Too Busy To Live
A few weeks ago, I was lazing around watching random videos on Youtube and came across something that caught my eye. It was Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, and being a Madridista (Hala Madrid! Vaaamosss!), I inevitably clicked on the video. And for the next couple of minutes, I saw Ronaldo completely transform into a homeless man owing to the prosthetics, brilliant makeup and the shabby oversized clothes hiding his glorious athletic frame.
And the bespectacled, dirty bearded Ronaldo complete with unkempt hair, holding a dog on leash and wearing a backpack, virtually unrecognizable, made his way on to the streets of Madrid. Reaching a bench, he gently tied the leash and placed the backpack with hidden camera down on the ground, and took out, the weapon of his choice and the instrument with which he enthralled billions of people around the world, a football, and started playing. He kicked the ball around, towards passersby, having a laugh, yelling 'Ole!', encouraging and trying to get them to play.
Trying and Failing.
Obviously, few amused people paused and watched the homeless guy playing football on the street for a few seconds before they scurried elsewhere, others simply waved and walked away when passed the ball, a couple of them engaged him, running and kicking the ball but left in under a minute. Ronaldo, being Ronaldo, even asked a pretty girl for her phone number and all he got was a 'No, Sorry' from her. He tried to photobomb and posed in front of a guy taking pictures with his cellphone and the guy wouldn't click. People were not being mean or rude, they were just being indifferent and politely rejecting the ball, that's all.
CR7 was alternating between doing insane tricks with the ball and effortlessly free styling. People who saw it, appreciated and raised eyebrows but soon enough, left. Finally, after about an hour on the street, a kid excitedly approached him and spent a couple of minutes, and then CR7 did insane things with the ball and the kid was visibly shocked at this 'homeless' guy's dribbling skills. He then high-fived the kid, proceeded to ask his name - Nicolas, signed the ball and started peeling off the layers that ended in a revelation.
Removing the ragged wig, the god-awful beard and the dark glasses, the homeless guy transformed into the handsome hunk we see on Television, numerous magazine covers and billboards everyday. The visibly shocked Nicolas could muster up a meek 'Hola' when Cristiano gifted him the signed ball, and the street finally realized the presence of one of the most famous people on the planet.
I will not try to explain the reactions that ensued. No points for guessing that the kid's eyes welled up with happy tears.
A while ago, Sonu Niggam, the popular Bollywood singer did something similar, he posed as a homeless guy and sang on the streets of Mumbai and apparently no one, albeit one person who stopped to hear him sing and offer him money, really cared. The singer later met the generous man and took a selfie. The story went viral.
Oh my, all those people who walked away earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo passes you a football and you had no time? He poses for a picture and you wouldn't click? And he asks for your phone number and? How you feelin' now?
You plug in your earphones on commute, stuck in traffic and croon along with Sonu, listening to his various chartbusters and yet no takers for that iconic voice on that street?
Oh Boy!
These videos, conjured up as either social experiments or promotional stunts are versions of the Joshua Bell experiment, 2007.
Initiated by 'The Washington Post' and Gene Weingarten, the experiment features Joshua Bell, one of the world's greatest violinists, don a baseball cap and play as a busker (with a Stradivarius costing $3.5 millions, no less) at a Metro station in DC, USA. The whole thing was taped on hidden cameras and the experiment was clinically observed, with stats as accurate and precise as you would in a chemistry lab. According to online sources like the Post- the ideator, and our all time favorite- Wikipedia, out of 1097 people who passed by, in the 45 minutes that Bell played, 7 people stopped to listen to him play, for various lengths of time and a single person recognized him. Seven. Let that sink in.
Oh and did I mention, Bell played the exact same piece, three days earlier, at a concert in Boston, where the tickets averaged a $100 and were sold out?
In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?, wrote Weingarten about the experiment later on. The report that followed analyzing the study, gave Weingarten a Pulitzer prize for feature writing. Read the entire feature HERE!
Look, I get it, nobody stops just to watch a random guy busking or play football on the street with a homeless man who looks like he hasn't taken bath in a week, its common sense. I certainly wouldn't have, and you know most of you wouldn't have either. Not if you overslept, are running late or any other zillion things that happen to us everyday. But these weren't random guys, were they?
In the fields they operate in, these men are extremely popular and sought after. They have won countless accolades and millions of fans. Most of us would, if we could, pay obscene amounts of money and splurge on tickets to watch them perform up close, speak to them and take a selfie with them. And yet none of these undoubtedly, extremely, talented men, could pull a crowd and make them stand still. That is, until they revealed who they are. What does this mean?
Interestingly, it doesn't tell anything about them and their abilities. About us, however, it speaks volumes.
In a commonplace environment, at an inappropriate hour and an unexpected context, Can we truly perceive, recognize and appreciate talent and beauty?
One might argue about the context and the circumstances around the experiments.One might say, Not everyone is interested in classical and intricate renditions of Bach on a Stradivari. Not everyone likes to play football on the street or is into Bollywood music.
Oh I bet you would stop if I told you the guy playing is a validated genius who won awards and commands $1000 a minute for his musical prowess. Even if you didn't understand a string or a note or can't even spell Stradivari correctly, I bet you'd stop if I told you he played with a legendary Violin handmade in 1713 by a legendary man valued at more than 20 crore rupees today. I bet you'd stop to at least see what a $3.5 million Violin looks like. Just a peek. I bet you and I would both stop in our tracks.
And running into Cristiano Ronaldo on the street? Are you kidding me? I'd play football even if both my legs are broken. And I'd sing with Sonu Niggam until my own ears bleed because of my singing.
Do we only appreciate talent and beauty after it is vetted and validated, or being told that it is? Are we too busy to pause and take in the most wonderful experiences? for free? Are we too busy surviving that we are missing out on the living?
I leave you to ponder. Would you have stopped? Will you stop next time? Or are you too busy?
P.s: There's more related questions and psychoanalysis in the next post!
Turns out we have been asking ourselves this question even as early as 1930. There's an interesting story around the Joshua Bell experiment. Read it here!
And the bespectacled, dirty bearded Ronaldo complete with unkempt hair, holding a dog on leash and wearing a backpack, virtually unrecognizable, made his way on to the streets of Madrid. Reaching a bench, he gently tied the leash and placed the backpack with hidden camera down on the ground, and took out, the weapon of his choice and the instrument with which he enthralled billions of people around the world, a football, and started playing. He kicked the ball around, towards passersby, having a laugh, yelling 'Ole!', encouraging and trying to get them to play.
Trying and Failing.
Obviously, few amused people paused and watched the homeless guy playing football on the street for a few seconds before they scurried elsewhere, others simply waved and walked away when passed the ball, a couple of them engaged him, running and kicking the ball but left in under a minute. Ronaldo, being Ronaldo, even asked a pretty girl for her phone number and all he got was a 'No, Sorry' from her. He tried to photobomb and posed in front of a guy taking pictures with his cellphone and the guy wouldn't click. People were not being mean or rude, they were just being indifferent and politely rejecting the ball, that's all.
CR7 was alternating between doing insane tricks with the ball and effortlessly free styling. People who saw it, appreciated and raised eyebrows but soon enough, left. Finally, after about an hour on the street, a kid excitedly approached him and spent a couple of minutes, and then CR7 did insane things with the ball and the kid was visibly shocked at this 'homeless' guy's dribbling skills. He then high-fived the kid, proceeded to ask his name - Nicolas, signed the ball and started peeling off the layers that ended in a revelation.
Removing the ragged wig, the god-awful beard and the dark glasses, the homeless guy transformed into the handsome hunk we see on Television, numerous magazine covers and billboards everyday. The visibly shocked Nicolas could muster up a meek 'Hola' when Cristiano gifted him the signed ball, and the street finally realized the presence of one of the most famous people on the planet.
I will not try to explain the reactions that ensued. No points for guessing that the kid's eyes welled up with happy tears.
A while ago, Sonu Niggam, the popular Bollywood singer did something similar, he posed as a homeless guy and sang on the streets of Mumbai and apparently no one, albeit one person who stopped to hear him sing and offer him money, really cared. The singer later met the generous man and took a selfie. The story went viral.
Oh my, all those people who walked away earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo passes you a football and you had no time? He poses for a picture and you wouldn't click? And he asks for your phone number and? How you feelin' now?
You plug in your earphones on commute, stuck in traffic and croon along with Sonu, listening to his various chartbusters and yet no takers for that iconic voice on that street?
Oh Boy!
These videos, conjured up as either social experiments or promotional stunts are versions of the Joshua Bell experiment, 2007.
Initiated by 'The Washington Post' and Gene Weingarten, the experiment features Joshua Bell, one of the world's greatest violinists, don a baseball cap and play as a busker (with a Stradivarius costing $3.5 millions, no less) at a Metro station in DC, USA. The whole thing was taped on hidden cameras and the experiment was clinically observed, with stats as accurate and precise as you would in a chemistry lab. According to online sources like the Post- the ideator, and our all time favorite- Wikipedia, out of 1097 people who passed by, in the 45 minutes that Bell played, 7 people stopped to listen to him play, for various lengths of time and a single person recognized him. Seven. Let that sink in.
Oh and did I mention, Bell played the exact same piece, three days earlier, at a concert in Boston, where the tickets averaged a $100 and were sold out?
In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?, wrote Weingarten about the experiment later on. The report that followed analyzing the study, gave Weingarten a Pulitzer prize for feature writing. Read the entire feature HERE!
Look, I get it, nobody stops just to watch a random guy busking or play football on the street with a homeless man who looks like he hasn't taken bath in a week, its common sense. I certainly wouldn't have, and you know most of you wouldn't have either. Not if you overslept, are running late or any other zillion things that happen to us everyday. But these weren't random guys, were they?
In the fields they operate in, these men are extremely popular and sought after. They have won countless accolades and millions of fans. Most of us would, if we could, pay obscene amounts of money and splurge on tickets to watch them perform up close, speak to them and take a selfie with them. And yet none of these undoubtedly, extremely, talented men, could pull a crowd and make them stand still. That is, until they revealed who they are. What does this mean?
Interestingly, it doesn't tell anything about them and their abilities. About us, however, it speaks volumes.
In a commonplace environment, at an inappropriate hour and an unexpected context, Can we truly perceive, recognize and appreciate talent and beauty?
One might argue about the context and the circumstances around the experiments.One might say, Not everyone is interested in classical and intricate renditions of Bach on a Stradivari. Not everyone likes to play football on the street or is into Bollywood music.
Oh I bet you would stop if I told you the guy playing is a validated genius who won awards and commands $1000 a minute for his musical prowess. Even if you didn't understand a string or a note or can't even spell Stradivari correctly, I bet you'd stop if I told you he played with a legendary Violin handmade in 1713 by a legendary man valued at more than 20 crore rupees today. I bet you'd stop to at least see what a $3.5 million Violin looks like. Just a peek. I bet you and I would both stop in our tracks.
And running into Cristiano Ronaldo on the street? Are you kidding me? I'd play football even if both my legs are broken. And I'd sing with Sonu Niggam until my own ears bleed because of my singing.
Do we only appreciate talent and beauty after it is vetted and validated, or being told that it is? Are we too busy to pause and take in the most wonderful experiences? for free? Are we too busy surviving that we are missing out on the living?
I leave you to ponder. Would you have stopped? Will you stop next time? Or are you too busy?
P.s: There's more related questions and psychoanalysis in the next post!
Turns out we have been asking ourselves this question even as early as 1930. There's an interesting story around the Joshua Bell experiment. Read it here!
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