Influencer Incarnate

 Intellectual fashions, as they are practised in the populist arena, are quite some fun. As is said, anything that happens the second time, the imitation  way, is always cheap fun. Let me give you a concrete example.

In every field of existence, be it education, be it employment, often the new entrant, whatever might be the age, requires somebody to hold his/her hand, help gently but efficiently so that the life of the individual in the concerned institute runs smooth. 

Now, in the pop world, given the consumerist mode of life, the 'original mentor' emerged as the "influencer" who would charge a hefty fee to often give extremely trivial advice. The best example of such 'image sculpting'  would be the marriage hall decorators, the bridal make-up artists who make every bride look exactly like the recent most Bollywood fashionista, the 'image consultants' who worry over the colour of the socks the person is wearing, and so on. Even a wrong and shallow insistence on 'soft skills' is an example of such an influencer.

Despite such trivialisation of the original concept, there are genuine people who are influencers incarnate. The late Ratan Tata, l would like to insist, was one such person. Despite being an industrialist, he never cosied up to the powers that be. The best example would the Tata Nano factory in Bengal. He had to shift it to Gujrat, but he never compromised on principles.

He was the man who cared for his employees so much that he quietly visited the WoodLand Society in Pune to enquire after the health of a Tata employee. He was the man who decided not to go for a ceremony organised by King Charles in his honour as his favourite dog was ill.

The latest CSR initiative he encouraged was to look after the elderly in the society in such a way that the trained young would get a paying partnership in the process. In brief, he encouraged talent at the workplace, while he mobilised compassion in the society.

It is such value production that creates the brand image of a company. It is such a leader who encourages, empathises, equalises who is the true influencer. No wonder, in the Delhi High Court, there were common people filing an appeal to grant Ratan Tata, who thought of and executed a cheap car for the common man, the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. May his soul rest in peace!

Pratima@In my opinion, in the Indian iconography, the ideal influencer is Shri Krishna, forever friendly, strongly supportive yet encouraging the disciple to be his own self. He advises Arjuna about the most complex issues. Yet the Bhagwad Geeta ends with "यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु" which means, in the final analysis, do what is right in your opinion!