Whilst I indulged in writing my next sarcastic post, I had a thought-provoking discussion with one of my friends. Since it is neither easy nor frequent for me to be provoked thoughtfully, I chose to write this post first. I hope that Ms Dixit and Mr Kalmadi could wait till my next post as they are already tired of CWG and at present busy with CBI and ED.
Our discussion started with an unusual question: "How do we know that we fit well into various roles we play in our lives?"
I remembered Shakespeare. He must have had the answer. After all he did manage to affirm that we are all players on a stage. To my disappointment he didn't seem to have measured the fitness of each role. Hardly a few would have the guts to criticize themselves. Shakespeare didn't belong to that 'minority' group. He seemed to have comfortably left the question untouched.
Why is it a thought-provoking question? Usually I call anything thought-provoking if I am really excited but unable to answer. And most importantly I do not wish to think about it again. Adding to my excitement, this question indeed made me think. How on earth am I going to measure the fitness of my roles as a son, brother, husband, father...? For some time I thought the question was purely rhetorical. Later I realized it certainly was not. For the first time I started to question myself: have I understood the question correctly? It doesn't happen to us often. By 'us' I meant 'researchers' in general. We always assume that we got the question correct no matter we understood it or not.
In professional terminology it seemed to me that I was given a self-assessment form. Only that the form could not be filled. It brings back the memories of my examinations. Sitting in a hall with all the restrictions in the world and waiting for the bell to ring. Only that there is no bell to ring here. I am forced to think and analyze.
Analyzing the thought-provoking question further leads only to not-so-conclusive answers. No matter whether this question makes complete sense or non-sense, the answer lies with the audience that the question was intended to. Finally I understood that I am the one who sets the question. I am not required to answer; let alone know the answer. I jumped in joy. My days are back. The bell has rung.
If you want to know how well you played your role, ask your audience! Ask your parents, siblings, longtime friends...
I appreciated the "power of asking" when I was watching a documentary on The Fall of World Trade Center. We all felt for and consoled the loved ones of those who lost their precious lives on that tragic morning. A fitting tribute. But, have we ever asked or at least thought about the engineer, Leslie Robertson, who spent months designing those towers, whose office overlooked the "once-stood" towers, who watched all his efforts vanishing in rubbles on 9/11. What he must have gone through when the towers collapsed? We don't know. Because we never asked.
The only unanswered questions are those that are never asked. Better late than never.
Our discussion started with an unusual question: "How do we know that we fit well into various roles we play in our lives?"
I remembered Shakespeare. He must have had the answer. After all he did manage to affirm that we are all players on a stage. To my disappointment he didn't seem to have measured the fitness of each role. Hardly a few would have the guts to criticize themselves. Shakespeare didn't belong to that 'minority' group. He seemed to have comfortably left the question untouched.
Why is it a thought-provoking question? Usually I call anything thought-provoking if I am really excited but unable to answer. And most importantly I do not wish to think about it again. Adding to my excitement, this question indeed made me think. How on earth am I going to measure the fitness of my roles as a son, brother, husband, father...? For some time I thought the question was purely rhetorical. Later I realized it certainly was not. For the first time I started to question myself: have I understood the question correctly? It doesn't happen to us often. By 'us' I meant 'researchers' in general. We always assume that we got the question correct no matter we understood it or not.
In professional terminology it seemed to me that I was given a self-assessment form. Only that the form could not be filled. It brings back the memories of my examinations. Sitting in a hall with all the restrictions in the world and waiting for the bell to ring. Only that there is no bell to ring here. I am forced to think and analyze.
Analyzing the thought-provoking question further leads only to not-so-conclusive answers. No matter whether this question makes complete sense or non-sense, the answer lies with the audience that the question was intended to. Finally I understood that I am the one who sets the question. I am not required to answer; let alone know the answer. I jumped in joy. My days are back. The bell has rung.
If you want to know how well you played your role, ask your audience! Ask your parents, siblings, longtime friends...
I appreciated the "power of asking" when I was watching a documentary on The Fall of World Trade Center. We all felt for and consoled the loved ones of those who lost their precious lives on that tragic morning. A fitting tribute. But, have we ever asked or at least thought about the engineer, Leslie Robertson, who spent months designing those towers, whose office overlooked the "once-stood" towers, who watched all his efforts vanishing in rubbles on 9/11. What he must have gone through when the towers collapsed? We don't know. Because we never asked.
The only unanswered questions are those that are never asked. Better late than never.
1 comment:
Well done AK... A refreshing post from you as always ;)
Here is a girl's answer...
All the answers are in front of us. We just need to look into his/her eyes. A baby never has tell his mother when he needs food. What we need to focus on is how much of warmth and love is there among us as world's citizens. With love and empathy, every feeling can be shared without words. It is just like sharing music which doesn't need words. Some things are best left unsaid :)
But, yes, I do agree with you that we need to start the thought-process. The time is just right and ripe to do it and to do it now.
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