How Kaavya Vishwanathan Got a Life and Lost it*

*Though it is obvious, let me still mention (lest I get sued for plagiarism!) that the title of my post is inspired by the title of the controversial book by Kaavya Vishwanathan 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life'

I am really impressed by what this Harvard sophomore has packed in 300 pages. I must admit that I found the book witty, amusing and expressive in a novel way. Though I say I found it novel, I might be proven wrong. Maybe all she did was ^c and ^v! In spite of all the negative publicity in the press, I can't stop myself from thinking in favor of this smart 18 year old Indian girl who almost made it big. I feel sorry for this ambitious girl who definitely seems to have a lot of talent. Assuming the story is a reflection of her own family and life, it wouldn't have been easy for her and her family to cope with all the unwanted sudden attention from the media.

Maybe in her naivety she did not follow all the rules in book writing and publishing. Maybe she deserves just one more chance to prove that she, all by herself, could write a piece that would be in the New York bestseller list for months. Who will stop and think and give her that chance...give her that life? We are so ready to stereotype, that it won't occur to most of us that she might be a different person from what is portrayed by the pitiless media. Unless proven otherwise, we tend to just accept that she is someone who is not capable of change.

The other day I came across a piece Pooja Bedi wrote in one of the editorials in TOI. She spoke about how every action of a celebrity is in the limelight and how people tend to forget that celebrities are humans too! Isn't it true that when we heard about Rahul Mahajan's involvement with drugs most of us just brushed it aside saying 'what else can you expect from someone like him...brought up in a rich family...his parents won't have the time to care..they have all the money and they spend it on all kinds of vices'...? 'CRASH', the best picture Oscar is also about the stereotyping that each one of us tends to do...in varying degrees. Does it really require a big crash, an earth shattering incident, for us to realize that we might be costing someone a life because of the stereotyping that we so conveniently do?

People are capable of change. The good could turn bad and ugly and vice versa. As an individual I have learnt that and I keep that in mind when I make key decisions in my life. Is it possible to do that as a society? Or will bubbling full of talent Kaavya Vishwanathans just lose the lives they almost got because as a society we haven't learnt to be humane?