With the Bhagat-Hirani issue doing rounds across the leading newspapers here in India, its a good time to look at the so called Self help books .... The following article is my personal take on the highly successful business of Self help books.
With the markets being flooded with Self help inspirational books of all genres, from business to career, from losing weight to getting married, it does make the job difficult for a person who actually needs help in taking decisions on how he wants to spend the rest of his life without being mislead is minimal.
In this world of technological marketing, even the creative mass is appalled at the onslaught of mass propaganda of humans failing to achieve success and happiness in their lives. The chances of a person not having read a self help manual is becoming obsolete by the day.
The premise is based on the fact that we as humans lack the exact emotions required to excel towards pursuing happiness. On this journey we need a certain companion to guide us towards our goal. Nothing wrong in that, except for the fact that it gets crowded over time with each guide coming up with his own version of what is right and what is wrong.
Nothing in this world comes free, the companions pile up a huge profit at my financial expense. I am weak and I pay for the expert advice but does it really work. Of course not, because the person who actually makes something out of life must not only be creative but also be good at marketing his creativity. He must market himself well over time. It is a requirement that we always forget. But I would leave that up to the readers to decide for themselves, what is right or wrong from an ethical point of view?
Moving over to Hirani-Bhagat fiasco, it is so obvious that it is a marketing gimmick. If the contents of the allegation are read with a probing mind, it can surely be known that both the parties ask the mass only one question," Have you read the book?" Of course if you haven't read Five point someone or haven't watched 3 idiots then you are missing the point.
Its a well orchestrated marketing symphony. And if this can be plotted against the unsuspecting youth of India, what a niche clientèle the self doubting readers turn out for the American publishing markets. Self help books mislead the reader into believing at his own weekness and create room for more doubt at his own abilites. How this is carried out a mass scale requires a willingness to probe, discarding our current myopic stance that we seem to have surrendered to.
In the business of creativity there is always money to be made and dexterity at duping people to be proved. Let us not turn victims to our self doubt.
After all I am not very positive about " Positive thinking" :)
The End
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