I was really hungry and the smell of Biryani was watering my mouth. My
stomach was grousing in protest and then food came in. I couldn’t stop myself
and just put a big morsel in my mouth..guess what?.....my face turned into a red
alarm, perspiration wet my scalp and my ear started scratching….the worst
thing was running of nose and eyes…Running of nose and eyes is against of
eating etiquette… and I was embarrassed as I had no way to stop them…. And
yet I couldn’t complain… as I was following the rule, “no complains in
friendship”….. and worst than that… complaining is a sign of personal
weakness…
So, without complaining I kept my head down “trying to act as a NICE
GUY”….and kept eating…. My misery didn’t end there as I got stomachache…
Later on, one day I caught the cook and asked…..out of curiosity…. that why he
puts that much spices that one really can’t taste the main food except those of
spices…. His answer astonished me and made me to rethink of my own
behaviors…. He started giving me the details of benefits of each spice and
telling their ability in curing certain diseases…. “What? Are you feeding your
customers or curing them…massive treatment …yeah?”….
I just convinced myself that it is not the mistake of the cook as he is not well
educated and he is doing what the master chefs have taught him… he is just
trying to do his best to be professional like his masters…
You might be wandering that after years…why I am bringing this event again….
Well, that is really relevant to what I am going through…..
Before entering the University, I was taught by my teachers (as well as
autobiographies and biographies of Scientists and philosophers that I have
read) to
trust my observations, value my ideas and challenge what seems contradicting
with my understanding….and just be ready for two outcomes…either be wrong
and in that case… learn or be right and that case… contribute something….
However, I am finding that spirit is of little use in academic world… as the work
begins with references…It is customary to stuff the beginning of each paper
with references…well that is right and there is no problem in it but it seems that
it has become more of habit than the need. The people in academia behave just
like “The Cook” that tries his best to follow what he has taught…without
realizing either…is it scientific or not?
Let me explain a little more…. “The cook’s” main job was cooking rice with
meat… and the customers expect to taste rice and meat… but he was thinking
that… that is what everybody can do…. What everybody can’t do is the mixing
the spices and adding them to food…he knew the properties of spices,
proportions to mix and timing… and that were what was making him
professional chef……
Now come to academic circles…the main job to make clear the concepts (laws
and principles) but that is also part of introductory Sciences…. “Baby
Science”….and working on them doesn’t really make you look professional…
The professionalism is in examples “spices”….how many examples
“experiments and papers; to use as a references of your knowledge…
professionalism” ….. The shift from “concept specific” to “example specific” is
really what making big holes in thinking patterns of “professionals”….
I was feeling this but trying to act like a “NICE GUY; my friend always telling
me..though indirectly, to abandon this messy behavior) ….
and do not complain (keep eating even if it makes your nose run)… but the first
speech in graduation ceremony left me almost with a crying face…..
The Doctor of Science, D.Sc in his speech started giving references from book…
WHAT???
“Is he out of his mind?”…. that was my first impression…. A person with a long
experience in academia has nothing from his life experiences to share at this
very important moment of his life and sharing an excerpt from a book? (Full of
bookish ideas but with totally barren experience?)….
Then I started to convince myself that… it is not his mistake….. After long
academic experience where you spent giving references over long years…you
might lose confidence in your own ideas (they are real like rice and meat but
not professional like spices)…Or it is just became a behavior after writing
references in introductions of each paper over long years that he couldn’t stop
himself not giving a reference while talking about himself…..
I am just afraid that if this trend goes on…one day people might start describing
themselves not how they feel by how they fit in certain studies conducted by
behavioral scientists……
So, I decided to complain from time to time to not end up like D.Sc
speaker….becoming wrong is natural but losing the originality is real loss..
(Take this writing as a first effort of complaining…Hahahhaha…..)
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