JOIN USWhat emerged clearly from the way she has affected millions is that the unsung majority of the world is sick of the tyranny of airbrushed talents and manufactured success stories, of Botoxed beauty queen, the monotony of prototyped perfection and fashion gurus.
She with her awkward conversational skills, frumpy old maiden clothes, clumsy stage manners and 47 years of anonymity showed the world and its puppeteers like the unforgiving Simon Cowell that there is no substitute for soul spun talent. That if God has given us a gift, it does not matter if it is not packaged the way the world likes it. That it is okay to be yourself even if the world is laughing at you. That if you have something extraordinary buried deep inside you, maybe it is time to take it out, dust it and let the sun shine on it.
Boyle was greeted with black humour, sarcasm and ungracious laughter as she walked onto the stage. When she began to sing though, it was as if a river poured out of her soul and cleansed the room of all cynicism.
Smirks gave away to wonder and disbelief and then began a chain reaction that many million youtube views later has even reached the White House with President Obama inviting her for an event. Incidentally, she turned down the invitation!
When Cowell said to Boyle, “You are a little tiger, aren’t you?” it was his way of acknowledging that people who do not fit into accepted moulds can also roar and be heard. In about less than five minutes, Susan Boyle unlocked doors within us and set us free from myths about beauty, success and charisma.
Nothing on Indian television has come close to this moment except once in Zee’s Dance India Dance where a man who cannot even walk came to audition with an ambition to be a dancing star and made it to the first round. What we felt at the sight of this man was shame because most of us have whole bodies but paralysed spirits that stop us in our tracks while the world dances on.
Enough really of spoilt celebrities like Gauhar Khan on Sony’s Jhalak Dikhla Ja who have everything except graciousness. Enough of the ill-mannered Palaks on MTVs Roadies. Enough of unscrupulous politicians. Celebrity news. And televised spa massages that NDTV’s anchors enjoy in lifestyle shows.
Maybe it’s time for us to stop cowering in imperfect bodies and unfulfilled lives, stop the voices in the head that tell us that it is too late to be new, to be whole, to be extraordinary. Maybe its time to stop watching life and start living it, to stop being afraid of the unknown, of derision and judgement and do what we have always wanted to do. Be ourselves.