GIVE AS MUCH THOUGHTS TO THIS ONE AS WELL

Many a times in our lives we have seen people throwing away thousands of money just in the name of respecting some highly rated business leaders, political leaders and the anticipated people in this list 'the celebrities'. Whenever there are some occasions to welcome these personalities, the organizers don't leave a place for the audience to criticize on. I am strictly mentioning 'throwing away money' because they forget to pay attention to the subtle yet important issues going around instead of spending hundreds of hours and money for a person whom they have heard of only in the media. 

I know the question you are probably thinking about: Is this blogger insane to show his outrage at a revered practice? Indeed, I admire your concern at this and I will be glad to erase the doubts swirling in your minds. 

First of all, let me demonstrate an example. Imagine the time when a school decides to celebrate its annual school day and comes out with a once-in-a-lifetime plan to invite a reputed celebrity. It knows that the celebrity will not grace the event if a hefty sum of money is provided to him or if the decorations are not very lucrative enough to lure his busy schedule in sparing some time for this function. And so the preparations begin. After a week, the school is as attractive and expensively decorated as a five star hotel. What the school could not achieve in a lifetime, the expectations filled in with the arrival of a celebrity achieved the feat in less than a week. 

"Instead of inviting me, it would have been wise to spend the money for decorations to renovate these temples."

Finally, the day arrives. The celebrity is left in shock at the decorations the school has put up because analyzing at the nearby infrastructures, it seems to be in a budget crisis. But the school does not worry about it; after all the celebrity convinces himself that it is something he truly deserves(and he thinks that it is a must!) as part of his stardom. The function continues and an hour has already passed by. However, with the busy schedule on his way, the celebrity cuts his promised stay at the programme and leaves early. 

So far so good as it provided the audience to witness the making of history with their very own eyes. They are rejoiced at the opportunity of taking a close up of the person that they have only read in the local magazines. As for the organizers, they shun their decision to call this celebrity as he did not fulfill his promise. We should have brought another one,they say. 

But I say, You should not have brought any one.

I know the organizers will be mad about my statement and why shouldn't they be? They have every right to be. Even I couldn't leave away the thoughts of meeting my childhood hero. 

Sadly, in all these circumstances, we miss a point that needs to be addressed. We forget that doing so would mean accepting everything our ego orders us to do. We fail to divert our concerns to add more entertaining books to the library instead of displaying a lavish source of wealth when we had nothing much to depend upon before the event. 

Why can't we utilize our expensive budget for school day to buy hundreds of books for our students or to buy desks for other schools' students who dream under a roofless and desk-less classrooms to becoming a reputed engineer? Why can't we use the money that we had to clear our debts before it is too late? Why do we let ourselves be fooled by the idea of garnering respect and fame by bringing a superstar? 

We can receive undreamed respect if we are able to drastically change the life of meager persons by listening and acting towards their problems. This will bring dignity for the school authorities for paying attention to modify the livelihood of its community. It will accumulate praise for its services and may even inspire other schools to make the best from the money for the issues that need immediate attention than those that require huge focus but deliver ONLY ephemeral respect(or is it none at all?).

Sometimes, I think that if all the money that a political party spends on the pamphlets went for development works(kind of on the spot types) rather than watching a car just throwing them out of its window; it will make a significant contribution to the society and maybe even gather promising votes for which they have been longing for. Or, take the case of hundreds of galas being organized in the cities. I know that it is a business that they live to die for, but at least, can't they allocate a small amount of money from the sold tickets for the people in the west or for those children who lost their right to education during the Maoist insurgency? This way, it delineates the generosity that we once thought had faded in mankind. 

It is my sincere request that next time you do anything that involves bringing celebrities or leaders, think twice. It is not necessary to call them. Instead, invite a farmer who has toiled for the upbringing of his child and who only dreams of his child to be literate enough to free his family from loans. That will be the better idea. You will also get inner satisfaction for your deed. After all, happiness is something that we get from these little things...