An eye for talent...

I think the task of identifying children that have a lot of potential but don’t have the resources to carve out a career for themselves and giving them the means (education, training) they deserve is a very honourable and laudable mission. It would give one the joy that comes with identifying a diamond in the dustbin and bringing it to a place it deserves. How do some people identify the children that have the potential? I am always fascinated by people (gurus) that identify potential prodigies by taking one look at them. Isn’t that a rare gift! Be it in the movies (directors identify potential superstars), cricket (coaches identify master batsmen), business (CEOs identify their successors), music (maestros identify future composers and singers), religion (religious leaders identify their successors – e.g: Dalai Lama, Pope, Mahant etc) et al. I know of some people who were identified this way – they are the lucky ones – unlike many people who had the potential but weren’t recognized for it by anyone and either had to struggle their way up or go for it single-handedly and create their own empire or, sadly, finally give up in frustration. Rajnikanth is a case in point. He had nothing tangible to prove he would click, but it was K.B (Balachandar) who saw the spark in him. Do you know of any such interesting stories?