An example,stupid

Much passion has been spent denouncing IG Rajendra Kumar,the Madhya Pradesh IPS officer who has used Ajmal Kasab as an example to psyche up 150-odd policemen. Kumar himself has denied praising Kasab. In his defence,he claims to have used Kasab only as an instrument of motivation,and his other examples like Sachin Tendulkars were ignored. News TV made its pitch shrill. The Congress,the main opposition party in the state,asked the MP government to punish Kumar. The state government appears to have obliged.

Lets forget Kumar for a while and ponder how the terms example,inspiration and emulation mutually differ. In a context such as Kumars,an example serves an illustrative purpose. Inspiration provides intellectual and emotional stimulation. Emulation,meanwhile,means what it usually does imitation of the aspects or actions of another. Unless specified to the contrary,an illustration,a source of inspiration,an object of emulation,need not imply holistic dimensions. A part,or parts,of the whole may suffice. So if Kumar asks policemen,with unenviable challenges ahead,to learn from Kasabs speedy acquisition of skills or passion for a cause,he need not be asking them to run amok in our streets.

Dont we sometimes find a professor with uncountable

degrees a poorer teacher than one with only a handful? Why is a Class 6 science book simpler than a Class 10 one? The efficacy of training lies in the trainer descending a little to raise his trainees. Examples work in a relative sense: to each his own,in terms he understands. In a neutral context,there is a right way of citing Kasab as an example. Whether or not Kumar did so can be a matter of debate. But its a tightrope walk: the Kasabs are sanguinary terrorists. We can,and should,emulate the devil in playing the fiddle; but we must not emulate the rest of his devilry.