The profile of role models speaks volumes about a society in many different ways! A cross-sectional view of role models across societies can serve as a very strong and accurate indicator of aspirations, values, outlook for respective societies.
An even more interesting exercise would be to analyze role models for a particular society on a longitudinal basis. The results, I am sure, would be extremely insightful and can also help in predicting the future of the society as a whole. (Obviously this can have significant commercial / business merits also.)
Neither my age, nor my academic background, merits me to get into a long-term longitudinal analysis of Role models for the Indian Society. But I will attempt to offer for a shorter term cross-sectional view across India. With the awesome-threesome (Chidambaram, Manmohan and Montek) at the helm of things, we are confident about India’s rise as an economic superpower. With such a context in place, we suddenly see a new profile of role models (LN Mittal, Sunil Mittal, The Ambani Brothers and more.). Obviously the story of role models is not always pleasant. Eastern UP and North Bihar has had a new crop of youth who are taking up crime. A big reason (apart from the state of affairs of UP and Bihar) is the success of Indian-version of Don-Vito-Corleone’s sitting and operating from South and Middle-east Asia. Or Mohd. Afzal for that matter might be a terrorist to some but a role model to freedom fighters in Kashmir.
The more one thinks about it, the more complicated it gets (actually quite an irony, but I guess it’s true more often than notJ).
– The first complication would result from the asking a basic question. Are these role models really the real role models or are they created through media? At some level, access to information (more importantly correct information!) would be a significant affecting variable. This is where media becomes dangerously powerful.
– Another complication would be the fact that sometimes the choice of role model has to be filtered through the sieve of social acceptance. This would therefore lead to two definitions of role models (the real one and the claimed one). The claimed one is obviously flawed. In the field of market research this is one of the more abundant errors (for instance, Why Delhi-ites would have supremely high MHI compared to other metros or Why 25-34 year old males watch Discovery and News Channels in the late night).
– Thirdly, one can confuse the popularity of individuals with them being role-models at large. This is tricky because the choice of a role-model is a very individualistic and intrinsic view. This makes it difficult to identify them at a society’s level and calls for smarter techniques to figure them out.
– However, the most important complication that I wish to raise here is Why are balanced ordinary individuals not worthy of being considered as role models? Why does a role-model need to have eccentric tendencies along with a self-obsessed and selfish pursuit of following one’s dream at “any” cost? Why is playing multiple roles responsibly and reasonably successfully, NOT considered great? Why a person who plays a good father, a good son, a good husband, a good professional, a good player is NOT be technically considered a role-model for society.?
An even more interesting exercise would be to analyze role models for a particular society on a longitudinal basis. The results, I am sure, would be extremely insightful and can also help in predicting the future of the society as a whole. (Obviously this can have significant commercial / business merits also.)
Neither my age, nor my academic background, merits me to get into a long-term longitudinal analysis of Role models for the Indian Society. But I will attempt to offer for a shorter term cross-sectional view across India. With the awesome-threesome (Chidambaram, Manmohan and Montek) at the helm of things, we are confident about India’s rise as an economic superpower. With such a context in place, we suddenly see a new profile of role models (LN Mittal, Sunil Mittal, The Ambani Brothers and more.). Obviously the story of role models is not always pleasant. Eastern UP and North Bihar has had a new crop of youth who are taking up crime. A big reason (apart from the state of affairs of UP and Bihar) is the success of Indian-version of Don-Vito-Corleone’s sitting and operating from South and Middle-east Asia. Or Mohd. Afzal for that matter might be a terrorist to some but a role model to freedom fighters in Kashmir.
The more one thinks about it, the more complicated it gets (actually quite an irony, but I guess it’s true more often than notJ).
– The first complication would result from the asking a basic question. Are these role models really the real role models or are they created through media? At some level, access to information (more importantly correct information!) would be a significant affecting variable. This is where media becomes dangerously powerful.
– Another complication would be the fact that sometimes the choice of role model has to be filtered through the sieve of social acceptance. This would therefore lead to two definitions of role models (the real one and the claimed one). The claimed one is obviously flawed. In the field of market research this is one of the more abundant errors (for instance, Why Delhi-ites would have supremely high MHI compared to other metros or Why 25-34 year old males watch Discovery and News Channels in the late night).
– Thirdly, one can confuse the popularity of individuals with them being role-models at large. This is tricky because the choice of a role-model is a very individualistic and intrinsic view. This makes it difficult to identify them at a society’s level and calls for smarter techniques to figure them out.
– However, the most important complication that I wish to raise here is Why are balanced ordinary individuals not worthy of being considered as role models? Why does a role-model need to have eccentric tendencies along with a self-obsessed and selfish pursuit of following one’s dream at “any” cost? Why is playing multiple roles responsibly and reasonably successfully, NOT considered great? Why a person who plays a good father, a good son, a good husband, a good professional, a good player is NOT be technically considered a role-model for society.?
4 comments:
Thought provoking stuff....
I think people follow role models for what they have become rather than for what they are. To elaborate, the focus is on the surrounding elements- business empire, always on front page etc rather than defining chracteristics of the person (value system, belief, attitude etc). At some level its the success that everyone wants to emulate rather than the person, which defeats the whole idea of role model.
Role model information that is published in mass media is biased in the first place. The list that is handed out to people is based on who's visible and seen more. Respondents also respond on the same parameters.
I think people do have personal role models. Its just that that kind of information is not in the public domain. Needless to say saying that Mr Sharma who is a retired school teacher is my role model is quite un-cool compared to saying that I wanna be like Anil Ambani....
Finally the media creates its own ghosts which it itself exorcises at will....
On your last point Amogh...just compare the answers that you get from a budding individual who's not yet reached the height of his career success vis-a-vis someone who's already reached the top, in other words a role-model himself. The budding guy is more likely to name successful celebrities as his role models, but for the guys who have already made it, the role models are most liely to be their dads, teacher, uncle, coach, etc etc. Think one starts understanding the magnitude of greatness of the balanced people or non-celebrity role models only after one is close to or has already reached the top of the "rightly-mentioned" skewed career succees. Just an example, a budding musician might name Rahman as his role model but once he becomes a successful musicial himself, he will pbbly talk about his first teacher...the role models gets re-labeled at this stage as an influences and the real role model becomes someone who was the actual guide!
Would agree only partially with you chandru. In lot of cases the confessions of these "successfuls" are more of a make-up act for what they missed in the process of becoming a success.
My concern was the fact that contamination happens due to channels of communications in a society choose to behave without responsibilty. Media and the enviornment ( including schools/ college and homes) need to exercise discretion on whom to GLORIFY and how much ? partly i think, Ajith also means the same...
Role models might be created by media conciously or otherwise... but i think role models are also a fall out of the direct impact they have on ur life. At different times people will have different role models due to the ideology or thinking they are carrying at that point of time
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