Unconventional Talents

Teriya Fauja Magar 

There is a clear convention among us that unless we base ourselves in the Kathmandu Valley, we will not be successful in life, no matter how hard we try. To prove yourself, the first requirement is you must move to the capital city. We generally believe that ‘mofussil’ is good for nothing. This deep-rooted belief is challenged by a teenage girl, Teriya Fauja Magar one more time. She recently won the first prize in the popular Indian dance competition Jhalak Dikhla Jaa (season 9). This is the same girl who took part in the Dance India Dance Li’l Masters 2014 and bagged the first prize. As we all know, she was not fortunate enough to be trained in Kathmandu. Instead, she comes from the small village of Rudrapur in Rupandehi district. Her example proves that if you are capable enough, you can succeed, no matter where you are based.

‘Conventions’ are not only related to the geographical space, though. They are attached to your

Amitabh Bachchan

physical features as well. For instance, if you want to enter the movie world and succeed there, you must at least have perfect height, perfect facial features and perfect body. However, what is interesting is that some superstars in Bollywood also do not fit in these conventions. For example, let’s take a living legend, Amitabh Bachchan. According to him, he has not always enjoyed his stardom. When Bachchan entered the cinematic world he was strongly criticised as he was ‘too tall’ and no leading lady wanted to work with him because they would feel too short with him. The critics also said that he did not have ‘good looks.’ Similarly, another superstar of Bollywood, Sahrukh Khan was criticised for having unconventional looks, long nose and floppy hair. One of his producers complained, “Your hair is like that of a bloody bear.” But these men

Sahrukh Khan

proved all criticisms wrong and made their mark in the Indian film industry.

Along the same lines, Freida Pinto, a famous actress and model, also had to face harsh comments while she was trying to get some roles in Indian television commercials. She had been rejected quite a bit with criticisms like, “She isn’t fair enough” or “She isn’t Indian looking enough.” Someone even suggested her to get some sort of plastic surgery done. Interestingly, with her very first film, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ she did not only achieve national success, but she truly became an international celebrity.

Freida Pinto

The crux of these success stories is that if we believe in ourselves and in our capabilities, nothing can stop us from achieving what we want to achieve. We do not need to limit ourselves within ‘conventional’ boundaries. More importantly, we must not be afraid of criticisms and keep on trying to achieve our goals. The critics cannot decide what we should do and what we should not. Once we set our mind on our passions and follow them constantly without getting distracted from anything, success keeps running our way sooner or later; the people discussed above exemplify this idea.

(Published in an English Daily The Rising Nepal on Friday, January 27, 2017) 

[The pictures on this blog are posted here with permission from their owners or have been gathered from various sources on the Internet. If you are the copyright-holder to any of the photographs herein do not hesitate to contact me. They will be swiftly removed if desired so.]