The Penn is mightier than the sword

No, the title does not have a typo - Read on.
It is a little too late to discuss this year's Oscars, but this year's event was not lackluster and there were some moments that deserve special mention. Usually I am not into Oscars, but this year, I was particularly interested since Slumdog Millionaire had attracted so much hype. For me the Oscars stood out for 2 reasons - The "Mozart from Madras" (as he is sometimes known) A. R Rahman's 2 Oscars and Sean Penn's acceptance speech.

Both men have immense talent riding on their shoulders, but they proved that their souls were oscar worthy too. They decided to use the opportunity of a center stage spotlight to voice their opinions - however unpopular they may be (Rahman's not so much). Sean Penn started off with "You commie homo-loving sons of guns" and I went "Yes!". He has been constantly criticized and ridiculed in public (and in the industry) for his support of equal rights - may it be among different classes (hence the name commie; for communist) and among people with diffrerent sexual orientations (hence the name homo loving). He could have easily chosen to be non political and walked away in the glory that the Academy bestowed upon him. But in my opinion, he did the right thing - used his opportunity to voice an opinion about a cause much bigger than himself. A.R.Rahman's speech was also directed at people who hate. "All my life I had a choice between love and hate; I chose love and I am here" - he said, and walked away to the music of "Jai Ho". That was magical. He used Hindi and Tamil in his speeches and proved that being humble never goes out of style.

It is a tough act to stand up for one's beliefs and opinions when you are pacing yourself up the popularity ladder. Your career and reputation is at risk and you may not know whom you end up offending. Take the example of Arundhati Roy, who, after winning the Booker prize in 1997 started voicing her opinions about War, poverty and capitalism thereby quickly falling out of global popularity charts.

Early on in my career, I did fake agreement with my manager's viewpoints and opinions since I did not want to lose a step in my career ladder. As my beliefs grew stronger, I realized that acting on principle may cost you dearly, but buys you a sense of righteousness and peace of mind which are never on sale at Walmart(or any other store). I do my best these days to voice my opinion to any audience I get (I rarely get any - makes it easier); and sure enough, I have rubbed some of my friends the wrong way.

On the other end of the spectrum, Governer of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal used his opportunity in the spotlight to voice his concerns on Obama's stimulus package. He too, quickly fell out of the popularity charts - but not for standing up for his beliefs. He showed us that just being a young and dynamic politician and being born to immigrants is not always president material. Being a computer programmer, I deal with logic all the time so there were a couple of places where I felt the logic was not adding up. Mainly, he was speaking up against government while holding publicly elected office. Oh, the irony! Also, in his speech he said that when he was young, his dad told him - "Bobby, you can do anything". Wasn't his name good old "Piyush" then? ( I know, I am being silly here , but hey, I always voice my opinion - remember?)

Remember, Stay true to what you believe - they are a result of what you have gone through in life. And when the world gives you a stage, grab it by the horns and make it yours instead of staging the world on it!