On the Children's Day at New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh exhorted a gathering of destitute, orphaned, abused and physically challenged children to look up to Sachin Tendulkar and Sania Mirza as models. The choice of a role model is a serious issue and calls for comment. But here, even if one feels like commenting on the Prime Minister, it is not a pleasant task because it involves Tendulkar, the most admired icon of the most popular game in India.

Nevertheless, a comment is needed, even if doing so risks unpopularity, as when a Prime Minister makes the choice, he sets the precedent for the nation. Manmohan's choice has raised an important question: Who should be the ideal role models for Indian children? The issue here is not Tendulkar or Sania or their undeniable popularity. The question simply is: On what norms a nation chooses its role models?

Nations need heroes. A nation is lifted or dwarfed by the heroes it is excited about. The enslaved India looked up to heroes who ignited a movement to free India from foreign domination. India was led by a Guru Gobind Singh, Shivaji, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and Gandhi to mention a few out of the hundreds of revered heroes. They aroused India and India rose. But today everyone is crying about the fall of free India. Has that anything to do with free India's choice of heroes? This is where the Prime Minister's choice merits a comment. A caveat: The Prime Minister has done nothing wrong. He has mentioned only the names the media and the children will feel excited about. But is that the basis for choosing heroes is precisely the issue.

Sachin Tendulkar is a great cricketer and undeniably a national idol. His talents have won him great popularity among millions of cricket fans. Undoubtedly, he is a compelling role model for children aspiring to emerge as cricketers. His popularity has made him an ad icon. And so is Sania Mirza, a great tennis prospect of India.

Their popularity is reflected in their ad assignments. That also measures their success. This is the Tendulkar-Sania paradigm. But there is another paradigm, the less-known Gopichand paradigm. He is as good in achievement as a Tendulkar or Sania, but in a less known game. Gopichand is a badminton player, who has won global laurels for India. What then is the difference between Tendulkar paradigm and Gopichand paradigm? The difference is this.

Gopichand refused to endorse cola ads when the cola makers chased him with lucrative contracts. Reason: he believed that colas harm children. He was a sports idol, like Sachin Tendulkar, to admire, but more, an ideal to follow. He is an ideal for the children for he turned away a fortune for their cause. Gopichand is thus an idol to admire and an ideal to follow.

In contrast, Tendulkar, a more popular idol, turned an ad model to sell Pepsi to the children. While Tendulkar has the right to do what he does, Gopichand gave up that very right for a higher ideal. This qualifies him and his like as an ideal role model. Imagine the Prime Minister had mentioned Gopichand as the ideal for the children!

This takes us to what should be the norm for choosing ideal role models for our children and youth. The clue lies in what kinds of role models have built this nation. Look at whom Swami Vivekananda would hold out as the ideals for our nation. He would declare a Chatrapati Shivaji and a Guru Gobind Singh as role models for Indian youth. He declared: ''O India! Forget not the ideal of thy womanhood is Sita, Savitri, Damayanti.'' A Mahatma Gandhi would commend Rama as the ideal for young India to emulate. The entire community of freedom fighters, whether it was a Tilak or Gandhi, Rajaji or Nehruji looked to Swami Vivekananda as inspiration for the freedom movement as well as for their understanding of the identity of modern India.

A Maharishi Aurobindo was a role model for millions whose eyes were opened to the idea of India by his nation-building writings. A Bhagat Singh and a Chandrasekhar Azad inspired thousands of Indian youths to plunge into the battle for national freedom.

A Mahatma Gandhi was the role model for millions and millions of Indians, young and old. Yet he remains so silently even today despite his name and legacy being stolen by the Nehru clan by what in trade marks law is known ''passing off''.

That's how great role models have shaped India during freedom movement and a while even after freedom. But, mere ad icons can never be ideal role models. Rarely is a role model a star of today and even more rarely a star of today is a role model. A nation that makes a wrong choice of role models will dwarf its people. The choice of ad icons as role models is sure to dwarf the nation and its people.

Courtesy: www.newindpress.com, November 22, 2006