A short clip making rounds on the internet caught my attention where one of the India’s most prominent business figures whose name needs no introduction and who could be none other than Deepinder Goyal; CEO, Zomato was denied entrance through the gate of Ambience Mall, Gurgaon which basically means that he had to take the stairs in order to pick his order from Haldiram while he was out for delivery. At first glance, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was it even possible at the first instant? The Deepinder Goyal, Business Magnate, and Shark Tank Judge could be denied entrance just because he was in the costume of a delivery partner of Zomato. But when my curious mind found the same clip on the official Instagram Handle of Deepinder Goyal, my heart literally sank.
Different people would have different opinions on this incident! But first of all, my salute to Deepinder Goyal who didn’t take it as a personal offense which could have been way normal, but he felt the realization to work closely with the malls to improve working conditions for all delivery partners and urged the malls to be more humane to delivery partners.
Are we living really in a country where entrepreneurs are so faceless that a business tycoon is not recognized by the common masses whereas these so-called celebrities, social media influencers, actors, and sportspersons are like a demigod in the eyes of the common masses? Isn’t it painful that people are hysterical at a single glance of these so-called celebrities and the person who is the reason for employment for all the strata of society is treated like a nobody? Whenever the debate arises about what role these celebrities have in the Indian economy, some people talk about how much tax they pay to the government. Indeed! They pay taxes and likewise, the entrepreneurs also pay! Is just paying taxes to the government a reason enough for their demigod status? Obviously! No! I have nothing against these so-called celebrities but how much it is justified that a country that has a major chunk of the population making a hue and cry about job opportunities is going to make such a blunder to such a respected businessman who is the reason for employment to a lot of people. Or have we become a slave of the paparazzi culture so much that an insignificant celebrity act makes a piece of news, and our real role models of the country are given such treatment? Have we become so obsessed with clickbait journalism that these incidents do not create a wave of repulsion in our hearts?
Our government stresses the rise of Startups and has been always vocal about promoting Startups so that it can imbibe the culture of entrepreneurship in the common masses. But we have a habit of blaming the government and just making a list of the inefficiencies of government in our drawing room, that how they are unable to employ the youths. But these youths will leave no stone unturned to make those so-called celebrities their role model and a demigod instead of choosing their role model wisely. Today, if we ask any youth from any corner of the country, what are the upcoming films of a particular actor or what’s the career statistics of a particular cricketer, he will recite it in a single go. Sadly, the same youth cannot even name ten unicorn companies without leaving his head hanging in the fire. So, who is the real culprit? The inefficiency of the government to create employment opportunities or these youths who have made countless fan pages of these demigods and are hysterical just to get a glance of them. How much is it easy to pinpoint the government for everything rather than trying to purify our diseased mentality? A mentality where these so-called celebrities are our ideal and entrepreneurs are unknown to us. Then do we really have the right even to talk of India lagging behind and the rise of unemployment where the real heroes of the country are treated as faceless human beings? Do we have the right to mince words where entrepreneurs’ success is not celebrated amongst the common masses? Do we have the right to make a hue and cry when entrepreneurs are not being the ideal of our society? Do we have the right to curse when entrepreneurs are not the real heroes of our society?
Of course not! Till the time we do not cleanse our diseased mentality of selecting the wrong person as our hero, the dismal state of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs in our country is the stark reality, no matter how hard this pill is to swallow for a lot of people.
