It seems to be the print media’s latest tool to getting people to buy an issue. “50 Most Powerful people in India” by an India Today, or “Top 100 Powerful People of the World” by a Time magazine, have become an annual occurrence. Such articles, make for good reading. But are they factually right? I mean how do they judge people across various fields. How do you compare a Tiger Woods with the Secretary-General of the U.N.
Reading the “Methodology” segments of such articles, further confirms my skepticism. How do you weigh the various parameters. Isn’t it simply a magazine’s perspective if the money a person has, is weighed more than the number of employees working under him? If magazines claim that they are publishing the most definitive ranking, wouldn’t all the magazines have the same list?
Whats worse is that since these ratings are really popular, they are always susceptible to power-hungry politicians who want their name figured higher on the list.
How does one really know which list is correct? Perhaps it depends on your perspective. And that’s were ratings hope to catch your imagination. As a person if you have no idea how to weigh your perspectives, this rating mechanism is for you.
The biggest irony behind all this is that, no matter how high a Shah Rukh Khan figures on Time Magazine’s List, he still gets frisked at New York Airport like a commoner. The question lingers. simply, whats the use?
