Manu Joseph: Why people take pride in the achievements of others for truly odd reasons

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.I thought only I knew. The Tamil actor Vijay, whom people have suddenly taken to calling Joseph Vijay after his political rivals revealed his full name, and who now heads the largest party in Tamil Nadu’s assembly, was my classmate in the third standard. It is a connection I made because I remember trivial things from childhood.

Usually, people don’t remember much of their past, so I thought that no one else in my class knew of their Vijay connection. I have only three recollections of him. His head made quick bird-like movements on a long neck, and he could run very fast.

He left school the next year, but I saw him in church one Sunday. I was surprised he was Christian, and also that he was rich. I was seeing him in something other than school uniform for the first time, and he was probably wearing a coat or something I only remember as too fancy for us, and he was with his mother who appeared distinguished.

It was unusual for a woman to sit on the last bench in church because women usually didn’t leave mass midway, but there she was with her son. Maybe they wanted to be discreet because they were important. Vijay would say something to his mother and they would laugh.

We presumed they were laughing at us. I forgot all about him until a decade later when he would gain fame as an actor.After Vijay’s spectacular debut in politics, my class WhatsApp group, of which Vijay is not a part of course, erupted in joy. Turns out they have known for a while, somehow, and for that reason they are proud of him.

Proxy pride is a puzzling human quality. Why are my classmates proud of Vijay? They have certainly not contributed to his success. They don’t share the same genes, and even if they do, that