Recall value

Everyone by now has heard of Kaavya Viswanathan. A month ago, few knew of her, even fewer knew she was in Harvard, and even fewer knew she wrote a book. Can't stop. Even fewer knew she got a half a million dollar deal and even fewer knew she signed a movie deal.

Today, she is all over the place. Opinions differ. She is young, a genius, a thief, a liar, a victim. It doesn't matter. She is THE FACE OF PLAGIARISM. A pretty one at that.

Here's my point. Plagiarism has existed and will exist for years to come. Some of it will get caught, some will go unnoticed for years. People will continue to borrow words, images, thoughts and ideas and not many will be the wiser. Kaavya, got caught, because

1. She is in Harvard.
2. She is young.
3. She is pretty.

All this adds up to more recall value. Imagine if someone called Mangama Badrigopalan, studying in Tirupattur Regional College had copied some lines from a book and written her own book. I doubt it would have been publicized. In fact I am sure there are lots of Mangamas, Thangamas, Nambadurais and Karthiks copying words all the time but no one knows. Because no one cares.

What Kaavya did was wrong. But I can't get rid of this nagging feeling that maybe she was made a scapegoat because of her recall value. She should have known better, but it is time to bury this news story and get on with our lives.