“We are not creative, we are followers.” By saying this, I do not intend to demean people or question their abilities. There are 7 billion people in this world. Perhaps, when you were born, there would have been 3 or 4 or 5 billion. Then why did God send us on this earth?
• To do something that everyone else is doing? No.
• To just be one of them? No.
• To live and die, just like everyone else does? No.
• To follow others or copy them? No.
When God created us, he wrote a different journey, a different destination, a different story and different karma for all of us – yes for all 7 billion individuals. Then what is stopping us from being creative?
Argument 1:
Imagine you are up in the blue sky in a helicopter at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Yes you’re right – 10,000 feet above the ground. When you look down, the view is breath-taking and everything looks as tiny as an ant. If I ask you to jump from that 10,000 feet of height to the ground, would you be able to do it? The first thought that comes to most of us, perhaps, is “it’s scary” or “I’m afraid” or “are you mad?”.
That’s why I say “we are followers”.
We are the followers of our fears and of our inhibitions.
Now, go back to your childhood for a moment and think – was it scary as an infant when someone threw you up in the air, was it scary when you fell while walking as a toddler, was it scary when you fell while cycling as a kid and got scratches on your knees? For most of us, the answer is NO because we always knew that there would be someone to catch us, someone to encourage us to walk again, someone to soothe us. We didn’t have much fear then.
Creativity is doing something new that has a value. If you want to do something “new” and if it has to have a “value”, you need to come out of your fears and inhibitions.
Argument 2:
Imagine you are at someone’s marriage. You’re 21 years old. You’re a boy – may be average looking or good-looking, may be handsome or may be not, may be smart or may be not, may be rich or may be not. There are many people at that marriage. You’re eating your food and your eyes get stuck when you see a really pretty girl. She’s hot, she’s got a great body, she’s got a great dressing sense and she speaks really well. You think she’s the one for you. If I ask you to approach her and talk to her, would you? Perhaps, most of us would think it’s not good to approach a girl at a marriage (where both yours and girl’s families are present). Perhaps you would think what would people say if they see you talking to a stranger (a girl) in a marriage.
That’s why I say “we are followers”.
We are the followers of people’s perceptions.
Now, go back to your childhood and think – how easy it was to make friends and talk to any stranger, how easy it was to play games with any kid or the girl next-door.
Creativity is being open to things. If you want to open up to new things, you have to be bold enough to go and talk to new people and stop thinking about other people’s perception about you. They anyways aren’t open to things.
Argument 3:
Imagine you’re very, very happy today – perhaps you’ve cleared a competitive exam, or you have secured a great job, or you have created a great product or mobile app. You’re so elated that you want to call up all your friends and share the news with them personally. You feel like partying. If I ask you to dance crazily or do Gangnam Style on the street full of people – alone or with your friends, would you? Perhaps, most of us would shy away and say that we’d rather dance in a disco or at a party than showing it off to people on the street.
That’s why I say “we are followers”.
We are the followers of being goodie-goodie and behaving politely.
Now go back to your childhood and think – did we need a reason to dance, didn’t we just dance when our favourite songs were played on TV, did we even think about what people would say about our frolic?
Creativity is challenging the status quo and doing something that’s not in our university books. If you want to challenge the status quo, you can’t always do it in a polite manner, you can’t always be good-good kind of person. You have to be bold, brazen and blunt.
When we were children, we were far more curious, far more crazy, far more interested in things and hence we were far more creative than we’re now as adults. Our childhood offers a lot of learning that we can put in our adulthood and bring more creativity to our lives, to our workplaces and to our communities. Shed your inhibitions, meet new people and stop being sophisticated. Be creative!!
asha chaudhry
interesting ashish…. to see you experiment with a different style!
the sign of a great versatile writer 🙂
i found your arguments very interesting. and i reckon, people who aren’t ‘followers’ are rare and obviously outshine the rest!
Ashish Chowdhary
Thanks Asha 🙂
Just tried putting what I have always believed..
Darshan Bhambiru
To say This is NOT Wrong would always mean “RIGHT” ???
Then there are the ones who are the Dabaang, for them it is never an Issue to Boldly Go where no MAN has ever gone Before or Fear the FEAR of fear
I would say You have Creatively brought out the Positive thoughts, in a Most Negative Approach towards Elaborating it!!!
“jump from that 10,000 feet of height to the ground” and Stay Grounded too is Following yet, Kyunki Dar ke aage hi Jeet hai!!! Cant decide to do that, Why do you take the pains to go to such Heights even ?
Argument 1 Debunked – Intimidation is the Best Weapon, whether you use it is your Decision, inhibitions are creative, they do not EXIST otherwise 🙂
“approach her and talk” Does she Bite ? That you got to Find out, so if it is already in the Decision to Like the Next step is automatic to Approach
Argument 2 Debunked – Perception is Creative again, if there is nothing to Perceive there would not be any existence of Comparison. One thing Leads to the Next in Line and Creates Action
“feel like partying” This in itself means Humans by nature are Herd people, they always prefer to be in Groups, to share and increase and improve on the existing Knowledge to Advance it for the betterment of all around
Argument 3 Debunked – The Challenge is always to Excel, but the competition is always to Be Better than something already Created or which Exists 🙂
Be Bold Brazen and Blunt to announce you are an Entrepreneur!!! Be Creative add to the Value and Make it Better!!!
Not sure if this came out as Intended, have just put down my POV on the same understanding.
Yes we are Followers, we always want to be the Best, looking at Some Idol who has already Been there, Done that!!! or More, but we make the path for others, looking the same way and yet Make a New Path and not tread the Beaten one. Creativity is the never ending Cycle getting better every Time!!!
Cheers!!! Nice post Ashish!!
Ashish Chowdhary
Hi Darshan,
Thanks for the detailed reply.
Knowing things and then being DABANGG is different and not knowing a thing and then being DABANGG is different. When you say that you have a fear, you know that you have a fear of something. But when you don’t even know the “No man’s land” and if you be a DABANGG, you would be considered a fool. Just like taking a calculated risk and taking an irrational risk.
Have you ever seen people going for sky diving and then at the last moment saying that “we can’t do it”, “we are filling dizzy”? (If not, you can watch Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara when Farhan Akhtar does the same) They feel excited about the idea and hence they go but when it’s their turn to jump, they’re afraid. Argument 1 re-instated.
How many times have you heard a guy saying that “I liked her but could not gather the courage to tell her?” If not, ask someone studying in college. Some people just don’t gather the courage to say it for the fear of losing a friend and some don’t say because they fear that their families wouldn’t agree for the relationship. Argument 2 re-instated.
Being “herd people” (in groups) and having “herd mentality” is different. Right from the day we’re born (b’coz of mating between a male and a female), all our works have always been done in groups or with the help of someone else. So being in groups isn’t bad and we’re not FOLLOWING others in this. We all are humans and we need people to talk to and to share things.
When you come to know that you can calculate using calculators and if you go and create computers, you have not only improved on existing knowledge but also created something NEW. There are 99% who create something better than the existing and 1% who create something NEW. Argument 3 re-instated.
Your views on this comment are welcome 🙂