaud the judge who ruled against the frivolous case slapped
against Aamir Khan, he said about the controversial poster (the judge)… “If you
don’t like, just don’t see….”
Each and every one of us seeks reassurance and
wants others to appreciate our work. With the emergence of internet and social
media, every man (or woman, I don’t want to lose my female readers!) has become
a publisher in his own right. They have an instant platform to voice their
opinions. They voice their opinions in their blogs, Facebook posts, Twitter
etc. They become minor celebrities by the number of likes, shares or followers
on Facebook and Twitter. That includes me…why do you thing I am writing this..!?
Coming back to the question of our celebrity
obsession…. it is not like it began only yesterday. It has been there for ages.
David became a celebrity by slaying Goliath, Swami Vivekananda was a celebrity
in his time, and so was Rabindra Nath Tagore. Only now, there is media
attention like never before. With Twitter and Facebook in the hands of
celebrities (also non-celebrities), there are so many instant updates. So much
so that we know when Salman Khan or Kareena Kapoor has used the restroom!
Moving one step ahead, we are now moving into
a ‘viral’ culture. With YouTube videos or Facebook/Twitter posts going viral,
sometimes even a non-entity can become famous overnight. Case in point: Psy
from Gangnam Style. But where is Psy now…? Have you ever wondered..? Yes…that’s
right….it is like …Popcorn Cinema…once you come out of the theatre you forget
the movie…..likewise we all have forgotten Psy.
Fame can be ephemeral for some, while it can
last a lifetime for others. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what you are famous
for, fame is like a magnet and it draws us like moths to a flame. With luck,
maybe we will get our fifteen minutes of fame too.
When writing this I didn’t expect it to get so
long….if you are still with me, there is a post script.
P.S
“The best kind of fame is a writer’s fame,
enough to get a table for you in a restaurant but not a crowd around you”
(I read this somewhere a long time ago…..
besides a little bit of self-promotion helps too!)
