About legends in their own minds

He looks like a likeable fellow Therersquos an energy about him Hersquos known to be extraordinarily talented with a list of professional achievements and awards to prove it Popular Definitely Wealthy Almost certainly though he doesnrsquot flaunt it People like to be in his presence They say hersquos not only enterprising but also generous above and beyond Even though he has some very quirky quirks hersquos well respected and adored by many Hersquos an inspirationIrsquom not talking of any particular individual though I know several who fit this description You would tooHidden among the ranks of these amazing peoplemdashtypically menmdashare a few with a unique trait When they behold themselves they feel a sense of awe an overwhelming sense of ldquoHoly shit MerdquoThey are legends in their own mindsI first heard the term in the 1990s in the advertising agency that employed me as Creative Director The reference was to the agencyrsquos head the late great Alyque Padamsee theatre director actor and advertising titan who jokingly referred to himself as ldquoGodrdquoNo one would have accused Alyque of undue modesty but I never once believed that he was intimidated by himself He took his creativity and grandeur for granted never once doubting that he was always right He was too selfaware of his outsize ego to consider himself a legendThose who work closely with lsquolegendsrsquo speak of their bottomless generosity irrespective of status or position Mr Y one such man a giant among bankers was known to have once dropped everything to be with his driver in the hospital for 36 hours when his wife was undergoing critical surgeryIn later years though the driver paid a heavy price The banker would treat him like dirt talking gruffly even coarsely making him work brutal hours invading his Sundays and giving him duties well beyond a chauffeurrsquos Mr Yrsquos generosity was an indelible stain on the poor fellow demeaning him as a needy minion foreverThe word in the bank was ldquoNever take help from Mr Y He looks down on those he helps Yoursquoll regret it the rest of your liferdquoPeople who end up stunned by themselves get there in small anaesthetic increments like a frog in a vat of slowly heating water One such person Mr Z used to swear in his barefoot days that he was a middleclass Punjabi lad at heart and would stay that way in touch with his inner dancer Success would not change himBut as his business boomed and his natural entrepreneurial genius took him to greater heights he read articles that described him in terms hersquod never applied to himself gamechanger radical disruptorRecently at a Gurgaon club I saw nearly everyone bowing deferentially to him as he entered ldquoSee how they respect merdquo he whispered ldquoI was one of them and they see where I am now I inspire them with my staturerdquoMr Z had become a legend in his own mind though hersquod be very upset if you told him this The frog was fully boiledOver the years Irsquove observed several traits in these lsquolegendsrsquo1 The flamboyant public persona hides a person insecure even embarrassed by his roots The flip side of seeing yourself as a legend is fearing that the real you is unacceptable and best kept chained in the basement2 He recognises no peers only inferiors and superiors His closest friends are his lessers bound to him by affection obligation and gratitude who would never criticise him The power is his3 He will convince himself he was born with the magic In his rewritten life narrative he is a selfmade man who went from nothing to everything without anyonersquos help Everyone who stood by him will be systematically written out of the script4 He will sleepwalk into his golden years believing himself to be a muchloved and wise patriarch a man with answers to lesser peoplersquos questions but nothing much to learn from anyone No one around him will disagreeWhat great harm could come from a selfanointed legend you might ask After all an inflated sense of selfimportance is a private thing Truemdashexcept when limitless ego is married to unfettered power Ego then morphs into hubris and arrogance becomes a national modelI used the word hubris last week to bemoan the growing belief among many that India is and has always been the hub of the universe As India grows into an economic powerhouse with serious global clout we are all at risk of considering ourselves legendary Many of us already strut about in coats of hubrisIn Greek myth arrogant Icarus flew too close to the sun and was brought crashing to earth The gods invariably rained tragic consequences down on those with hubrisAmong those who responded to last weekrsquos column was Padma Bhushan Mallika Sarabhai danseuse actor director and much more Fresh from completing a production of Shakespearersquos Macbeth she wrote ldquoThe world is being run by leaders with hubris Your article resonatedrdquo She ended with wishes for a saner safer worldI believe the road to that world is called humilityYou can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper