An Appeal to Celebrities

An appeal to Celebrities

Celebrities are expected to be role models as general public put immense faith and confidence on them. Without belittling their talent and effort in achieving the celebrity status, it is an irrefutable fact that more than their talent and effort it is the public support which helped them to gain celebrity status. There are innumerable talented people in various fields who are unknown, unheard and unsung leave alone getting at least a VIP status. India is the world champions in Kabaddi. How many of us know the name of at least the captain of our team?  Common man eulogies the celebrities treat them as demy Gods; shower them with praise and encomiums.  They show blind faith and belief on celebrities and many of them are even prepared to die for them. In some parts of the country, people sell blood to buy tickets to see their films. Common man blindly follows the words and deeds of the celebrities. In view of all these, celebrities have a solemn duty to justify the confidence reposed on them and live a noble and principled life which others can emulate.  However, it is painful to note that many celebrities shows utter disregard to common man’s faith by endorsing spurious and substandard articles injurious to health. While the celebrities who endorse these products do not themselves consume these items and will be holding them only for making the advertisement film, the common man who uses this based on the indirect recommendation of their idols face a grave health hazard.  Inspite of the fact that these celebrities are multi millionaires, the greed for money make them to endorse anything unbecoming to the status of men of principles. They may be able to escape scot-free with their clout and money power from Indian courts because though theoretically all are equal before the law, practically are all unequal before the law, they will be treated as guilty in the people’s court and in the court of Almighty.  There are only isolated cases where a celebrity refused to endorse unhealthy products. One shining example is legendary Badminton player and former All England Champion Pullele Gopi Chand who refused to become brand ambassador of an aerated drink because it is injurious to health.  He is a true nationalist and patriotic person who set up a Badminton Academy with his lifelong savings.  He even had to mortgage his house to find funds for the Academy.  It is gratifying to note that his efforts and sacrifices put paid off as his Academy did produce several world class shuttlers like Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, P Kashyap,  K Srikanth etc to name a few.  How many of our so called celebrities have contributed to charitable and philanthropic   activities beneficial to the common man or any national duty to uphold the prestige of the country in the international forums.  Owning sports teams is for their passion and publicity only and cannot be treated as a national service.  Have any of them shown the sagacity to adopt few talented sports persons and groom them to create Olympic and World champions thereby upholding the prestige and status of the country in the international forums? Have anybody started   hospitals or educational institutions for the under privileged sections of the society? Bill Gates the wealthiest person of the world spends substantial portion of his income on charity. Did any of the Indian Billionaires and celebrities follow a fraction of his noble example?

Respected celebrities.  If you cannot help the suppressed, oppressed and depressed class of society and the common man who constitute a major chunk of your fan following, at least do not play havoc with their lives by endorsing spurious and sub standard items injurious to health. Greed for money breeds corruption and amassing money by unprincipled and dubious methods is also a part of corruption. Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi has rightly said that God has given everything to meet the needs of the people but not to meet the greed of the people. It is ridiculous to amass wealth for your siblings and future generations as it will make them lazy, lethargic and mediocre.  One can neither take a single penny at the time of their death nor open a bank account in the other world (Heaven or Hell or anything else).  Earning money is not a bad thing provided it is earned by ethical and moral means. Celebrities should not stoop to the level of petty politicians, for whom cheating and dishonesty are their fundamental rights. They befool the common man by giving false promises and the politicians who can befool the maximum people for the longest time are considered as the most successful politician. No wonder, even today politics is considered as a profession unfit for men of principles and is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Barring exceptions, politicians command respect from their own party men only, whereas celebrities command respect from people cutting across politics, caste, region, religion etc. Please do not allow to destroy the confidence created by sustained work by your own unprincipled actions. It takes years to build an image but takes only seconds to shatter it.   

Once again I appeal to the celebrities not to endorse spurious things or do anything harmful to the people or the country which will only help to rattle the confidence reposed by millions of people across the world. Celebrity status is not permanent as today’s hero will be tomorrow’s Zero.