Nice to be an Important People, and even better if you have the tag of a VERY IMPORTANT PERSON {VIP}. FAR better if you are a ‘VVIP’.
You go to a social gathering or function, and chairs are vacated for you at prime spots, traffic is diverted to ease your entry, and you get extra attention for every act and event that happens if you carry the tag of being a VIP.
In our day-to-day life, we are bombarded by all breeds, species and VIPs. They come in various colours, castes and creeds and throw their weight and stinking persona all over the place.
I grew up in a small township where the General Manager {The GM sahib} was like a ‘hauoovaa.’ The lady GM was like a ‘Prima Donna Queen’ who wilt even in the little sunshine. As a nine-year-old kid in grey nickers, I imagined the lady GM eating only gold and silver and wondered if actually, she would actually squat on an Indian pot of shit. She was an out-of-this-world persona.
Was she just like this? Or, the people around her made her like that—a point to ponder.
Why are we alienating these VIP creatures in gold-gilded cages? Is it by Choice or by Compulsion?
There is a candid picture of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with his wife, Sonia Gandhi during his time as an ordinary pilot on Air India. Rajiv and Sonia are in casual clothing like jeans and sweatshirts, eating ice cream at a local roadside vendor. The caption reads, “How much I miss those days…when I was nobody.”
Imagine how much Mr Amitabh Bachchan would miss the sumptuous bite of ‘Gol Gappaas’ at a ‘Khomachaa’ of Civil lines in Allahabad.
The VIP status took away the charisma of a Bindaas life and created a virtual aura of pseudo and false livelihood that is more of a burden than fun.
I hate to be photographed and documented for my actions and the words I speak.
A VIP lady premier’s picture went viral on social media when her skirt blew up from a gust of wind and revealed her panties as she walked down the aircraft. Disgusting! Sure, there it is!
With the advent of Extremism and Terrorism, VIP incarceration was fortified by Gunned Black Commandos and Bouncers. With all this hullabaloo, I think we make the VIP an even softer target and a subject of envy, that nurtures nothing but hatred and jealousy.
One thing is for sure that a VIP never gets positive vibes from the ordinary people who are most of the time, ruthlessly bypassed.
How many times have you abused the VIP motorcade that jams traffic for hours after it passes off? …. Or sulking while waiting for a VIP to arrive in the late hours to inaugurate a particular event? Or stand in a ridiculous queue for ages and see a VIP just walk in with a bodyguard covering his face?
Former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton called Agra a ‘Ghost Town’ because he did not see a single person standing on the road during his motorcade to the Taj Mahal. Imagine the plight and misery of Agraites who were forced to abandon their routine on the altar of their first Super VIP arrival.
As an Intern in the Department of Surgery, I witnessed the advent of something called the ‘VIP SYNDROME’.
A septuagenarian Cabinet Minister was to undergo a Prostate Operation using a new technique that was patented by our Head of the Department. Three days before the surgery, the Department was sprucing up its budget and spending unnecessary money to give the ward a modern look.
The Minister was subjected to all kinds of expensive and nonessential tests and investigations. The surgery had hiccups and weird complications. Our team had a herculean task in saving the life of the VIP.
During the one month’s Internship posting, I must have assisted with at least fifty surgeries; all went well without any complications. All these patients were ordinary people without the VIP’s tag.
MAMTA BANERJEE says, “I don’t want to be a VIP. I want to be a LIP, a Less Important Person.”
“My VIP patients often regret so many things on their deathbeds. They regret the bitterness they will leave in people’s hearts. They realize the no money, no church service, no eulogy, no funeral procession no matter how elaborate, can remove the legacy of a mean spirit.” …… ABRAHAM VERGHESE.
In Medical Practice, we have experienced the menace of dealing with VIPs. I hate patients who give recommendations and try to throw their weight around proving how big a BAHUBALI they are. The consultation starts with… “Doc sahib, you don’t know me… I am so and so…etc.”
An ordinary and straightforward patient no matter how serious or complicated spends less money and gets cured more amicably. The saga of a VIP may be the opposite.
Instead of becoming a Very Important Person; try to become a VERY RESPECTABLE PERSON {VRP}.
To become a VRP, a person can only be an ordinary man. Respect comes from within and is earned, not snatched away.
The most significant VIP on Indian soil, Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, travelled in the third-class compartment, nursed an injured goat in the Sabarmati ashram and wore just one khadi overall. He was an ordinary man and wanted to be treated as one. Yet he was an extraordinary soul.
To me, the VIP tag is a CURSE, not a BOON.
I am sure these VIP’S must be regretting being there. That is why it is commonly said as you go higher it is more lonely up there. As a matter of fact the famous ones cant mix with people much they have to be cautious. This inherent devil in humans is jealousy which becomes active and ready to pull him down. Or spread viscious lies about him. Don’t you think so….
As a kid, I used to envy the VIPS… but with time I realised how mundane and pseudo-life becomes. You need to become a VIP by ruling somebody’s heart and respect by choice…. not by compulsion.
you are right…. a compulsive VIP trait nurtures nothing but hatred and jealousy.
thanks for your views.