Geniuses and PR

चिपक रहा है बदन पर, लहू से,पैराहन

हमारी जेब को अब हाजत-ए –रफू क्या है

                                                     ....मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब

The above couplet of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib very aptly describes the kind of life he led. A genius is one who is able to do things which are not possible for the masses. Most men of intelligence prefer to work in solitude or in company of those they are comfortable with. They prefer to be in their comfort zone and more often than not the result is that they are either isolated or cornered.  He/she may have a high intelligence quotient but that doesn’t guarantee success. One must have interpersonal skills and the skill to publicize his/her work with the right set of people.

Public relation is a necessity to establish one’s work. Now a day’s people have the facility of specialised PR agencies but there were times when a person had to rely on his own skills. When we go through the lives of eminent artists and geniuses in the history we find a general pattern. A considerable lot of them were not able to gain popularity during their life time. Be it a Van Gogh, Karl Marx or a Ghalib they have all led a miserable life. Many would not agree with the point that the reason for their misery was lack of PR skill. But those who have studied their lives would agree that due to their eccentric nature they were not able associate themselves with someone who could have helped them in leading a better life.

In many cases these geniuses get posthumous recognition. People like Karl Marx have had such impact which has changed the fate of nation’s altogether though he did not live to see it.The course of history would not have been the same had these men attained popularity during lifetime.