DailyPost 1008
REFLECTED GLORY
Basking in somebody else’s glory is one of the core behavioural traits of an Indian, the best way be finds to introduce himself is by taking the names of few successful persons who would be known to the person he is meeting. The next stage would be to prove his personal connect with that ‘mythical person’, who at best be would have barely known and more often than not would have just heard of him. With such behavioural trait if you really happen to be close; familial or otherwise to a person of glory and success, we can well imagine how most such connected people would bask in reflected glory and if given a chance might even end up exploiting it to the fullest.
If you analyse the most of the everyday conversations in this country, the one common and predominant thread would for sure be the standard streak of reflected glory as a part of our culture. The family genealogy with one’s having a few glorious ones are at full display whatever might be the occasion and however much long the connection would be. Reflected glory in simple terms means fame or approval achieved through association with someone else rather than through one’s own efforts.
With this mindset most of even the business conversations revolve around the person or persons whose glory the practitioner has decided to exploit and the crux turns out to be asking for a favourable attitude or a decision you are supposed to make. The creation and subsistence of a coterie or a clique around such persons is the epitome of this thought process. The unfortunate part is that most of times in these cases, the person with success or power or both, also becomes a party to the nefarious engagements.
Finding happiness in someone’s success and glory is the most natural of human tendencies though this seems to be getting decimated these days but making a business out of it, even with the knowledge of that person is a criminal act. The reference to successful projects or out of the context exaggeration of it or citing unwarranted academic or professional achievements also fall in the same genre.
BUT FOR THE TRUE CREDENTIALS REQUIRED FOR THE JOB OR THE PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT, REFLECTED GLORY IS BANDIED.
Sanjay Sahay