Celebrity Culture Amidst Coronavirus

“In the world, there is enough for our need. But all these are too little for our greed,” observed the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. But worrying is the fact that even at the time of corona crisis, we are being driven by greed rather than humanity, compassion and brotherhood. In one of the darkest hours of human civilisation, we are still looking for personal glory; using all sorts of publicity tricks on the pretext of standing beside the needy. Can’t we keep all such provocations in abeyance till this crisis is over?

There are many examples on how the so called celebrities of our country are using the latest situation to their benefit. Recently, one celebrity donated a huge amount to the new relief fund created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Within minutes, wife of the celebrity, came out on twitter and made the entire world know that she was against the idea of donating such a huge sum. But her husband was determined. At the end, the wife saluted the generosity of her husband but now the question is why the couple’s disagreement had to be publicised? As a matter of fact, everyone understood it is an attempt to hog the limelight as much as possible and to let the world know how philanthropic the celebrity is.

Now coming to another philanthropic celebrity; it was announced one morning that he will donate food for those who have lost their livelihoods during the crisis. Later, it was found that the said celebrity had taken up the mission in collaboration with a food-production firm and rose up the popularity chart without spending a single penny from his own pocket. Some sensible persons raised objections to such practices. Few veteran celebrities were among them. But all the good advices went down the drain as celebrities continue their tryst with publicity.

True charity should be devoid of publicity or personal interest, perhaps these celebrities have forgotten the said teaching. This is why they are trying to brighten their images by posing as the saviours of mankind. But, all of them should remember that they are simply performing their duties. If they are celebrities today, it is for those people who are suffering the most at this cruel hour. It is due to the love and affection of the people, they have become household names today. So, actually the celebrities are not the saviours, rather the real saviours are those people who offer them unconditional love and support.

So celebrities should stop hogging the limelight at this hour of crisis. Rather, they should think about the yesteryears, when they too were also nameless, faceless and just the ones among the crowd. Thus, today they have no right to insult those people who are in distress now. If they continue to do well in their respective fields, the amount of love and affection will automatically increase. There is no need to adopt any other path to go the top. Society will always admire their involvement in charity but, celebrities should not publicise their deeds as they are doing now. Let others speak about their qualities. Being a human is more important than being a celebrity.