How can a person’s greatness be measured? What metrics are considered? The weightiness of the word “contemporary” implies the belongingness of the equal time. The impact of the word applies not only to ancient literature but also to modern sports, film industry, science and any other field of significant contribution to the developing world. Moreover, contemporaries bring “healthy competition” and “constructive criticism” in to the picture. Whereas “healthy competition” puts at least some amount of focus on the bigger intention of benefiting an entire organization, industry, or discipline, “constructive criticism” provides adequate acknowledgement for positive actions as well as for those requiring improvement. Though greatness of individuals can be decided by the next generations, but contemporaries ensure improvisations. Let us consider a few examples, which includes prominent figures.
Diego Maradona, the World Cup winning Captain for Argentina in 1986, is still considered to be a God of the game. But due to lack of modern broadcasting techniques in those times and little availability of match highlights, the renowned God of the game remains unrecognized among today’s generation. Similarly, today’s football fans are classified mostly in two categories – Leonel Messi Fans and Cristiano Ronaldo Fans. Presence of other prominent contemporaries of Messi and Ronaldo, such as Luis Suarez, Kylan Mbappe, Romeo Lukaku and the list goes on, bring about healthy competition among themselves. It is absolutely feasible to expect that people of 22nd or 23rd Century may not remember these legends of the game, as new legends will be on the fields in those times.
In the history scientific development, the groundbreaking discovery of electricity by Thomas Alva Edison, is still considered to be the most important. He had been described as America’s greatest inventor of all times. He did not have prominent contemporaries and his contributions are recognized even today, and will be recognized generations after generations. On the other hand, Alber Einstein had prominent contemporaries such as Neils Bohr, Madam Curie, Max Planck and Von Neumann. We are well aware that Von Neumann and Albert Einstein were critics to each other. It is these reverential criticisms that ensured improvements in their respective research works, which consequentially earned both of them Nobel Prize in Physics.
In Indian Freedom Movement, among the uncountable number of brave fighters, two are still considered to be monumental: Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Whereas Mahatma Gandhi was a promoter of non-violence, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose built his own army called The Azad Hind Force, to fight the British. Not only their immortality will remain throughout the existence of Indians, their criticisms for each other’s methods were highly debatable during the entire freedom movement. In several instances, Mahatma Gandhi lost his arguments to Netaji. In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi has several times, that he was stunned by the magnanimousness of Netaji and similar leaders such as Chandrasekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh, who preferred war over round table conferences with the British.
A careful study of the examples quoted above clearly establishes the fact that it is not necessary that the greatness of men can be decided by the people who live after them. There are numerous instances when the greatness of men has been established during their lifetimes by their contemporaries. Therefore, great men have been given their due by both their contemporaries and by the people who lived after them.