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In Pursuit Of Praise

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by HariLakhera, Aug 5, 2017.

  1. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    In pursuit of praise.

    There are two specific instances in Ramayana where God is profusely praised by other Gods. One when Brahma and Vishnu come to Lord Siva and praise Him in order to seek his willingness to marry Parvati. Another time when Lord Rama is praised Brahma and Siva for his victory over Ravana. The bible is full of praise for the lord. Possibly it is from this tradition that humans learnt the need and art of praising other humans. It pays to be in the good books of others, particularly the mighty and the powerful.

    It starts from childhood. The parents praise their offsprings for their smallest achievements. The children get excited and encouraged. Remember your dad asking you to recite the poem 'twinkle twinkle little star' in the presence of your uncle or aunt when they came to visit you. Then at school you were praised for your alertness in the class, upto date with home work, good marks in tests and exams and so in. Then, at job, by your boss for good performance. And who can forget the list of all good in you when your parents were looking for a match for you.

    Getting appreciated for good work or habits is natural. Being praised for your clothes, or hair style or overall personality is a heart warmer. The fashion industry works overtime on it.

    Appreciation or praise in any form or for any thing is a motivator for doing better. One good example of that is seeing your articles or book in print. It used to be a great achievement when your letter to the editor got accepted and printed in a leading news paper. If there was a photo of yours along with your article or short story in a house magazine or in a literary magazine it was like hovering in the seventh sky.

    But that was the time when it was really difficult to get published even in a local vernacular news paper or weekly. The established news papers and magazines preferred only established writers and were hesitant to risk with new writers. You needed a godfather to get published.

    Times have changed for good. Now there are many popular sites on the internet where you can post whatever you want and it will get published. Facebook is one such media. There are others where some sort of approval and editing like Merinews is required. There are hundreds of others where they publish you with no difficulty. Here too the likes and comments of readers make a lot of difference.

    However there is nothing like being published in a book form but the difficulty is that there are not many risk taking publishers. They publish only such writers who sell. You need a very influential literary agent. Many established writers had to wander around looking for publishers in the beginning.

    But do not lose heart. The pockets are deep these days. Many small time publishers are ready to oblige for a price if you have a deep pocket. The book will be printed at your cost and they will do the little marketing also at your cost. Rest depends on your luck. It is quite possible that you will be left with 90% of the unsold copies after you have distributed the first 10% free to your friends and relatives. But this is small price to pay for showing off to anyone who cares that you are a published writer.

    Desire for praise is primitive human nature. It is useful, exciting and positive. However if lack of it makes you unhappy and angry, it's time to take stock of yourself.
     
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  2. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Reminds me of a children's song - a really ancient one - at least of the opening lines.

     
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  3. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Thank you Satchitananda,
    I remember this song. Somehow this video is blocked on this site. One has to be very careful with sweet talking people.
     
  4. Nonya

    Nonya Platinum IL'ite

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    No need to have deep pockets and shell out money to publish one's book. Make an e-book, send your friends a complimentary download-pass, and market it on the internet forums, and on the internet places where likely readers of that drivel would come. Price the darn thing for "moving". If it ever gets popular, you may charge 99 cents.
     
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  5. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Hari
    At the end of the blocking announcement, it says 'Watch on YouTube' You can click on it and watch it.
    Sri
     
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  6. shyamala1234

    shyamala1234 Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Hariji,
    Who is immune to praise? Nobody!
    A pat on the back....anybody would be happy.
    Praise, appreciation, admiration, encouragement , flattery......the line between them is very thin. When and how to do them judiciously is to be learnt. Gives different results with different people. Encouragement motivates people to do better.Admiration makes people lovable. Appreciation should be genuine. Flattery is to get something to be done by others.....best weapon.
    Reminds me a quote from Julius Ceaser. Brutus says...."If nothing works out to bring him to the market place (where he is killed) I would use flattery as the last weapon.
    Syamala
     
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  7. PushpavalliSrinivasan

    PushpavalliSrinivasan IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Hari
    Praise is like Sunlight to the human spirit; we cannot blossom and grow without it.
    Quote from Tiny Buddha.com

    Praise and appreciation motivates humans to achieve more, but at the same time it should not lead to feel proud.

    It is human tendency to feel happy even if a letter to the editor gets printed in a hot selling newspaper.. one letter I wrote to Telegraph was published when Manmohan Singh was the finance minister in Mr Narasimha Rao's cabinet in the year 1991. Later another letter which I wrote to The Hindu regarding education was also published. I was very much thrilled to see my letters in print, but I didn't feel proud about it. I regretted for not saving the papers to show it to my grand children to get them inspired.
    Though we can print on our own if we have the desktop publishing software and the printer, But I wonder if We will get the same amount of thrill.
    PS
     
  8. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    I admit admiration and flattery is divided by a thin line. The difficulty is in determining that Lakshmana Rekha. You might have read Tenali Ram and Birbal. They had the guts to tell the truth in a humorous way. Both of their bosses had the stomach to digest.
     
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  9. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    No doubt, the thrill motivates. We all want it in some measure but some crave for it. The thrill of having a paper back in your hands of your own writings is incomparable.
     
  10. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    I don't know how to do that. I shall Google and find out. Your guidance is solicited. But nothing replaces the warmth of holding a Har copy in your own hands and distributing it among friends .
     

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