Imitation is what we do consciously or unconsciously, when we are children we try to copy the behaviour that we see from our parents, siblings, TV etc.

We are influenced by our surroundings, it is natural to copy or imitate what we see because if they can do it so can we, for example when we watch a video on YouTube about our favourite movie or song, we try to copy the dialogues or practise the dance steps used in the song.

Some years back, I saw an advertisement for a brand that used the tagline, Innovate don't imitate.

It is true that imitation and innovation are two different things, unfortunately we live in a society that encourages imitation and there is not much innovation.

This is found in the entertainment industry, most people assume that Bollywood is a form of entertainment where everything is copied, the fact is that Hollywood does the same thing, there are so many English movies that are inspired from other countries.

Imitation is a good thing when we use it to improve ourselves and change something for the better, it becomes a problem when it is used as a shortcut to achieve success.

No two people are the same, when we imitate others, we are harming ourselves because we cannot learn and grow by using somebody else's ideas to reach our goals.

Imitation is not just about continuing with what we already have, if we do not try to think out of the box then we would still be living like our ancestors did.

There would be no inventions that we take for granted, if everyone were to imitate each other's behaviour, the world would be a dull and boring place and we would be living in a constant state of boredom.

Imitation is easy because we are copying someone else's actions, if we want to get ahead then we need to use our abilities to come up with new ways of doing things which is a challenge.

If everyone imitates each other then there is no change, it is like everyone watches the same tv show, listens to the same music and reads the same books, this is not possible in reality.

Imitation has limited use, we need to learn what we can use, beyond a certain point it becomes useless, it is like watching the a movie made by different people with the same story.

When we imitate, we need to ask ourselves whether copying others is the right thing to do, what to we hope to achieve as individuals and whether copying others serves a particular purpose.

It is said that one person's like is another person's dislike, if there is no variety in our lives, then we are no better than animals.

Animals live a routine life, they eat, sleep, repeat, if we imitate them, then what is the use of being a human being.

Humans are top of the food chain because they dare to be different, we think for ourselves, we need to get out of the habit of imitation and recognise the importance of innovation.