MRS HILLARY CLINTON ON LECTURE TOUR
Recently there was this news item in newspapers that the per
lecture fee of Mrs Hillary Clinton , wife of the former President of USA Mr Bill Clinton and herself the recent
Secretary of State of USA will be 2 lakh dollars ie about one crore rupees in
Indian terms. Though I was in know of the fact that distinguished ladies and
gentlemen who have made a name for
themselves in varied fields are called upon by the corporate sector,
International banks and even famous educational Institutes for lecturing,
‘Leadership summit’ etc but I was certainly shocked to read one crore as fee!
And then I started
thinking that this one crore rupee is a motivation for Mrs Clinton or for her
audience? Who has valued her lecture at such a high sum? How much will each
member of the audience pay to listen to her?And how many lectures will she
deliver in a year? Is it a fair amount? Film stars in India are paid such sums
for endorsing products, for dancing in weddings and even for mere appearance to
uplift an event/ fashion shows etc but Politicians, Public servants, being paid
such sums is not heard. Will Mr Manmohan Singh ( when he ceases to be the PM)
ever fetch such sum? In the first place will he ever accept such a sum? Is it
justified?
What will be
the content of her lecture? Would it be
educative, informative or mere entertainment? Would she not be repeating what
she would have already said in her various statements as the Secretary of State
or would she be delivering some ‘magic mantras’ pertaining to
Defense, State craft, leadership which would motivate the young corporate,
public servants to be rejuvenated and embark on a missionary zeal to reshape
the society in accordance with the American norms?
Maybe such high fee
is an acceptable norm in American
society where ‘money’ is the core issue . The country which has given the famous phrase-‘ There s no such thing
as free lunch’ . But India, despite rampant corruption and many
inadequacies it is unthinkable for a teacher/lecturer to charge such a high
amount for lecturing, if such a demand is made by say Amartya Sen , he will lose his respect immediately among
his followers and fellow Indians for being greedy. There is definitely some value
for ‘renunciation’ in our educational/social system which looks down upon
excessive accumulation of wealth for imparting knowledge.
In India the
concept of ‘Guru-Shishya’ parampara( tradition ) is embedded in our
consciousness and despite the scourage of the caste system which denied learning
opportunity to the under privileged the
system is still revered and has remained a bench-mark of eastern culture .
Monetary factor in education / Gyan ( knowledge) has been mocked at in our
society though in the present age the
consumerism has made a serious dent to our values. Guru was given a Dakshina (
gift :monetary or otherwise ) on completion of education according to the
capacity of the Shishya ( student). In many instances it was postponed for a
suitable occasion to allow the shishya to become proficient in his field.
I have been
educated in Allahabad which is an educational center of Uttar Pradesh. All the
educational Boards of the State, various colleges- Teachers’ training,
Agriculture, Printing and Technology, Information technology, Medical, Business
and Law are stationed in the city. The University of Allahabad at one time was
known as the Oxford of the east. As students we attended ‘talks’, ‘lectures’ in
our University premises by eminent citizens, politicians, poets etc. When we
attended these lectures the question of paying any money never arose . It was
considered an ‘honour’ by the speaker to
have been invited for the lecture . When I was in the teaching faculty at
Mumbai in the early nineties we would invite executives from well known Firms ,
even then the question of payment never arose. We honoured the Speaker by
sending our office car to pick them from the residence and after the lecture
there would be the customary lunch/dinner with the staff and students. I
remember my father remembering his days in the Allahabad University in the late forties and early fifties and once when
he attended the lectures of Firaq Gorakhpuri on ‘Necessity and freedom’ the
other speakers were Kunwar Mohamad Ashraf and P C Joshi, the contents of the
lectures were so brilliant that they were embedded in his memory for ever. Mr A
N Jha the famous vice chancellor of Allahabad University was known for his
talks on varied subjects .
Gradually the
concept /idea of giving an ‘honorarium’ was introduced wherein a token amount
in an envelope would be given to the lecturer. Later it was formalized and a
cheque was being given and a proper receipt obtained for the maintenance of
accounts. Sometimes the speakers would be professional teachers and therefore
it was their bread and butter, but the charges were reasonable and within the norms of
employment.
The age of
competition in professional fields gave rise to the plethora of coaching
classes wherein teachers/Readers/Professors also moonlighted to earn extra
money. However such schemes are ‘result oriented’ and become popular on the success
rate. But in the case of Mrs Clinton and others like her the attraction among the audience is to see her rather than to listen to her.
And she is not the only one , I am told
that had Mr Obama lost the elections he would have gained by being the highest
paid on the ‘lecture tour’. I searched the Net and obtained a list of highest paid
speakers and here it goes:
1.
Donald Trump- 1-1.5 million dollars.
2.
Ronald Reagen( 1989)- 1 million dollar.
3.
Tony Blair- 6 lakh dollars.
4.
Bill Clinton- 1.5 to 4.5 lakh dollars.
5.
Rudy Guilani- 2.7 lakh dollars.
6.
Alan Greenspace-2.5lakh dollars
7.
Lance Armstrong-1 lakh dollars.
8.
Al Gore- 1to1.5 lakh dollars.
9.
Richard Branson- 1 lakh dollars.
10.
Sarah Palin- 1 lakh dollars.
However for me it is
the ethical question. Prominent people who have made a name for themselves
should not charge such a high amount and in fact should lecture as a public service and consider it an honour for having been
invited, otherwise there is no end to this race for earnings ! Looking at the
list above it can be confirmed that none of them needs the money for their
living ; it is just an extra earning. If the prominent people lecture for
charity the reception of the audience will be better.
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