Elon Musk’s candid Mann Ki Baat

It may seem that we stalk Elon Musk — which we may, but we don’t — but for all his stalkability quotient, the third-richest person on Earth as of today has one quality that is worth applauding: not taking himself seriously. For all his righteous activities — cryptocurrency-dangling included — the Tesla CEO is what ‘influencers’ should be like. Replying to a tweet that has a video game featuring tough challenges and obstacles and a smirking message, ‘How hard it is for Elon Musk to avoid controversies’ (Answer: very hard), the man replied with two guffawing emojis, ‘Although to be fair, I dig my own grave a lot.’ For an own-gravedigger, that’s not just candid but also a welcome admission to — to quote Salman Khan out of context — being human.

The original tweeter rightly replied to Musk’s mann ki baat, ‘Freedom of speech and freedom of thought are only actually positives if you act and think like you’re expected to, Master Elon! PS: Don’t worry, we faithful appreciate your candour.’ One of the best qualities of being powerful is that one can speak one’s mind. Whether for a businessman or a politician or any other public figure, this is a quality one tends to forget as a quality of true leadership. Everyone can couch their thoughts in strategic niceties. Only those with true power can say it like it is — own-gravedigging be damned.