NEPOTISM, a simple word but often tormented and made really complicated. We can give various explanations to the term “Nepotism”, but in simple words it just means “favoring your loved ones”.

In current world, few are like Sir APJ Abdul Kalam who never had a family, but a heart that was always open for every tiny bud. But we unlike the monks have families and loved ones, whom we always give the utmost priority. This happens everywhere, in your family, my family and almost everyone’s family.

But why do we start marching on roads and pelting stones over social media when the same act of love is practiced by someone who holds a higher status in the society? Is it fine if we practice the same at our homes and society but we stand against someone else who does the same, just because he/she holds a higher authority? But again that authority isn’t gifted to him/her, rather is earned with constant hard work, just like our parents do.

For an example, Rakesh gets a brand new professional level DSLR camera gifted by his father, who earns quiet a good amount of money. On the other hand, Raajan who does magic with his phone camera never could afford an entry level camera as he belonged to a humble family. Don’t you think this is NEPOTISM?

But this remains hidden and neglected as from the beginning we have always related the term “NEPOTISM” to Bollywood, while it lies very much in our family and society as well.

WHO’S THE CULPRIT?

The culprit isn’t a single person or just a bunch of people. Just like the saying “Taali ek haath se nahi bajti”, there lies another hand, a huge one though, that contributes to this. And sadly that’s none other than us.

There is just a bunch of people who holds this higher authority or power, may be 200 or 500 in number. But we, the viewers are countless and we’re the one who give this power to them. So who’s the culprit? Who’s the hidden one giving a push from behind without even realizing the outcomes?

For another example – Let’s say there are two vendors in your locality who sell fruits. Every day you see a big crowd gathered around one of the sellers, while the other one with just two or three buyers. What would you conclude from that? It must give an image that the second vendor must be selling lower quality fruits than the first one.

Similarly let’s see the situation below. The following are three videos from YouTube. The first one is an original song created by a group of youngsters and was published on YouTube by a channel named “Khatth”. I must suggest you to at least see the video for once or to listen to it and find out if they lack any quality in terms of singing, music or composition. On my opinion I really loved it and I’m sure you’ll feel the same. It has been 7 months since it was published on YouTube, but it has got only 2368 views by now.

The other two videos are two songs sung by Salman Khan and you can clearly see the number of views crossing over 100 million when combined together and that too in less than a period of 3 months.

Now it’s up to you to find out who’s actually deserving amongst the both when it comes to music. I know, like me you’ll end up with the same choice, the first one which hasn’t received the kind of reaction it deserves. Again it comes back to the same question i.e. who’s the culprit behind this?

WHAT DO WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND DO?

First of all I must mention that I’m not criticizing Salman Khan or anyone else, rather I’m trying to make it clear that he and these people are completely right, while we’re the one who are actually wrong. We’re the one who are choosing, promoting and inspiring terms like Nepotism and favoritism through our unconscious acts.

But don’t we know this?

We actually do. We know this from the very beginning but somehow we got lost when it came to act on it. But after the demise of an emerging actor, it has opened our eyes. But even then, the emotion led decisions of boycotting every star kid isn’t right as well. Rather every artist whoever he or she may be needs to be judged by their art. Along with that a little tenderness towards the new comers will support and motivate their talents.

That’s all we need to do to bring down the negative sides which we have been preaching unknowingly for a long time. A small step, very small perhaps, but when accepted by millions can bring the change for good in no time.

By Dhrutikanta Sahoo