Sanjaya Malakar is my new idol, irrespective of whether or not this finalist actually becomes the American Idol, writes Suresh Nair.
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Sanjaya Malakar is my new idol, irrespective of whether or not this finalist actually becomes the American Idol. I don’t sing, not even in the bathroom, nor do I have enough hair to audaciously sport a wild, spiky hairstyle that has now gone down in hair story as a faux-hawk! But I certainly identify with mediocrity!
It doesn’t really matter how badly Sanjaya sings, because the fact remains that he is still belting it out, despite being called the worst contestant ever to set foot on the show! You still see Sanjaya smiling, cheerful and not showing a hint of embarrassment as he gets on the stage and faces judge Simon Cowell. Come to think of it, Cowell, who has been his worst critic, has an easier job than Sanjaya.
I mean, it’s certainly far easier to find fault in someone else’s work than actually be any good at the same yourself. After all, we haven’t heard Simon sing, right? But then he’s doing his job, though fault finding has been raised to an art form by the likes of him with their nasty wisecracks and punch lines. In fact, on April 1, Sanjaya even made it to the Star Trek website, where his name was defined as, ‘an early 21 century creature of unknown origin, but with mind-altering qualities. Lifespan — unknown possibly immortal’.
But Sanjaya is not letting the mixed reactions of 37 million viewers discourage him from what he likes doing best — singing! The moral of his story is to go ahead and do what you are passionate about in life whether or not you’ve been gifted with the requisite talent. You might not have the height of a Carl Lewis or the grace of an Ed Moses but why should that stop you from running? It’s not important how bad you are it, what matters is how badly you want to do it! After all, it’s a free world and if someone has a problem with your talent, it’s their problem. Sanjaya’s nonchalance parallels that popular adage — “What you think of me is none of my business!” So, more power to Sanjaya!
If Ayn Rand’s ‘The Fountainhead’ were to be rewritten, Sanjaya Malakar would be the new Howard Roark and Simon Cowell the new Ellsworth Toohey. And we could end this column on that classic confrontation between the two, where Ellsworth asks Howard, “What do you think of me?”
And Malakar replies, “I don’t think of you!”
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