Arrogance is just about tolerated with resentment even when there is a great master sharing eternal wisdom in its guise. It's worse when there is a genius on the other side throwing it at us, at times willfully because he knows he can get away with it, and at other, unconsciously because of the eccentricity which is usually married to exceptional brilliance. Now imagine, arrogance with roots in mediocrity. You can't have a better recipe for disaster.
Unfortunately, unaware of the presence of one or both in us, we continue to cause hardships to ourselves and the people around. Even if we were to discount the concept of being a humble life-long learner, we must at least do a reality check on our competence and skills. People in Indian publishing have been living in a sort of an island, not really ready to change and sharpen their skills, even when faced with an opportunity, or worse still, a dire need to do so. As is the case with most of the ills, ego has a major role to play here too. We, in Indian publishing — writers, publishers, editors, sales and marketing people et al, seem to have inherited ahankaar from certain characters of Indian mythology, not ready to learn from the examples of as great a character as Ravana, who despite being full of knowledge succumbed to arrogance.
So before it's too late, let's drop the ego and remain faithful disciples of life and till we reach that stage, let's take it on, let our ego-crashes catapult us out of our mediocrity. No fun in being an empty utensil and making a lot of noise.
