R. ARIVANANTHAM
It is being doubted that behind the controversy related to the Indian entrepreneur Sohan Roy’s short poem, titled ‘Viddi Janman’ (Fool’s life), in Malayalam that shook UAE in the past few days, are a few Keralites with vested interests. No person or organization who has rightly comprehended Roy’s character will be able to justify these grave allegations raised upon him.
Roy, founder chairman and CEO of Sharjah-headquartered Aries Group and director of the sci-fi movie DAM 999, who has been efficiently running a worldwide business based in the UAE for the past 23 years striving towards the success of his business along with the growth of the UAE and the Indian economy. He is someone who made a bond for setting aside 50% of his assets for his employees and implemented timely payment, yearly increment, pension, and monthly profit share for them. He is continuing to provide full payment without laying off anyone even in this crucial period of COVID-19.
Roy’s poem is nothing but the reproduction of Nobel Laureate Poet Rabindra Tagore’s poem titled “Where the mind is without fear…” which flags narrow-minded people over a century ago.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Even after being the Chairman & CEO of a business conglomerate of 53 companies spread around 16 countries and figuring in the Forbes list, Sohan Roy is someone who has always avoided accompanying privileges, setting an example for entrepreneur’s as a model employer. He believes right from the CEO to the office boy, work rules at the office are equal for everyone hence every employee must follow them without disparity.
He could very well be the only company Chairman/CEO in the world who avoids perks like business-class travel, 5-star hotel suites, and golf courses, and uses the amount saved as pension to the Parents of Employees. Alongside this, he also succeeded in helping poor and studious children in pursuing a quality education and reaching heights.
In UAE alone, he was able to open job opportunities for more than a thousand people with excellent pay scales and job security. Along with this, he was also able to make five of his business ventures regarded as the world no.1 in their respective fields based on an increase in efficiency.
To make the value of 1$=1Rupee, a successful research project which Roy conducted as a part of his Industrial Doctorate, he kick-started a community of Indian entrepreneurs called Indywood Billionaires Club and the US $10 billion worth project Indywood, both of which are still functioning efficiently.
By giving away his own house for COVID treatment and by being the first to deliver ventilators, his charity services stood out. 100s of needy families were also relocated and houses were constructed for those who got affected by natural calamities in Nepal, Chennai, and Kerala.
In 2016, he was acknowledged with the award for the best employer in India for demonstrating his commitment towards human values in his companies.
His first directorial venture “DAM 999” for Warner Brothers, contended for the Oscars and received 5 selections in 3 categories, making him the first director to enter Hollywood from the Middle East and UAE. Recognizing his directorial skills, he was presented with around 50 international awards.
He is also the author of 6 literary works, including a script and novel, which gained a place in the Oscar library and “Anu Mahakaavyam” which comes under the epic poem category.
Choosing current affairs as a topic, he has been writing daily for the past two and half years, a 4 line Poem based Internet Troll or “Poetroll” form that is released with suiting graphics and music. He has written a total of 875 Poetrolls that stands out in the post-modern literary Field. He has also founded many mega youth festivals and talent hunts in the UAE which eventually helped many talented individuals to become a part of the movie world.
He is also the only representative from the UAE in the “Emmy Award” committee, which is considered as the Oscar of the television arena.
Sohan Roy is a true patriot who doesn’t hesitate to appreciate strong decisions and policies taken by leaders – be it Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had even extended a personal invitation to his swearing-in ceremony in Delhi. He has been a socialist-minded ideologist since school days and implemented the ideology in his own life.
He is a down to earth person who can be named as a true secularist, who does not believe in any religious supremacism, which is evident even in his name.
This is a period when the world has joined hands to work unanimously against the pandemic. Many news articles were published that criticised religious preachers in many countries for encouraging congregations and dismissing social-distancing. Being a vehement critic of such practices that go against humanity, he wrote a poem on the matter.
However, unfortunately, the graphic designer who was working from India unintentionally related it specifically to the Nizamuddin congregation in Delhi, which was the hot topic among news channels in India. The poem with accompanying graphics was uploaded on social media handles from India. Due to the severe lockdown restrictions, the control of Sohan Roy’s social media accounts were entrusted to the social media team operating in India itself. Since the graphical representation was a result of misinterpretation, Roy immediately took action and removed the post from all social media handles. Later, he also apologized, taking the entire moral responsibility of the issue through his Facebook post.
The controversy which has resurfaced again after two weeks of deleting the post in the Malayalam language is now being stoked by even those who cannot comprehend the language, with the selfish intention of crucifying and defaming a selfless person on social media, without comprehending the facts. We sincerely hope this is not used as a means to point generic accusations of intolerance on Keralites and Indians in particular.
