QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."
-- Patrick Henry

The Crave for Publicity 

“If you don’t advertise yourself, you will be advertised by your enemies.
-- E. Hubbard 

Some people are of the opinion that those who hold high office should exercise some restraint as far as publicity is concerned. It is argued that over-exposure might do more harm than good to the office as well as to the person holding it. This does look like a sensible opinion on such an important issue. However, as everyone knows, what is sauce for the gander is not necessarily appreciated by the goose for tastes differ even within the same family. For every argument, there is a counter argument. What one person considers as over-exposure may be viewed as something normal or even under-exposure by others.

Who is that person who does not crave for publicity? If such a person exists, then he would not be considered as a rational being. Mauritians, anyway, are always eager for publicity, the more so when it is free. Have you ever attended a function that the MBC is covering? If you haven’t, do attend one and observe the members of the audience or the spectators. Most of them are not interested in what is happening on stage for their attention is focussed on the cameraman and the direction in which his camera is being focused. Some may gesticulate discreetly but others would not mind changing their seats or craning their necks to breaking point to get themselves in the line of focus of the camera.

Unfortunately, the cameraman does not always understand the psychology of the people. His camera will linger on a few selected personalities to the extent of forgetting even the organisers of the function who are relegated to the background. Sometimes you won’t even know who the chairman or the secretary is and, if by luck one of them flashes on the screen, you will rarely have the opportunity of appreciating the sweetness or harshness of his or her voice. Sometimes the cameraman does his job properly but the scissors of the editing team reconfigure the show.

Why do people want the MBC to cover their functions? No doubt because they want their organisation, the particular activity they are holding and their members to get some publicity. Some would sit in front of the TV even one hour before the time scheduled for news and eagerly await the particular news item. You can imagine their deception when they discover that those who came to cover the programme had an agenda of their own.

At the outset, I mentioned that every normal being craves for publicity. But do you know that even the dead or the dying crave for publicity? One day, a long time back, I was on a visit at a friend’s place. His father who had crossed the four score bar was in a bad state and everybody was expecting his departure for the grand voyage at any time. While I was there, I heard him telling my friend, more than once, in a staccato voice, “My son, don’t forget what I told you.” In spite of the assurance given by the son, the father was repeating his request ad nauseam. Intrigued by the strange request being made by someone on his deathbed, I could not help asking my friend what was the matter.  

The friend took me outside to explain that his father’s wish was the announcement of his death on radio be made both in Hindustani and French. The old man had made known that his ghost would stand by the radio set in the living room to know whether his last wish had been complied with. Surely the son would have to bear the consequences if he failed to get the MBC broadcast the announcements in two languages.

There is the interesting though old story of a lady from a village who feigned illness in order to get admission to a particular hospital for a couple of days. She had developed an imaginary intestinal problem that medical science was not in position to detect. Now why should someone in good health seek admission in a hospital? Here is what the lady confided to her neighbour:

“Next week the MBC team will be in the female ward of our hospital for their ‘Programme des Malades’. I would like to be in one of the wards in order to be interviewed and to make a request for a song that I like very much.”

You might think that she was crazy to want to do such a thing. Not at all for her friends who had had such an opportunity had become heroines in the village. Whenever the womenfolk met in the fields or at the public tap the topic of conversation was inevitably the “Programme des Malades” which had become one of the most popular programmes of those days.

It is said that some people, crazy for publicity, have been planning bank robberies and even murders so that their names could appear in the papers. Though many would consider them as villains, there are others who would admire them and regard them as heroes.

Politicians and other personalities are perhaps doing the right thing advertising themselves for, according to E. Hubbard, those who don’t advertise themselves will find their loving enemies undertaking that task for them. When you advertise yourself, you naturally put in the forefront your good qualities and relegate the negative ones in the background. When your enemies decide to do the job for you, they emphasise your negative qualities and push the good ones into the background.

How to get publicity without the help of the press people? Birbal, the famous minister of Emperor Akbar provides us with the answer. Once a fellow Brahmin came to see him with a somewhat particular complaint. He hailed from a family of pandits. While his father and grandfather and great grandfather were always respectfully addressed by everyone as “Panditjee”, nobody addressed him in this manner and he was very upset.

One day, he knocked at Birbal’s door for help. As usual, the minister was ready to oblige and came up with a wonderful plan that could not fail. He told the man to retort angrily to anyone addressing him as “Panditjee”. 

Birbal met some children living in the village and told them that the Brahmin got irritated whenever addressed as “Panditjee”. The children were very happy at the news. They started calling the man “Panditjee” to irritate him. As advised by Akbar, the Brahmin began shouting at the children. The more irritated he became, the more the children shouted, “Panditjee, Panditjee”.  The children of other villages started doing the same thing.

After sometime, the Brahmin stopped scolding those who addressed him as “Panditjee” for this is how he was being greeted by everyone in the village. So, if you don’t want to go to the press, another way to get cheap publicity is to seek the help of gossipmongers. Try it. You will be amazed at the result.