Be honest..

These days I have been religiously watching the second season of Teacher's Achievers Club, aired on Star World. It has versatile actor, Boman Irani interviewing successful people from all walks of life and offers great insight about their journey to reach where they are. Unlike other popular chat shows that mostly invites mainstream Bollywood actors, Achievers Club welcomes celebrated personalities from various fields. This season, noted achievers like Narayan Murthy - co-founder of Infosys, Ronnie Screwvala - founder and CEO of UTV group, Mira Nair - Director & Producer, Sabyasachi - Fashion Designer, Shiv Kumar Sharma - Santoor player, made their presence felt. I particularly liked one interview the most. 

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's interview on Achievers Club was the one which struck a right chord with me. I knew him as the director/producer of acclaimed movies like 3 idiots, Parinda, Parineeta, Munnabhai series. The general perception about him is that he is a rude, grumpy man. But watching him on the Achievers Club changed the way I look at him. What I realized was that he is an honest man who has a lot of guts and diplomacy is not his biggest forte. 

I laughed hard when he narrated the incident about his altercation with the then I & B Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani while receiving National Award for Best Short Experimental Film for his movie - Murder at Monkey Hill. Someone sticking to their guns when he/she has money and power is quite understandable. But Vidhu Vinod Chopra, not getting intimidated by I & B Minister and the President of India and arguing with them to get what he was promised, that too on live telecast, even when he had to borrow money to come to Delhi is very very very impressive. It just lays emphasis on the fact that he was always confident, honest and blunt. Money, success or power has nothing to do with him being a blunt man. He was always like that and success hasn't changed him at all. The man has real guts, who knows what he wants and doesn't sugarcoats things. I believe that because he is not a people pleaser and doesn't entertains nonsense, he has earned the reputation of being rude. But those who are close to him, personally and professionally appreciate his honesty. His line, "My father was a honest man and therefore he was a poor man" stuck with me. Watch the interview on Youtube - Star World handle to know more about the incident.

Be honest

Honesty in this world doesn't always pays well instantly and isn't appreciated by many. Though a lot of people like to use this word frivolously. I am sure everyone has come across individuals who ask for your opinion about something and when you give them a honest one, they start to sulk if it was not what they wanted to hear. Every famous person would agree that people who kept giving them a reality check every now and then, contributed to their success hugely. Honest friends and family members, who keep you grounded and never shower you with undeserving praises are a blessing to have as they help to improve the quality of your life.  One honest compliment always beats 1000 fake ones as the value is more. If praise is all what you want to hear, then you don't need friends. What you need is a paid staff, who will only tell you what you want to hear.

On the other hand, some just take the cover of 'being honest' and vent out all repressed anger, jealousy, frustration and stress. Expressing opinion in a firm tone without insulting means being blunt or straightforward. But raising voice and insulting accounts to be rude. Putting across your point without being rude is completely achievable. One also need to understand that there is a fine line between being straightforward and being rude. Often the lines get blurred and people cross the line. What we need to do is find that fine line and never cross over to the rude area.

So please don't entertain the opinions of every Tom, Dick and Harry you come across. Determine yourself, who possesses knowledge, experience, wisdom, and RIGHT INTENT. Once you know the ones whose heart is in the right place, take only their opinion seriously. Discard all the rest.

Honesty does pays well in the long term. It is a refreshing quality as no one has be fake, pretend to be something else, and lie around such people. The key for happiness is to 'be yourself'. If we break down the words, it simply means, be real, be honest.  As Bette Davis rightly said, "It's better to be hated for who you are, than to be loved for someone you're not. It's a sign of your worth sometimes, if you're hated by the right people."