Publicity Craze

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

When I see today a group of individuals crowding around a victim of a car accident, gasping for breath, and clicking videos my blood boils. Is a dying man too an object of salacious publicity? I can understand the photo ops of ministers doling out freebies to the poor and hungry , although that too is inhuman exploitation of man's infirmities; for the minister too is hungry of publicity. But why should an accident victim or rape victim be used for publicity material? If publicity is communication to the larger  public for information, how is the common citizen edified by such information? Human poverty , destitution, depravity, nudity and even helpless tears are all now amateur camera fodder and unthinking persons find a surrogate of sexual excitement in such pictures. When young shoppers go to a Mall they click  pictures and release them on the Face Book for the wows of their FB group. The Birthday celebrations and parties are all on the FB and other Apps. A picnic or a book launch or even sightseeing are all publicity material.

May be I am an old fashioned prude or alienated from the new reality  but I feel this is a self-obsessed complex to show to the circle of your acquaintances how significant your activities are, and what a man/woman  of fashion-taste-choices- fancies you are. I may however be countered  by many that there is nothing wrong in self-publicity. In these times of information if your friends and relations enjoy seeing your activities, why not give them that pleasure? Well, I can't agree more. But what about the countless others who do more important things for society or nation without any publicity? Bureaucrats, Scientists, writers , thinkers and also nation builders and politicians do more important things without bothering for publicity. A true lover never lets the world know what a great lover he is. Einstein never had a camera man by his side when he was spending sleepless midnight hours to show to the world how he perspired  over minor problems.

But the world was curious to know how he worked, what he ate and wore  after his relativity became a  gamechanger in Physics and Mathematics. The nonentity wishes to show his meaningless activities to his circle, the bigger the better. Prasun Joshi never uploads pictures of his frenzy over the choice of a word. Amitabh Ghosh does not publicize what research materials he collected and how, for his Hungry Tides or Sea of Poppies: We have not seen videos  of Churchill  working all night during the war although that would enlighten us about the ways of a genius. The true celebrity , the real genius does not bother about publicity: It is the Mr. Nobody(s) who is eager to let the world know how he shopped in a Mumbai Super Market. People are hungry to know how Harivansh Rai Bachchan performed before  midnight audiences and wrote Madhusala after his duties as Professor of English at Allahabad University. But the poetester's video goes viral showing his writings table and pen and (pegs) stacks of books.

Publicity is required to inform people about their rights and what the state  proposes to give them. Publicity is must when new taxes are proposed by Government or when a life saving  medicine is released to the market. But what you wear for your marriage or who made you up is too private to be publicized. But wait-wait- if that pumps up your ego or elevates the status of your family or makes your circle envious, well do it . But spare us mortals who believe in silent work. If our  work is appreciated  others will do our publicity.

Imagine the immortals- Vyasa, Valmiki, Shakespeare, Copernicus and a host of greats who had no camera phone nor any publicist. Vyasa- Valmiki did not even write the date or name- for they  believed in Eternity and the  vastness of the world, too large for human signature. Perhaps for that they  are read and researched even today although we never know what they looked like. Publicity for the genuine is a post -appreciation chase: For the Fake it is an obsessive hunger. Choose and cheers.