Unduly battered Kaavya can still get a better life

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It was doubtless Kaavya’s fault to have supplied enough cause to the media to insinuate that she is the typical ‘cheat’. But does she, in her teens, deserve such relentless accusations without being given the pardon she may deserve? The aggrieved authors and the publishing house, that have exhibited such a hawkish stance instead of accepting an apology and a compromise from Kaavya, must know that they may not necessarily be white as lilies.

A little bit of research will reveal that plagiarism can be deliberate as well as accidental and that anyone can be crucified with devoted probing. Famous people accused of plagiarism include Martin Luther King Jr, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Benjamin Franklin, TS Eliot and the likes. In Kaavya’s case, even if it was indeed deliberate, the role of the publishing firm is still unclear, as also that of the reviewers of the publishers.

Deliberate plagiarism is very much around and thriving in literary, journalistic and academic circles, amply aided by the internet. With the exponential growth of readership and demand for new stories, plots, music, news, entertainment and art, there is obviously a great amount of mix ‘n’ match and repackaging.

There are cross-overs from one language to the other, one field or context to another and one period to another. Even in the management world, a whole lot of books on leadership and competition are such. Many are a revival of older ideas in new settings and are popular for their contextual examples rather than uniqueness of ideas.

Talk on metrics, performance management systems and much of other management mumbo-jumbo has traces of others’ ideas cleverly repackaged, with modern idiom. (A model I had published over 25 years ago in the UK resurfaced in a recent book from the US without even a reference—presumably, it was not deliberate). Several speeches of our political and corporate leaders at their shareholders’ meetings will show some resemblance to others’ works that hardly get mentioned. We do not painstakingly crucify all of them for mere plagiarism, unless it is a major infringement of copyright.