At one school the teacher asked the students, who do you want to be like? Each student named the person who wanted to advance in the field. I have Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, P.T. I want to be like Usha or Narendra Modi. Ronak, a student, stood up and said, "I want to be like Ronak."
There is nothing wrong with having an ideal or a role model in life but in the end everyone has to be like themselves. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has never tried to be Sachin Tendulkar nor has Virat Kohli ever tried to play like Dhoni. Everyone has their own style of playing. It's not just about cricket, take any field in the world, people who have proved to be great have made a name for themselves with their unique identity and outstanding talent.
I am me I can't be like anyone else. I can be just like me. It is easy for those who have such an understanding to decide their own direction. An incident that just happened is the reason behind such talk. Noah Lyles, 22, of the United States, competed in the World Championships for the first time. He finished the 200m in 19.83 seconds and won the gold medal. Liles came number one in the first championship so the media of the world covered Samarkand Bukhara.
The media played the guy and said that the world has got another Usain Bolt. Under normal circumstances, it would be nice if a new player was counted with a great player, but the Lions turned out a little differently. "Please don't compare me to Usain Bolt," Lyles publicly requested. I am Lyles. Bolt's decade is over. Now is my time. I don't know if anyone ever won a gold medal at the first World Championships, but I did. I don't care what anyone does, I know what I have to do.
Lyle's words may make someone proud, someone might even say, brother, you still have only one gold medal, you are nowhere behind Bolt. Whatever it is, Lyle is right instead. It is possible that Lyle may or may not have respect for Usain Bolt, but he knows that I have to be Lyle.
Keep the goal high, keep doing the great work that no one has ever dreamed of, find out how much and how hard the person who became great in that field was, but in the end keep it your own. You create your ideals and your principles. One of the top IAS candidates went to a youngsters' seminar and was asked, "How many hours did you work?" What was your way of reading and remembering? "I will tell you that, but first I have to make it clear to you that none of you follow my style, just adopt your style," said IAS Topper. The reason for saying this is that I did not adopt anyone's style. I worked hard in my own way. Try to make it easy for you to work hard and have fun. If you go to do like me, maybe you will not be like me but you will not be like me.
