Vulnerable? Wonderful!

For all those who view stability as a virtue, sincere apologies; this post would not appeal to you. And for those who are always on the verge of tipping, rise and shine, this one’s an ode to your devil-may-care attitude. Vulnerability is indeed making waves across the world.


How often do you remember the guy who consistently performed well in school, versus the one who was constantly chided for his idiosyncratic questions? How many times do you speak of the one who was offered the highest pay package on campus, as against the one who always created a scene with his girlfriend? Moving to a different context, it’s more likely that you would recall an actor for his off-screen outbursts than his on-screen ones, or a sportsperson for his vengeful performances than his technically perfect ones. Time and again, the vulnerables have been more interesting subjects to speak about than the rather stable ones. Not that I have anything against the latter, it’s just that the former make for a far more interesting post.


Perhaps that’s the essence of all reality shows too, even social media probably. Anyone who’s seen Ashmit and Veena on Bigg Boss would vouch for their entertainment quotient. Who the hell wants to see a steady Samir Soni, when you have Ashmit and Veena launching verbal volleys at each other? Ditto for MTV Splitsvilla – it could very well be the home ground for vulnerable, wanna be models. That also explains the success of Emotional Atyaachaar. And no character a better bet to go viral on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube than a vulnerable one.


Doesn’t Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks make for an interesting read with his forever-on-the-run, Government-antagonizing stories? Or Shane Warne for his womanizing ways, as much as his winning ways. Most could have played it more diplomatically, more subtly, more carefully. But then that’s not the DNA of the vulnerables, right? Winning or losing (by their audience’s benchmarks) doesn’t matter to them. It’s not why they do what they do. Their definition and scale of victory is their very own. Always on the edge, always susceptible to danger, completely exposed to attack, forever restless – that’s the vulnerable for you!


So what is in it for them? Attention, of course. At any cost, for anything. Positive or negative. It does help further causes close to their hearts at times and sometimes their passions are contagious; at times they could even inspire a revolution. Most often it is the more casual, ‘I don’t care a damn’ attitude. No judgments here, but the carelessness does inflict as much pain on the victims, as damage for the vulnerables. But it’s only when they genuinely believe in whatever they do, that their following comes close to being a mass movement.


And what is it about such folks that make them so interesting, so mentionable, even memorable? One – their deep passion for their subject (the one that they are vulnerable for), two – the sheer unpredictability of what they would do next (and the certainty that they won’t disappoint you), and three – the opportunity they give you to place them on a pedestal one moment, and slide the ground beneath them next (come on, we like to destroy our heroes as much we enjoy ‘creating’ them, so eventually we can prove that they too are mortals, if not lesser, just like us)!


Love them; loathe them. Either ways, you can’t ignore them!