Source: Cover story "Ten most
admired Indians", Sept 10 2000 The Week
There is a very fine
line between admiration and envy. Do we ever admire anyone without a tinge of
envy at the same time. But it is definitely not the same the other way round. Those we envy
are rarely those whom we also admire. Also, envy is more closely associated with fear and
respect, especially when those we envy have the capacity to harm us in some way.
At the same time, fear and respect are also more often than not directed at those too far
removed from us in the social and economic scale. There is after all little point in envying
say the king in his palace or the billionaire on his private island. There is no way an
ordinary person can relate to the very rich or very powerful in any meaningful manner to
generate admiration or envy. These emotions are almost always reserved for those with whom we
can relate to in some way and whose achievements and position we feel we could have got for
ourselves if only fate had not intervened. Invariably they are from the same social and
economic background as us. Admiration and envy are the emotions most often reserved by us for
neighbours, friends and relatives who are better off than ourselves.
But this poll is not about our neighbours, friends and relatives. It is about people who have
gone far and way ahead of us in life, some of them at a fairly young age. The difference is
that these are all people who started off in life not very different or very far from us. In
that respect, they are people whom we can very well relate to. And admire and envy and respect
for the special qualities of ability and character that have brought them where they are
today. These are also people whom we should have no hesitation in using as role models for our
own children. Which parent would not want his or her child to become another Lata Mangeshkar
or an Abdul Kalam? And despite the prevailing cynicism about politics and politicians, a
Vajpayee or a Naidu.
Yet there is something disappointing. For all their admirable achievements, there is no real
greatness represented here. No bold dream or vision, like that of the Mahatma, that fires the
people's imagination, no great effort that surmounted impossible odds, no great thought or
idea that changed people's lives. An old saying goes: Some people see things as they are and
ask why. Some people see things that never were and ask why not. This top 10 all belong to the
former category. Not surprising as they are all eminently reasonable people. But as Bernard
Shaw once said: 'All progress depends on unreasonable men.' And women.
Poll methodology
Step 1: A list of 100 eminent Indians was
collated jointly by The Week and market research and opinion polling agency TNS Mode.
Step 2: The list was given to 1047 persons
in 6 cities, asking them to sort the names into four categories: people they admired a lot, people
they admired somewhat, people they did not admire, and people they did not know. And then rank the
top 10 from those whom they admired.
Step 3: The ranks were given a score, the
topmost being 10. A mean rank score was computed for each contender. Based on the mean rank score,
the 10 most admired Indians were shortlisted. |
u
A.B. Vajpayee leads the pack of eminent Indians. Respondents found him a good administrator
and politician. The only other politician to make it to the elite club is Chandrababu Naidu,
Andhra's 'CEO', who got the nod because of his administrative ability and for improving the IT
sector.
u
Lata Mangeshkar is the only musician to make it to the top, thanks to her golden voice.
Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai are the others from the entertainment industry. Amitabh
gets some accolades for his new role as TV anchor as well, while Aishwarya scores both because
of her beauty and acting talent.
u
Categories like bureaucrats, industrialists and writers are not represented, essentially
because they are not as well known. Cricketers have no such problem, and despite the scandals
that have rocked the game, Sachin Tendulkar has bagged the third spot and captain Sourav
Ganguly the ninth.
u
Kiran Bedi makes the grade for entering a male bastion, Abdul
Kalam for developing India's missile system and Amartya Sen for being the greatest economist
from India.
u
Leading actor from the south, Kamal Hasan, missed it by a hair's breadth. His score was just
five less than that of Amartya Sen. Close on his heels were A.R. Rahman (111), P.T. Usha
(100), Shah Rukh Khan (92), Pandit Ravi Shankar (90), Asha Bhonsle (90), Sathya Saibaba (87),
Madhuri Dixit (85), Vishwanathan Anand (84) and Jyoti Basu (83).
u
In Mumbai, showbiz dominates; apart from Amitabh, Lata and Aishwarya who also figure in the
all-India list, Hrithik Roshan, Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan emerge winners. Amitabh and
Sachin overtake Vajpayee in popularity while Bal Thackeray and G.R. Khairnar also find favour.
u In
Delhi, Vajpayee tops the chart but Sonia Gandhi makes a dramatic entry pipping Amartya Sen at
the post.
u In
Calcutta, Vajpayee trails the Bengalis, Amartya Sen, Sourav Ganguly and Mamata Banerjee.
Surprise of surprises, Lata emerges on top.
u
In Chennai, Kiran Bedi finishes second while a clutch of south
Indians emerge favourites: actor Kamal Hasan, music director A.R. Rehman, spiritual leader
Sathya Saibaba and singer K.J. Jesudas. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi also gets the mandate
but finds himself only on the ninth spot while Chandrababu Naidu is rungs above him.
u
Hyderabad expectedly plumps for its own chief minister, who fares even better than Vajpayee in
his city.
u In
Bangalore, Sachin leads with Vajpayee and Lata on his heels. Infosys chief Narayana Murthy
finishes on the 11th spot.
Source: Cover story "Ten most
admired Indians", Sept 10 2000 The Week
Cop of big things : By Gautam Kaul
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