Was flipping through channels on a laidback Sunday evening, just when the familiar Peter Parker caught my eye and I paused to watch it for yet another time. The friendly neighbourhood Spiderman was just evolving in his heroic self when Uncle Ben advises him, which just like any other teen, Peter shrugs off. The words of wisdom being “With great powers come great responsibilities”.
As these words echoed in my mind, came to my mind the thought and probable title of my next post. And, here it is.
Not very far back in the past and a friend of mine just happen to casually quote one thing. He said and I quote “To test a man’s character, give him power”. (There happen to be a second half to this quote but I choose to ignore it at this juncture). This quote by him seems to strike me like a bolt from the blue. ‘How true?’ I asked myself. Because the only common thing that one can relate all the famous and notorious men the world has seen till date is the five lettered word called POWER. I consciously and deliberately mentioned about the fame and notoriety part of these powerful leaders because it was the use or sometimes abuse that tilted the scale of popularity in their favour or against them. Those who used it for larger good of the masses climbed the scale of popularity, while those who abused their power must have been certainly hovering in the negative regions on this scale.
Power to many is brute force, but in reality it’s not just that. The father of our nation was seemingly a very powerful leader who played an instrumental role in setting the sun over the British Empire. He neither had the muscle power in his arms nor was backed up with heavy armoury. His power came from his way of thinking and probably his concept of Non-violence. He was able to create and mobilise an enormous pool of humanity who seemed to follow his way of living and these unified mass in turn proved to his power.
On the other hand there are others who have abused power. I know these leaders whom I call notorious might be considered as gods in certain pockets of the globe but my branding them so is based more wide accepted norm of popularity. Take for e.g. the biggest fugitive of our times, Osama Bin Laden. He too undoubtedly is a powerful leader, otherwise how would he have been able to elude the might of the US marines till date. But, the million dollar question is, ‘Is he a popular leader’? I am quiet confident the nays will outweigh the yeas by zillions. No wonder such a verdict reveals that he abused the powers he had, to ruin the demography of the world. His powers were mainly because the Kalashnikov he wielded and the fortress of brainwashed fundamentalist maniacs he had build around him by misguiding them in the garb of religion.
Not just these big names, even you and me can be powerful leaders fuelled by the power of strong will. If you have the fire in the belly, then that can very well serve as the powerhouse for you. A notable personality and someone we could relate ourselves with is that of RTI activist. His power was empowerment of the general public with the tool of “Right to Information”. His struggle was undoubtedly not restricted to his self interest, but stretched beyond for serving the mankind. These examples speak for themselves, for the power we might carry should serve the larger interest of the public. Only then one could be identified as a truly powerful being.
In our pursuit of raw power we seem to forget the true essence of it. A powerful leader need not be a popular leader; but a popular leader is definitely a powerful leader because he will be having a might of his fans and followers backing him up. Thus the golden verses of Uncle Ben should never be forgotten.
Not very far back in the past and a friend of mine just happen to casually quote one thing. He said and I quote “To test a man’s character, give him power”. (There happen to be a second half to this quote but I choose to ignore it at this juncture). This quote by him seems to strike me like a bolt from the blue. ‘How true?’ I asked myself. Because the only common thing that one can relate all the famous and notorious men the world has seen till date is the five lettered word called POWER. I consciously and deliberately mentioned about the fame and notoriety part of these powerful leaders because it was the use or sometimes abuse that tilted the scale of popularity in their favour or against them. Those who used it for larger good of the masses climbed the scale of popularity, while those who abused their power must have been certainly hovering in the negative regions on this scale.
Power to many is brute force, but in reality it’s not just that. The father of our nation was seemingly a very powerful leader who played an instrumental role in setting the sun over the British Empire. He neither had the muscle power in his arms nor was backed up with heavy armoury. His power came from his way of thinking and probably his concept of Non-violence. He was able to create and mobilise an enormous pool of humanity who seemed to follow his way of living and these unified mass in turn proved to his power.
On the other hand there are others who have abused power. I know these leaders whom I call notorious might be considered as gods in certain pockets of the globe but my branding them so is based more wide accepted norm of popularity. Take for e.g. the biggest fugitive of our times, Osama Bin Laden. He too undoubtedly is a powerful leader, otherwise how would he have been able to elude the might of the US marines till date. But, the million dollar question is, ‘Is he a popular leader’? I am quiet confident the nays will outweigh the yeas by zillions. No wonder such a verdict reveals that he abused the powers he had, to ruin the demography of the world. His powers were mainly because the Kalashnikov he wielded and the fortress of brainwashed fundamentalist maniacs he had build around him by misguiding them in the garb of religion.
Not just these big names, even you and me can be powerful leaders fuelled by the power of strong will. If you have the fire in the belly, then that can very well serve as the powerhouse for you. A notable personality and someone we could relate ourselves with is that of RTI activist. His power was empowerment of the general public with the tool of “Right to Information”. His struggle was undoubtedly not restricted to his self interest, but stretched beyond for serving the mankind. These examples speak for themselves, for the power we might carry should serve the larger interest of the public. Only then one could be identified as a truly powerful being.
In our pursuit of raw power we seem to forget the true essence of it. A powerful leader need not be a popular leader; but a popular leader is definitely a powerful leader because he will be having a might of his fans and followers backing him up. Thus the golden verses of Uncle Ben should never be forgotten.
1 comment:
Hey Ameya.... nice man...
The way you have described Power and responsibility is really awesome...
keep up the good work..
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