Myth of the Infallible Great

While reading history, one of my simmering questions was what exactly happened during some events in our history (especially our struggle for independence) and also I couldn't fully accept that events were always planned out and happened accordingly and discerned with absolute clarity, but this was the view one got from reading most textbooks I was familiar with in school. The uncertainty and suspense that was the order of the day is painted over with glorious achievements and simplification of events with mere irrefutable facts, dates, distances covered on foot and number of protestors arrested.

The torment and questions that individuals faced, the uncertainty that gripped the nation, games of intrigue that were played and influences that some characters had in the course of events due to obsessions and idiosyncrasies and personal motives are all hidden when we read history in the larger context of mere happenings. There are records of how many soldiers were killed and by how many in each war, but we should be more interested in knowing why, which is rarely answered in our books except in bullet points, with an easily explained set of reasons, as if the actions of men can be explained ever in such simple terms. One glance back at our day will prove that we have taken numerous decisions without reason, many of them against reason and logic and many of them defying our own understanding of self. It is this inconsistency that history covers up with an objective rendering of events.

When I read "The Great Indian Novel", although a work of fiction, I was introduced to such an aspect of story-telling. Rather than just the 'hows', it also dwelt on the 'whys' in a subtle and funny way. I accept that it is a work of fiction because not even the movers of events of the time knew fully why they did it and what its outcomes would be, but the fact that they didn't always (perhaps only very rarely) comprehend events completely itself is never realised by us while studying history. Individuals portrayed as larger than life figures with honorific titles mean that their human aspect is not an angle explored by many, which in itself is not an issue because we do not concern ourselves with the lives of individuals but with events.

But this simplification of actions and subsequent beatification of individuals due to the result of actions and events they were part of has lead to the infallibility of the individual. We see personality cults regularly and politicians exploit it to perpetuate their hold on the people, for some of them cannot accept these leaders as humans who will be affected by old age and disease and vicissitudes of fate and temptation like every human being. Perhaps we would like to believe there are certain individuals who know things for certain, we would like to believe that there is someone in charge who is absolutely sure of what he is doing and what its effects will be, whereas the truth is, no one in this world is sure of anything except the breath we are taking at this moment, right now.

Perhaps our history books should be rewritten to present our great leaders and thinkers and scientists as humans, it might shatter a few idols, but it would also allow us to understand them better and we could use that to be better individuals ourselves. Perhaps we need to see them as ourselves and our fellow beings, understand that they had flaws and faced doubts and uncertainties like us, but also realise they are remembered for contributing to humanity with a life circumscribed by human-hood. It is possible for us to be the next Steve Jobs or Vishwanathan Anand or Dennis Ritchie or Vivekananda, we just need to understand that our limitations in one aspect does not have to stand in the hundreds of ways in which we can achieve success and happiness and contribute to humanity.

They Are Legends

Every once in a while, fate extends its hand to a select few in each sphere of life. It is not everyone who are fortunate enough to be given such a privilege. One must earn it through hardwork and dedication and talent too. Even amongst them, there are very few who grab that and use it to reach the pinnacle. We call them legends. Roger Federrer, Sachin Tendulkar, Madame Curie, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Frank Sinatra and the likes.

But to each success story, there are thousands of failures. Ones who lost their way, ones who lost it all due to a moment's hesitation, ones who lost it all because the going was just too tough for them and fell on the wayside to glory. There are ones who never really get a helping hand too, as the luck factor simply eludes them. There are ones who work all the way but hasnt got enough just to reach the top and the name of George Leigh Mallory and Robert Scott springs to my mind. Then there are people like Rosalind Franklin who were not recognised because of their sex or colour of skin or financial background. I read about an IAS aspirant from Kerala, coming from an extremely poor family being disqualified due to lack of physical fitness.

I am reminded of Dorando Pietri who ran an awesome race at the London 1908 Olympics Marathon. The marathon, originally ran for 42 kms, was extended a couple hundred meters to end at the royal box and to think that Pietri took 10 mins of his total time of 2h 54min 46s to cover the last 350 meters and fell down around 5 times. He was disqualified as he was helped up by umpires. Although he was given a Gilded Silver Cup by Queen Alexandra, an award proposed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the heartbreak of being stripped off an Olympic Gold Medal will never be compensated. I remember Jan Ulrich whose worst finish in a Tour de France is 4th place and has got 5 2nd places finishes and one 3rd place, all against a certain Lance Armstrong. Unlike Armstrong, Ulrich competed in all the major races of the year, won an Olympic Gold Medal and also won the tour in 1997. A more consistent cyclist one can never find and yet all accomplishments pale in comparison with Lance Armstrongs comeback from Cancer and his tryst with the Yellow Jersey.

So, this is a tribute to them, to those who run the entire race but fall few feet short of the mark. This is to all those who work, work and work and get no results, this to those who swim upstream but the flow just keeps pushing them back. This is to those who tire against insurmountable odds, to those who commit themselves to a task only to find themselves failing due to the silliest of reasons. This is to all those who dream of making it big and try their best to get there, this is to all those who still keep going inspite of failures.

Courage is easy to embrace
when you are undisputed ace,
to keep going once falls darkness,
that measures your greatness.

They are the true legends. They are the ones who deserve respect and applause for they keep going even when there is no one to applaud for them, even appreciate their efforts.