A
friend of mine, describing some celebrity whom he admires, mentioned
to me recently that he is fascinated by the celebrity, because he is
so different! His off the cuff remark really set me thinking and I
kept wondering whether being different is all that important or is it
OK to be different? Just a casual search down the memory lane and I
came up with two names whom I had always thought to be different but
for all the wrong reasons.
In my
college days, we had a professor, who taught us Physics. As I
remember, Prof. Thombre's (not his real name) teaching abilities
could have been called mediocre at the best. He was particularly
weak in mathematics, a pre-requisite for any lecture in theoretical
Physics. Yet, from all of his outwardly appearances, he looked a
“pakka” learned Physicist and a serious minded research scholar.
He dressed well; one would always find latest scientific magazines
and newly published books scattered on his table giving an impression
that he has been reading them. As students, we were impressed with
Prof. Thombre's style and always thought him to be different from
other staff in the college and he should have been in working in some
research laboratory involved in cutting age technology research. He
never chatted with his colleagues and was always curt and proper in
his conversations with them. We students would always see him
contemplating on some serious matter. However, as we finished our
academic term in which he lectured us, I had developed a great
suspicion about him being a fake and I felt that his
demeanor to look different was in reality cultivated. As the term was
over and he was not expected to teach us any further at senior level
classes, I kept my feelings to myself and soon forgot about the guy.
Four
or five years after my graduation, I happened to meet one of my old
classmates. During our chat, discussion naturally moved to subjects
concerning our college and lecturers. It was here that I came to know
some latest news about our erstwhile Physics professor. It seemed
that he was caught in a big fraud regarding purchase of some
apparatus for the laboratory and was summarily dismissed by the
executive council of the college. Frankly, I was not much surprised
as I always had a nagging doubt in my mind about this guy.
On
one of the evenings a few years later after this little chat with my
friend, I was watching a television discussion about science
education. There was a panel of three so called education experts. I
had then found that one expert from the panel, looked rather familiar
and after watching him closely for few seconds, I became convinced that this man was for sure the same person, who had taught us Physics
once and was later dismissed from the college for a fraud. I listened
carefully to the discussion, to my surprise, this guy was being
addressed by the other experts on the panel as Dr. Garud; totally a
different surname and on top of that he was also addressed as
“Doctor.” I really did not understand, how he could have managed
to get his doctorate in the intervening period and also a new
surname.
I
made some efforts to look for some of my old friends and some phone
calls later, I found out, what I was looking for. Our professor had
simply changed his name after his dismissal from college by applying
for change of name to Government and getting it published in the
Government Gazette and had moved on to Mumbai. He had managed to get
a phony doctorate from some unknown university and was now a senior
professor in one of the colleges in Mumbai. I was truly amazed with
this guy; a real sleek operator.
I
can also narrate to you my experiences with one of my engineering
classmates, who was also quite different from other classmates. He
was from the state of Haryana and was a fair-handsome guy. He was
soft spoken and always spoke with niceties. He was friendly with
everyone and was much liked. Lets call him Mr. Tripathi ( again not
his real name). Mr. Tripathi was almost, what can be described as a
slow learner. Yet, with his style, he appeared to overcame all his
difficulties. As a part of our course, we had to do some engineering
drawing work sheets. For Mr. Tripathi, making all these work sheets
was a waste of time. He somehow got them done from other classmates,
who slogged for him. I was at a loss to figure out, how he lured the
others to do this for him. Then a little incident happened and I
found out the truth.
One
of our subjects for study was a real tough one. I was told by a
senior that the particular lecturer, who taught us that subject, was
in habit of setting up examination question papers referring to an
obscure old book. There were only two copies of that book available
in our library and one of them was with the lecturer. I got hold of
the other copy and found out that what my senior had told me was
true. I decided to get the book loaned to me a week prior to our
final examination and accordingly placed an order with the college
library. I received a written confirmation that I would get that book
in that particular week. When that week came, I went to the library
and demanded the book. The library clerk was evasive and refused to
give me the book saying it has been loaned to someone else. I was
furious and went to see the chief librarian and complained to him. He
told me to come back on next day.
Next
day, when I reached librarian's chamber, I was quite surprised to see
my friend Mr. Tripathi, sitting there. The chief librarian told me
that the book has been somehow loaned to him and if I insist, he
would return it and I could loan it. I was really angry by now and
wanted to know how it was loaned to him when I had reserved it? By
now Mr. Tripathi had realised that I was not going to have him the
book and suddenly changed his strategy. He was extremely nice and
with sugary words told me that he would allow me to have the book for
few hours, so I can use it. I refused to fall for his trick, so the
matter was settled and I got the book loaned to me. The truth came
out later, when I found that Mr. Tripathi had actually bribed the
clerk to get the book. Mr. Tripathi then told everyone else in our
class how unfair I was, and how one of the class toppers like me has
refused to share the book with a poor student like him to concoct
everyone else's sympathy.
Mr.
Tripathi used money power everywhere, getting books from library,
doing mechanical drawing worksheets and all kind of things. Anyway,
after I graduated I forgot this incidence and also Mr. Tripathi.
After a few months, I managed to secure a job as a research and
development engineer in one of India's premier company after going
through a tough selection procedure. On one of the days, I was
surprised to see my old friend Mr. Tripathi, as a new addition to the
staff. I welcomed him but knew that he had no chance of staying there
as job required through knowledge of electronics. According to my
expectations, Mr. Tripathi wriggled out of the situation by getting
him transferred as a management trainee. I had no knowledge how he
did that but can guess it well.
After
a gap of some years, I met Mr. Tripathi at “Kochi” airport,
dressed in a nicely tailored suit. He gave me his card. He had now
become director of a company, which was a state undertaking. His
career advancement was nothing short of being called spectacular.
Somehow after that chance meeting, I never met Mr. Tripathi again.
Couple of years later I came across a small news item under corporate
news in a news paper. The news item said;
“ Mr.
Tripathi, managing director of XXXX state electronics corporation has
been dismissed by the board of the company after having found
involved in a fraud.”
I
am sure that by now the readers must have been thoroughly confused.
This post bears the title name “Its OK to be different!” and I
am narrating stories of fakes here, who were different for all the
wrong reasons. The point, I want to make is that not every different
person is acceptable to us, leave aside his being admirable. Its not
OK to be different for everyone.
Some
of my readers might have heard the name of Dr. Prakash Amte, a
medical doctor and social worker from Maharashtra, India. Son of the
illustrious Magsaysay awardee and legend, Baba Amte. Trained as a
medical doctor, he and his wife, Dr. Mandakini Amte have spent their
lifetimes doing philanthropic work in the form of the “Lok Biradari
Prakalp” amongst the Madia Gonds in Gadchiroli district of
Maharashtra and the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh. The couple was also awarded the Magsaysay Award for
'Community Leadership' in 2008. Today, Dr. Amte's lifetime work has
grown into three things: a hospital, Lok Biradari Prakalp Davakhana,
a residential school Lok Biradari Prakalp Ashram Shala and an
orphanage for injured wild animals the Amte Animal Arc. It seeks to
improve health and educational services for tribals in the area. His
abode at Hemalkasa lies in a tribal belt and the project provides
health care to about 40000 individuals annually. The Lok Biradari
Prakalp Ashram School has over 600 students, residents and day
scholars.
Dr.
Amte is also a different, but of the right kind, and in his case, who
will hesitate to describe him with the words “Its OK to be
different.” We come across in our life, many such people, who are
different, some for all the wrong reasons and some for the right
reasons. We can not approve all of them. We can not OK them in
omnibus fashion. Its not necessarily OK to be different.
18th
October 2014
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