[Fsf-friends] Ankit Fadia : The real picture

[V. Sasi Kumar]

On Thu, 2006-04-06 at 13:06 +0530, Amol Hatwar wrote:
> *Chop*
> > In this case, I think, the crime was committed not by the kid, but by
> > the community that made him a celebrity. This community could include
> > his parents, relatives, teachers and friends. Once a celebrity, it is
> > only human to try and cling to it. I actually sympathise with the guy.
> > Interestingly, there are other such young young guys who are being made
> > out to be geniuses. Their lives are just wasted. This is a tragedy.
> 
> How can you blame the community/population? Blaming the media who
> publish without enough knowledge is justifiable. But more than that,
> blaming the individual who "prefers" to be cut from reality is always a
> better solution.

It often happens that, when a child does something unusual, he is hailed
as a genius and exhibited around by parents, friends, relatives,
teachers, etc. There may be a bit of truth in what they claim, but the
important point is that it is a bit. With parents who are influential or
are very wealthy, they make use of their connections and their resources
to promote this 'genius'. Not that this happens always, or succeeds
always either. Sometimes it does. For a child in school, he cannot come
out of the hyperbole and look carefully at his achievements. He gets
carried away. And there starts the tragedy. Because, the child
apparently had some talent, but he is not given a chance to test it
against others of equal or better talent, and begins to genuinely think
that he is somebody special. He stops growing, and continues living in
an imaginary world where he is an Einstein, Eisenstein, Russell, Gandhi,
RMS, whatever.

I know of at least one similar case here -- a young chap who has
published a book on philosophy. He is in his early twenties. Nothing
wrong with that. But I happened to read a few pages of the book.
Apparently, he has read some books and has some awareness of some
philosophical ideas. But that is about all. His ideas are pretty naive
and very immature. The book got published only because his parents, who
are quite influential people, took the initiative. He is now a celebrity
and drives around in a Fiesta (or some such thing). His life is now a
struggle between acting as an intellectual, and blaming those who
criticise him. He is a goner. A life that could potentially have been
much more happy and successful.

Best
-- 
V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf at gmail.com>
Free Software Foundation of India