Home > Chiru > Others > Times of India                                                Chiranjeevi for Times of India

There are two kinds of people I come across: those who are intelligent and those with common sense. My vote goes to those with common sense. This is not to suggest that intelligent people do not have common sense. An intelligent person is one who knows when to use this common sense and not his intelligence. The dictionary defines common sense as normal native intelligence.

An intelligent person is like raw gold. But an intelligent person with common sense is like an ornament which has not only value but also beauty.

Common sense sometimes deserts us. When N T Rama Rao passed away, several film stars rushed to his house. There was mournful silence. Then, an actor turned to a senior comrade and said: Please do not create another situation for us to mourn you soon. We will miss you a lot. No one liked the joke.

Common sense is knowing what to speak when.

Sometime ago I attended a function in which a successful businessman spoke. The crowd was disappointed as the man spoke for a long time about how big and successful he was, a fact which everyone knew.

Common sense tells you not to bore people by speaking about yourself. What you talk should hold a persons interest. He should not feel you have booked him.

How does one have common sense? By having an open mind. I once told a director that I did not want my name to appear on the screen with the description Mega Star. I am a simple man. Do not create an aura around me, I told him. He argued: You have not allowed your star status to affect you. But why do you want your simplicity to rub off on the megastar that people see on the screen? I understood his logic. I let him have his way.

Common sense is being open to new ideas, listening to the other person, and not being rigid in your beliefs.

PS: Chiranjeevi wrote this article for Times of India on 21st Oct 2003.

Courtesy : Times of India

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