question_answer 11)

Discuss in pairs or small groups. 1. Talk about any interview you watched on television or read in a newspaper. How did it add to your understanding of the celebrity, the interviewer, and the field of the celebrity?      

Answer:

Interviews have become such a commonplace form of journalism that the media floods the common man with hundreds of them each day. As a journalistic form, interview has gained wide acceptability because it is a one-to-one conversation, using a series of questions, designed to elicit extended responses. This method enables the interviewer to probe for greater depth or explanation and allows respondents to express their thoughts using their own words and ideas. This format makes them particularly valuable for gaining insight into the individual's mind.   I read an interview with President Kalam recently, in December 2006, 'APJ Abdul Kalam: Cosmic Angel' which made me rethink about our value system. Kalam as the President and a scientist had often been written about, but this interview essentially emphasized upon Kalam the man. Despite his unparalleled achievement, his humility and determination to forge ahead was evident in his statement: 'I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place, in an underprivileged social setting, may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness.'   He cuts so deep and sounds so credible that you trust him as you trust his words. He is a man who has risen from the ranks to occupy the country's highest seat after having empowered the nation through the many projects that he masterminded. The humility of the man, despite having achieved so much, is unmistakably his hallmark. There has never been a hint of arrogance in his seventy five long years in which he taught his disciples like a true guru and cracked the atomic code to blunt the enemy's threat. He remains the same, unchanged, in all his years, taking supreme delight in the micro world where electrons whiz and atoms float. In the micro world, he discovered the cosmic design and the limitless source of energy, the spirituality that others go everywhere to seek but never find—neither at Mecca nor in the Himalayas. His life-message is unique and inspiring, in particular for those who are groping to reach somewhere in life and discover a meaning.