ACADEMIC WRITING

Money has always driven the people of the world toward thinking actively and performing efficiently. I too belong to this category of common people that have lust for wealth and thirst to find the ways to achieve it some way. The easiest job in the world is writing something that interests us for some reasons and the difficult job is to make our writing highly interesting even to others. Many have been doing it for ages and it is not an impossible thing as such. Creativity is there in everybody and the forms in which it is expressed differ depending on the abilities of the individuals concerned. When we are not great writers, we need to conform to the rules and regulations set by others when we need some work to be given by them to write on and earn. The Internet is at our doorstep with its abundance of information and knowledge in textual and pictorial formats. Once one could say, ‘I don’t have much to research’, and now one should say, ‘I can’t research all this’. Rich and lazy ones mostly find it difficult to search for new things or research the old things and so employ the poor and dynamic ones to carry out those tense things. It is creativity if one could bring out something novel after the search into one’s own and it is ‘scholarly endeavor’ when something different could be created after understanding the given things and adding one’s rational or irrational inputs to it. The prior write essays, short stories, novels, poems, articles, reviews and so on being labeled as ‘writers’ and the latter belong to the category of ‘academic writers’. The works of the prior are not subject to limitations imposed by others; rather they inflict their ideas or fantasies on others. The latter are the suffering lot for they need to be highly rational and professional in whatever they write since they need to impress others. Academic writing is meant for constructive development of the human thought and the related debates among the concerning professionals or intellectuals. When something is subject to criticism by others, one needs to be very careful in what one is writing. This necessitates one to follow certain guidelines or norms formulated or imposed by others for their own purposes. Without much understanding about these risk factors of academic writing, I recently contacted an American company that deals with content creation and distribution. They need writers to write on the assigned topics, blindly following the rules prescribed by them. They can’t help being strict toward the writers for they need to conform to the expectations held by their clients that give them work. I informed the company that I was interested in academic writing and I desired to work for them to earn money. The attractive feature of this job is that we get paid very handsomely if we deliver qualitative work within the chasing deadlines. The companies clearly state on their websites what they are expecting from the writers. Half of the enthusiastic writers fear to contact the representatives of these companies, after reading the content provided by them regarding the do’s and don’ts. Yet I remained a daredevil and awaited the response from the company. They quickly responded to me and assigned me a written work as part of the test to be chosen by them as a ‘writer’ to work with them. I was supposed to write an essay of two pages on an easy topic given by them in a writing style that is widely in use in the academic circles of the west. They also provided me with a few online sources reading which I can have an idea of the expected content by them. I read the word files downloading them from the Internet and it took five hours. Then I started writing my essay and finished it within half an hour. They instructed me to adequately cite others’ works in my essay to make it ‘research oriented’ which is an essential characteristic of the academic writing. I did/could not do it at all.

The ones that write for money on various topics given by their employer are commonly known as freelance writers. Their work should be very interesting and look very professional in terms of the quality of the language used and the depth of the subject discussed. There should be an issue at hand or in mind and it should be presented in the introductory part of the essay. Various concepts or arguments centered on the introduced topic should logically follow in the latter part of the piece of writing. Toward the end, they should place a convincing or thought-provoking conclusion. Supporting one’s main topic with various examples and evidences collected from others’ works requires a lot of research. With research come the points of copyright law and plagiarism. Every writer has the intellectual property rights regarding the works created or developed by him or her based on his or her creativity or depending on others’ works to some extent. Not mentioning the details of the works referred to falls under plagiarism. In other words, copying and pasting the phrases or sentences or paragraphs of other writers, as they are, into our own works, and thus trying to become great writers, is a serious offence. Acknowledging every source we use for developing our written work is mandatory. One can understand diverse and scholarly concepts reading others’ works to improve oneself intellectually and it is not a wrong thing to do. Plagiarism is about being ungrateful toward the people and sources that helped us think greatly and write effectively. Academic writing authoritatively condemns plagiarism and it orders the writers to follow various rules and regulations while using and citing others’ writings in one’s own work. This compelled me to comprehend various mandatory things to be followed in academic writing to escape myself from being labeled as the ‘victim of plagiarism’. There is lots of information on these aspects of citing works on the Internet. I need to search a lot in those domains of information to become an effective academic writer. Thus I have to divert my attention from my important work ‘writing the essay’ to ‘understanding the norms of the profession’. This evident fact disturbed me a lot. There is going to be nothing serious if I remain poor being unable to cope with the demands of ‘academic writing’. People that have time and patience and aptitude to accurately conform to these strict legalities and formalities of academic writing are the right ones to earn money in this profession. I understood that I can’t fit in this setting of ‘norms’. I like such writing assignments which do not require even a bit of research and even one page titled ‘references’ or ‘works cited’ or ‘bibliography’ toward the end of the essay developed. I can’t develop ideas or arguments seeking advice or assistance from other writers or works. This remains a stumbling block on my path toward becoming an ‘academic writer’. My mind is so adamant and chaotic that it never listens to others. Even if it ever listens, it seldom follows what they said to do. The same happened in this case also. They sent back my essay and asked me to revise it incorporating the changes expected by them from the beginning. They are right in their orientation in this regard and I can’t blame them for this. When something needs to become ‘academic’ ‘authentic’ or ‘universal’, it requires containing the norms and forms of the ‘research’ ‘logic’ ‘evidence’ ‘compliance’ and ‘legality’. I like to write on what I feel about the world around me and the impulses and instincts that push me to write on something are my guides in this regard which may be foolish, immature and uncivilized at times. Academic writing concerns convincing others with our arguments based on proof and logic.

Creative writing pertains to entertaining or educating or misguiding or spoiling or scaring or inspiring others using our creative faculty in various dimensions. The writers that dream of a prosperous and happy world mostly write to ‘educate’ or ‘entertain’ others.

Creative writers are essentially the followers and upholders of absolute liberty and dreams in their ways of thinking and exhibiting it in words meant for others to read. They are dreamers and utopians in thought and action. They wish to show a fantastic world to their readers to delight them in some way and sometimes they may pepper their creativity with reality as well if they desire to educate them in some aspects of their lives or guide them toward a peaceful or ideal state of human coexistence. They can make anything sensational at will and they can turn ‘extraordinary’ into ‘nothing’ within seconds. Words are their weapons and they always remain sharp. They do not like to be constrained by the orders of others for they are not professionals trained in ‘conformity’ and ‘aping’. Birds fly to such ordinary places which they like depending on the forces of the seasons and one can’t find reasons for why they chose those places only avoiding other extraordinary places labeled by the intelligent and calculative man. Creative writers write on such topics which they like just like that being influenced or impressed by their observations in their familiar or unfamiliar surroundings or visualizations or the contemplations or complications flowing or blowing internally, quite rationally or idiotically. Wilderness is loved by those that are very bored with the mundane work lives in the cities and concrete jungles look fascinating for the folks living in the forests for ages. So, the writings of these crazy and unruly fellows are predominantly liked by those that are inescapably involved in the formally oriented and legally binding professional and personal schedules. They dare touch those corners of the human psyche and facets of the visible world that are quite absurd or inaccessible when perceived from the perspectives of the common that never think about the uncommon or the uncommon that rarely aspire to live and think as the common. Their opinions change within seconds and their arguments look quite irrational and illogical when observed by scholars and critics of academic and practical world. They wish to hide in the jungles when many fans run after them demanding more writings from them based on fun or gun or pun. They can’t write on the same topic repeatedly in an influential style for they have the habit of constant reorientation and reformation to stay prolific. In this scenario, how can they fit in the framework of reason and caution demanded and imposed by the agents of critical and analytical debate centered on research and renovation? This is where the academic writers challenge these poor and innocent creatures asking them; ‘can you write on this topic as logically and as argumentatively as I can?’ They helplessly defend themselves retorting timidly; ‘can you write on anything quite illogically and ordinarily and yet making it very interesting and influential?’ Internal conflicts and professional egos are present in every field of creativity. Both remain restless breaking their heads day and night. A scientist hates dreams that lack cohesion or relevance to reality. A creative writer runs after meaningless dreams and fancies trying to catch and explore them to see if some magic is hidden in them which couldn’t be detected or utilized by the ordinary. The point is that one should activate one’s brain in some way and then it would certainly yield some fruits that may look bitter today to many but sweet and commendable one day. If somebody says that he or she is a ‘creative writer’, one should not believe it at all. They are also using the same language invented by some and being used by all; they are also writing aiming readers that have a logical sense of appreciation of others’ works and they have also certain rules and regulations imposed by themselves. How can they be considered ‘creative’ unless the readers test their abilities and qualify them to that ‘word’ some day after much thought?

Datla Chiranjeevi Raju

CROSSING ROAD

In cities and other places, people that walk on/cross road are known as ‘pedestrians’. As per the traffic rules, they should cross the road walking on the ‘zebra crossing’ near the board bearing the words ‘Pedestrian Crossing’. But majority of the pedestrians normally do not like to take the strain of finding a nearby pedestrian crossing spot of the road to go to the other side of the road. So, they cross the road wherever they like and majority of the regular vehicle drivers on the roads of the cities are aware of this common phenomenon. Some pedestrians are so skillful and tactful that even people in big and costly vehicles can’t help regretting their lives. They simply stretch out a hand signing the vehicle users not to dash them and hurriedly cross the road. Some pedestrians are so disciplined and visionary that they take hours (metaphoric of course) to cross the road. This problem of road crossing mostly arises depending on the number of vehicles that pass on a particular road during a particular period of time. Some roads are very congested all the time and so they are beyond the point of ‘particular time’. One can’t understand the magnitude of an issue realistically unless one actually undergoes it. I faced such a situation very recently.

The executive of a software company asked me to attend an interview at their office. They wanted a Content Writer. I hired an auto rickshaw and rushed to the spot soon after my office hours that evening. I paid the fellow and got on to the road, precisely from my relatively safer zone to risky one. The office I was supposed to go to was located on the other side of the road, opposite Shoppers’ Stop at Begumpet in Secunderabad.

I stood by the edge of the road waiting for a considerable moment to attend my task ‘crossing the road’. It was about 5:50 p.m. A number of vehicles were passing past me and I was simply observing the beauty of the vehicles and the luxury of the people sitting in them. I thought ‘How lucky they are! They can simply cross the road because they look big to others when sitting in their vehicles’. I am a small fellow and my body doesn’t look big to them and so they don’t care whether I cross the road or not. Crossing the road was my concern and nothing serious happens in this world even if I couldn’t do it even after some two or three hours. These facts began to hover around my active consciousness. I was simply waiting to see if the rush of the traffic lessens a bit so that I could cross the road briskly and it was not happening. A young man was sitting on his bike and talking with a woman on one side of the road where I got off from the auto rickshaw. I thought that perhaps they were talking about me. I look like a buffoon or bumpkin to the modern guys and girls on the bikes for they might think that one that fails to cross any busy road within two minutes is none other than a ‘coward’. One needs guts to cross the road within seconds not minding the consequences if anything hits by chance. I lacked those guts at that time and so it could be a hot topic for other observers to chat upon (if they had time and no other important work to be attended). On the other hand, some fellows were easily crossing the road just before my eyes and I was wondering at them instead of following their footsteps. They know that the vehicle users know what they do when the road is much packed with vehicles. When one takes an initiative with a bold or reckless attitude, others can’t help appreciating one. When a few pedestrians are crossing the road, not minding the vehicles on the road that seriously, the fellows comfortably sitting in their vehicles can’t help thinking ‘Great people are crossing the road right now. I should wait and allow them to do it peacefully. After all I am the bearer of a single vehicle on the spot. But they are greater than me for they can stop all the vehicles on the road until they cross the road. Hats off to pedestrians!’ The pedestrian thinks while crossing the road ‘These blokes in the cars and these bus drivers presume that they are great and so keep on driving their vehicles until they see a red light at the traffic control point. The hell with them. How long can I wait to see if they ever stop to allow me to pursue my act peacefully? I can’t help taking the initiative if I have to reach the other side. I have my own responsibilities and the related stress levels. After all I am also a modern citizen and I too need to do things fast just like them’. I stood for about ten minutes in the same position and no vehicle stopped for my sake. Many fools stand by the road without any serious task at hand and so few like to worry about them. I was also a fool in this setting in that sense. I can’t expect from one of the vehicle users remark at me ‘It seems you want to cross the road. Shall I ask the other fellows to stop their vehicles for a while to keep the road ready for you to attend the historical act?’

I would have crossed the road early but for the fear of the ‘unexpected’. When one is very concerned about one’s safety on the road, one can’t help encountering the arbitrary questions like ‘What if a vehicle hits me or some male fellow chides me for I am crossing the road obstructing the free flow of the traffic in an uncivilized manner or some kind fellow applies a sudden brake to save me from the danger or some beautiful girl in some car finds me as an idiot for I am madly crossing the road stopping her car for a while and thus delaying her much-waited date with her lover’. When one is engaged in such these thoughts, one can’t cross the road.

The evident fact is that there is every chance that anybody can simply be hit by some vehicle. The body that we grow affectionately for years using toilet soaps, talcum powders, fairness creams, maintaining healthy diet, following fitness measures, introducing lifestyle changes, practicing yoga, and so on is going to be stained with blood within seconds if something unexpected occurs. Crossing the road predominantly falls in this category of ‘danger at hand’. Pedestrians think that they are supermen and so they can airily cross the road and the vehicle users think that they are the rich or the fashionable cream of the modern society and so the bloody pedestrians should stand by the road until they leave the space for them. Every human being has a word of his own and it seems rational when seen from his point of view. So, I remained by the road like a good boy (any guy with decency in his behavior and vision while embarking on challenging initiatives) and the fellows traveling by the vehicles did not appreciate my being a ‘good boy’. In the modern days many scold a fellow if he recklessly crosses the road but few notice the decent fellow standing by the road like a good boy. I was not hurt to know that the people were not recognizing my civic sense. I consoled myself saying ‘They have no that much time to stop and appreciate you. Be a bit practical idiot’.

At last the great chance had come my way. Some four or five people were there beside me waiting to cross the road. I quickly overviewed the latest developments around me and thought “The best opportunity has landed before you. Crossing a busy road is not an easy thing for old-fashioned rustics like you and nobody is there to pity your helplessness. Just follow them while they are moving to the other side. They take a fast and collective decision on the spot and you should be an honorary member of their team to reach your goal ‘reaching the other side, crossing the road, escaping the vehicles, not disturbing the flow of the traffic in a considerable way’”. I announced red alert to myself and joined them in crossing the road. Collective endeavors mostly yield considerable fruits in any field of human involvement and we could easily cross the road as a team. The vehicle users respect us a bit when they see us as a collective force. Even if somebody is hit on the way, the other team members can do something immediately. Though the attachment is of very transitory nature, the feeling of a sense of belongingness gives us the required strength to boldly cross the road/do something.

In metros, crossing the road is a big problem for the pedestrians and it can’t be resolved as long as there are neat roads and many vehicles with drivers in them. These days the number of rich people has greatly increased in the cities and the automobile companies are coming ahead with attractive offers. Owning a bike or a car is no more a big issue for many in the metros. Let the price of petrol or diesel be hiked quite frequently by the government, they are little bothered about it. It is a point of minimum prestige, and maximum personal comfort, and so, many like to own a vehicle. Banks are anyhow there to help us at any time. Attractive loan facilities with fascinating repayment options push majority toward taking the bold initiative ‘owning some vehicle’.

Walking/jogging has become a great passion for many these days for they need to keep fit controlling the levels of hypertension or obesity. Low level jobholders are always there to join the pedestrian group. So, the number of pedestrians is also greatly increasing.

These bare truths show us that we can’t help them. Then we have to resort to ‘self-help’. Before we get ready to cross the road, we have to remember that we have a few relatives, a few friends and a few well-wishers who might get hurt to know that we were hit by a vehicle and received a few injuries or we died on the spot. Nobody remains with us always to guide us and it is more so in the modern ways of living; everybody has their own headaches and they can’t share ours if we face some problem owing to our recklessness or carelessness. Being cautious is important. When we maintain this stand in our day-to-day lifestyle, we may miss certain things, but we do not lose our valuable life. Our future may not be bright, but we should live on this soil to check why it did not turn ‘bright’.

We can’t avoid the point of ‘crossing the road’ from our lives if we are associated with city life in some sense. So, the more we remain alert on the roads, the more we look sensible to others. The fact is that we may encounter the ‘unexpected’ even if we remain very cautious and visionary. But it falls under the category of ‘fate’ and few blame us when such occurrences befall us under its banner name. Being extremely cautious in matters of road crossing is also avoidable. People with such tendencies may cross the road at late nights for it is the time the daytime busy roads may remain free. Being moderate is enough. In the above scenario I remained a moderate fellow in some sense. I joined the other fellows after waiting for about ten minutes. When we can’t do something alone, we had better join others with similar pursuits or interests; a simple logic as such.

The best way to avoid the nuisance and the related tensions of road crossing is to buy a vehicle or hire one (time to time) depending on our abilities or the urgency of the requirements on the spot. We need to mind our financial soundness before engaging ourselves in these issues. As long as we are pedestrians, we should remember the point ‘we are at the mercy of the vehicle owners on the road’ and we should act accordingly to remain safe.

That evening taught me ‘crossing the road carefully is more important than attending an interview’. It is so because ‘there are many employers but only one life with us’. We should save our lives, minute to minute, for dangers lurk about us waiting second to second for the right moment to attack us. We should always remember while in the metros ‘nobody is there to share my pain if something unexpected befalls me, so, better I try to keep away from the sources of danger, the generators of pain’.

Above all, pray God requesting Him to keep your ‘fate’ under control. This is what I observed in the twin cities. Even more foolish and innocent pedestrians than me are able to live in these places struggling with the roads on a daily basis. Some divine force is safeguarding them from the pitfalls of danger. Otherwise we should see a number of casualties on a daily basis centered on ‘road crossing’ but it is not the case in reality. We rarely hear that somebody was hit while crossing the road. Much of the credit in this respect goes to the vehicle users for it is an appreciable quality on their part ‘observing kindness toward the underprivileged being in a privileged position’. I like to blame the pedestrians in majority of the cases for I saw the actual picture on the roads. They think that they are great and so cross the road in a stupid manner. Imagine the vehicle users taking themselves to be great and driving their vehicles as fast as they can do minding the traffic signals only. Pedestrians shiver to cross the road in such an environment even when there is nothing before them on the road. But it is not happening in reality. Doesn’t it mean that the rich ones are also behaving very well in majority of the cases? So, let’s not criticize them just like that without checking our faults. After all we are pedestrians (poor creatures) and we ought to maintain the same stand and approach in our thought and behavior while we are on the busy roads. Otherwise remember ‘DANGER IS LURKING ABOUT US’.

Datla Chiranjeevi Raju

THE FIRST IMPRESSION

Shimoujo Badsatoo has at last achieved it; yea, he is appointed as a lecturer in the New Hope College in Kelligon district. It is a coeducation college and no male or female is admitted to it unless one passes the ‘beauty check’ ordeal. The founding fathers of the college felt that beauty matters a lot in every age and so handsome guys and girls should be brought to a place where they can freely exchange their looks and fall in love with each other in a dedicated manner. So, they subject all the applicants to a rigorous and unbiased test to decide the worth of their beauty to be admitted. So, somebody is studying in that degree college means he or she belongs to the category of ‘exceptional beauty’. Further, they strictly follow the norm of age range. The girls should be in the age range of 18-24 years and the boys between 20-26 years. They believe that this is the age at which one can really appreciate the concept of love and practice it seriously if possible. So, impressing such beautiful girls and guys is not an ordinary matter as such. Badsatoo pursued a bit of Google Search and understood that majority of the students of that college are very intelligent. Above all, he sincerely believes in the saying ‘the first impression is the best impression’ and mostly tries to uphold it in his personal or professional life. He wanted to greatly impress the students with his first lecture itself. He began to speak extempore in the classroom on the first day of his professional feelings and impulses. The following is the speech noted down by a student (he is good at shorthand) in the classroom. I too copied it into my long notebook to use it in future if need be.

Dear students,

Many laugh at the mistakes committed by a lecturer while in the classroom and working with the blackboard. Remember that it is easy to laugh at others but very difficult to face it while we are being laughed at. I hope you remain good students forgiving me if I commit mistakes in my teaching. By this I do not mean that you should not question me when I am teaching something wrong but that you can do the same in a peaceful and polite manner. For example, there is much difference between, “sir, don’t you think what you have done is wrong” and “you are wrong”. A teacher can use the latter toward his students but the opposite makes the teacher uneasy and tense and that is what I want to make you aware of. I mean I am a sensitive person and I request you to be a bit kind toward me in such circumstances where you get a great chance to ridicule my small mistake. To err is human. I hope you are very disciplined and decent students and I appreciate if you remain so even in my class.

Don’t think that I got this job just like that. I was subjected to severe phases of selection process and I spent about one month attending all those rounds of tests and demos. Further, they strictly warned me in the final interview, “Mind you, beauty is something you can see and enjoy and serious problems arise when you try to acquire it in some fair or foul means. Particularly we do not entertain such acts from our faculty when they direct such things toward our students. Don’t develop any personal attachments with our students and strictly be an ideal fellow to go out of this college as an experienced lecturer one day. The experience certificate issued by our college matters a lot in your latter life and so keep your present life within limits”. So, I am not going to mind how you look but what I am doing as a lecturer to satisfy my professional and personal pride.

The management of this college has further clarified me that students over here are encouraged to fall in love and marry the beloved ones without any inhibitions and apprehensions. I wondered to know that they have special tie-ups with banks to see that large amounts of loans are sanctioned to the ones that succeed in their love affairs and intend to settle down in their lives soon after their marriages. So, mutual love and marriages among the students are greatly encouraged here and I felt very happy to know that liberalism and idealism are practically being implemented here. I may not have love marriage for my fate is like that but I can’t help appreciating such lucky ones that get united via that heavenly and dreamy route. I feel lucky in this sense to teach such students who are modern in their attitudes also choosing their life partners unlike many other students in this nation who take most of their decisions in consultation with their parents lacking any challenge or pride on their part as ‘independent’ individuals.

I am supposed to teach economics. Micro and macro are two words that you frequently come across in this subject. Micro is this college upholding the ideal concept, ‘love and marry and forget the rest for it gets adjusted automatically once you have completed the brave act’. Macro is this nation which represents the practical reality of ‘anybody can love many but only few can marry the chosen one for majority fear tradition and culture which are not that strong and ideal if one checks them with a rational and broad outlook’. So, there is much difference between the two concepts. We should always try to choose the best features of the two and see if we can form a new one that looks better than the two from which it was really born. The best example is the present politics. Major political parties conflict among themselves during the elections and give scope to the smaller ones to reach such a commanding position where the big can’t help listening and following what the small say. Coalition governments at the center and state are the visible examples.

I am a strict formalist and I greatly admire and practice punctuality. So, whether you listen to me or not is not important to me but am I teaching or not is important. So, even though there is not a single student in my class, I deliver my lecture during my allotted time. I simply imagine that there are thousands of listeners before me attentively listening to my scholarly words on the scheduled topic. This is how I improve my professional skills. At the same time, I don’t like to criticize you being jealous of your love affairs and the related developments in the premises of our spacious college and other lover parks situated around. Further, I try to console myself now and then saying to myself, ‘cool down man! Everything will be all right. A day would certainly come in your life when all the students listen to your lecture. Perseverance is what you need to inculcate in this profession’.

I don’t like using a textbook while discussing a topic and I don’t mind if you keep one with you to crosscheck and alert me if I am going wrong. Checks and balances are necessary in every field. I don’t like to boast of myself saying that I have studied in so and so great colleges and universities. I have read what I was supposed to as part of my studies and I will teach you only that much which you really need at this level of learning. I don’t say that those that never sit in my classroom are foolish and waste fellows but that they may become great people one day when all the people listen to them without any questions or doubts for their words don’t encourage such responsive developments. Sometimes your physical presence in the classroom matters a lot to me though I clearly know that you are not paying any attention to my lecture. As a contemporary human being, having acquired a bit of general knowledge through books and mutual interaction with fellow human beings, I am aware of the fact that the present college students have many tensions and fears as lovers or beloved ones in carrying out their responsibilities as faithful and reliable individuals. So, just act that you are listening to me. It can encourage me a lot for I am very good at self-motivation for I pursued research for five years on the theme of ‘challenges in door-to-door marketing’.

Before concluding, let me be frank to you that I try to like you as you are for the modernity demands it from the liberal ones and because I like to be one. I don’t expect that all of you change all of a sudden to please me. I know that habit formation and the related human behavior rarely change. All I want is that you do anything silently and decently. By this I mean you sit silently in the classroom, you enter the classroom silently, you leave the classroom silently whenever you like without bothering yourself to take any permission from me for that, and you pursue your authorized activities of mutual admiration silently in any place and at any point of time you may find suitable or appreciable and that you don’t expect silence on my part for it is a bad trend when considered in any perspective.

From tomorrow onwards, our actual teaching session follows.

Datla Chiranjeevi Raju

ORDERING PRIORITIES

The world we are living in, physically or psychologically, places a number of alternatives before us from which we are supposed or compelled to choose a few for the sake of our considerable survival. Often we hear that one needs to be discerning and visionary in choosing the choices available to one in order to make one’s living delightful or successful. I suppose that the very word ‘priority’ is complicated and irritating. The best way to understand ordinary or extraordinary concepts or imaginations is to check a few hypotheses, created by one or many, after an analytical search or research, by one or many, into the point under consideration, or arbitrary or commonplace examples felt by somebody for some reasons which are not clear to himself or some other people associated with him, justifiably or unjustifiably, for majority of the human relationships form on such grounds, which look odd or idiotic to many for they lack minimum common sense about such concepts, which is really irritating to some people that mostly spend much of their time thinking or worrying about others, despite being aware of the fact that nobody is interested in their illustrations, imaginations, visualizations, or any such other ideas or perspectives that look irrelevant or outdated when observed by other contemporary critics or common human beings that may or may not have a recognition and identity of their own, personally or professionally, for it is destiny that decides the fame or failure of the living beings, objecting any rational argument from the clients involved or supposed, and not the organizational or individual goals and milestones imagined or achieved or supposed to be achieved in a long run, which has no clear-cut start and end points for achievements are such the origin and destination of which can’t be noted or demarcated distinctively and visibly as we do with the ordinary running races which majority watch or talk about forgetting their racial differences for a while to feel that they really belong to such an ideal society where natural differences among human beings are ignored or forgotten for the common goals of the society at large, the smaller form of which can’t be understood by anybody in the world for it is something that looks negligible when considered during the official debates of a broader perspective and wider visionary approach aimed at altruism and world welfare, the two vital objectives of the intellectuals for ages, which could not be achieved so far for they require a realistic and practical approach toward redressing the issues at hand, while, at the same time, the agents shouldering these bigger responsibilities may feel inferior after the attainment of the same for it is a quite expected quality of both the common and uncommon to look down upon such people that finished great missions investing their hard work and commendable wisdom for the welfare of the population in totality and to greatly appreciate such silly and superficial achievers around them, the greatness of whom, perhaps, could be in lines of dealing with bat and ball in the playgrounds or attracting a few irrational idiots of the world and forming a religion of their own to which they are the Gods or Goddesses supposed to be worshipped devotedly by their crazy followers and eccentric supporters or glamor personalities that maintain a large network of fan following who lack any constructive thought of their own for which they really choose that useless profession or activity whose form and guiding principles seem to be quite mad and condemnable while a bit intelligent and calculative people ponder over such things when they have nothing to do at present for their future is uncertain based on their projections or apprehensions centered on their past which is well known to everybody in general or to a few in particular depending on the need of the hour or the perspectives they take individually or collectively in the pursuit of reaching such an ideal state of human living the very idea of which may appear to be obscure and abstract to outside observers when the internal critics are ordered to keep quiet by their superiors for the time being, wherein the impulses and intuitions of such dictating authorities are in fact questionable and objectionable, if the people working under them, happily or unhappily, have the guts to do it not minding the consequences or repercussions that may follow without any hint as such. I suppose I have adequately enlightened you regarding the issue I am going to write on below. Please consider the examples presented.

1. A handsome guy is in love with an extremely beautiful girl and yet he failed to express the same to her and so she began to observe the familiar environment to ensure that nobody observed that he has some interest toward her so that she can sincerely try somebody else that is considerably handsome and daring and dashing in terms of expression of his felt notions or suppressed emotions to the person he is in love with. In this scenario, if the first lover expresses his heart to his sweetheart one day, after knowing that some other guy is at the verge of expressing his heart to her, what should the girl do? Should she accept the love of the first fellow, who has been following her for long, or cast her vote to the second one for he may get hurt if she does not consider him for the time being for he too is interested in her. Or should she avoid both and look for somebody else or should she forget the very concept and practice of love and look toward her parents as the last resort to marry and love the one chosen by them? What about the pains involved in respect of the two desperate lovers if she chooses the ‘parental guidance’ route? How should she order her priorities in this regard?

2. In an English medium convent, situated in some part of India, a ten year old girl, presently in her fifth standard, who is very beautiful, is constantly telling her male teacher, ‘I love you’. He never experienced such an occurrence in his life prior to joining that convent as an English teacher after a rigorous selection process. Apart from that, he is neither handsome nor challenging as a teacher. He tried to correct her in a refined and smooth manner but he failed. Her parents too failed to understand her in this regard and so they ignored that issue altogether. As days were passing on, the teacher too understood that there could certainly be some rational factor which is making her behave so. In this setting, should the teacher leave that school or should he take her to some psychologist bearing the cost associated therewith pitying her stand as a small and innocent girl or should he go to a psychiatrist to rectify himself before criticizing her or should he ignore her words ‘I love you’ as irrational, irrelevant and superficial or should he reciprocate the same words to her to console her for the time being or should he consult his parents and relatives to reach a conclusive decision in this regard or should he resign his job and go to some secure and peaceful place to critically look into his own in a spiritual dimension or should he leave it to the time factor thinking that it knows how to cure incurable problems of the humans in general and complicated people in particular as is the case with him presently? How should he prioritize the importance of these solutions cropping up in his mind in a natural or unnatural way for the situation is somewhat different or difficult?

3. Two beautiful teenage girls failed to find a solution to the question, “Why don’t ugly boys follow beautiful girls in a sincere and serious and practical manner to express their love to them in some or other way?” Should they mutually discuss this issue further until they find a definitive and satisfactory answer or share their concern with their friends presuming that they don’t misunderstand them thinking that they are immature compared to them or should they see a few feature films to check if some insight could be gained in that approach or should they forget that question for it does not come in the competitive examinations or should they consult a few ugly boys and elicit their responses through a friendly and interesting chat with them or should they send that question to some expert, who might not have practical knowledge in that regard or should they intentionally fall in love with two ugly boys to know their sincere heart sometime later when they really believe that the two guys have learnt to behave honestly and frankly with them? How should they order their priorities in this regard?

4. A police stabbed a thief out of his personal grudge and is trying to show to his authorities that the latter tried to stab him while he was trying to catch him, and in the process of taking the knife from his hands, in a professional manner, the unexpected event occurred. In this situation, who should bear the heavy cost of medical treatment of the thief for he is a small thief and lacks the financial soundness required to support himself in this difficulty? Can he get justice after being discharged from the hospital fighting against the police system and that too in the context of lack of evidences? Should he stop to deal with the police forever for he knows the consequences? Or should he commit suicide after recovering from the injury for one should not die when one is suffering from some health disorder for one is supposed to experience a happy death at least if not a happy life? Or should he take the help of some lawyers presuming that they won’t charge anything to offer their services to him considering it as a special case which calls for their generosity and pity? Or should he start to live an honest and decent life thereafter assuming that the rational society does not ill-treat him when he is living an appreciable life forgetting his background? How should he order his priorities in this regard to lead a peaceful and sustainable life that can be recognized or appreciated by fellow human beings after some decades at least?

5. The parents of a mischievous boy clearly know that their one and only son is an unbearably undisciplined and brainless fellow. Since it is their moral responsibility to get him educated supposing that he may get reformed sometime later in his life, say after some fifteen years of institutional learning at least, should they join him reputed schools and colleges, spending a huge amount of money in the process? Or should they put him in the profession of cattle wherein he needs to drive the buffaloes and cows to the fields of others, when they are empty in the off-season, from his early childhood itself, foreseeing that he can become a useful person of the society one day, if not today itself, for self-reformation is a long process which can’t be achieved through shortcuts? Or should they take him to some famous neurologists and beg them to check if any unwanted network of cells is installed in his brain due to hereditary or uncommon medical factors which are quite common in the modern days? Or should they ask him to leave their house immediately and return only when he proves himself as a considerable or appreciable human being, being strengthened by himself by the hardships of human life in general, and the course of unexpected or terrific events in particular, which are quite known truths in the modern living? Or should they ask some rich people to adopt their son so that they can pursue the path of renunciation and self-discovery forgetting that they had a son at all? How should they order their priorities in this predicament hanging above the head of their son?

6. The habit of a male fellow (24 years old) is to smile at everybody that comes across him. He likes human beings, male or female, and so he expresses his feelings and notions of a common human bonding and sharing through that familiar gesture. However, many beautiful girls and women found his gesture odd and unacceptable in public places. So, they filed many cases against him in many courts of law supposing that at least one of those courts resolves the issue before they die. At last, after many years, the accused was brought to the floor of the court. He smiled at every lawyer the very moment he entered the court and thus, in a way, won their hearts within seconds, and when he noticed the presence of the judge on the other corner over there, he rendered a fascinating smile at him as well. After the serious arguments between the public prosecutor and defense lawyer concerned, for about six hours, the judge declared his verdict with a proud posture, “There is nothing serious in the whole affair. Men take his smiles as a gesture of ordinary nature and the girls and women, beautiful ones in particular, take it as somewhat abnormal or ridiculous for they can’t accept such gestures from unfamiliar fellows in public places for our culture demands it. I request them simply to remember the phrase ‘take it easy’ whenever and wherever they encounter him. Further, I order the authorities concerned to publicize the exceptional case of this guy throughout the length and breadth of this nation so that people can understand him properly. We, as sensible and sensitive human beings of the world, are supposed to respect the fellow human beings, despite the personal disorders they may possess by virtue of their very birth and existence as such among us. God is great. Thank Him, if you can.” Should the supposed women take the issue to the international courts for it is something concerned with the race of women and their personal dignity as such? Should they take it as an issue of mockery for they got such a verdict from the court of law, after a very long time, and, if yes, what course of action should they initiate or encourage others to take? Should they believe in the system of judiciary or not after the awareness about the verdicts of the courts in such these issues so far? What if other males also do the same aping the present person in discussion? How should they interpret or perceive the meanings or implications of such smiles posed to them by other contemporary men in the public places in the aftermath of this verdict? Or should they have considered him as a nut and leave him like that in the beginning itself instead of dragging him to the court considering it as a serious social issue? If an intellectual is asked these questions on some famous international television channel, how should he prioritize his answers to prove to the public at large that he is really wise in everything as supposed by the common and uncommon people of the world?

7. A beautiful girl fell in love with an ugly, foolish, rough, and poor fellow simply because she thought that she can reform him at any cost and prove to the society that anything is possible if one is committed toward a goal wholeheartedly. Further, she also stated that she marries him after the reformation process is over, which, according to her present belief, does not take more than two years. Presently he is 22 and she is 20. Her parents told her that they commit suicide if she approaches him to initiate her dream project for they strongly believe that their beautiful girl should not involve in such risky projects of an uncommon nature for it attracts censure and ridicule from the common in the world. Her friends warned her that they don’t like to imagine her name also if she involves herself in such an odd mission. Majority of her well-wishers advised her not to misuse her invaluable time to reform a useless and nasty fellow as such. A lot of foreigners also met her personally (when they came to India as tourists) and strongly disapproved her resolution in this respect. In this context, should she forget the feedback of the rest of the world around her and go ahead in her path or should she simply ignore that fellow and mind her own business of other kind which is appreciated by the society in general? If she follows others’ advice in this regard, her individual determination toward her inclined ideal is at stake thereby threatening the strength and worth of her personality as a great woman which might be recognized by her present critics in future if she succeeds in her mission, which is not impossibility as such while considered in general. On the other hand, if she intends to reform him, what if he remains the same even after two years of her dedicated efforts? Can she believe in herself or even in other males in the society after practically observing that brutes never become humans? There are only two options. Which should she choose to prove herself wise?

8. The general public of a whole nation are accustomed to living on international robberies and murders and in fact they made it a profitable profession in course of time though there are no recorded historical sources to prove it. A number of reformers, for about two hundred years, tried to reform them at any cost but they badly failed. The population of that country is very small and they can be killed in a matter of seconds if the modern technology of warfare is used against them. Peace can be established in the world if they are removed from the map of the world forever. Should the other bulky and wise nations kill them or not? There is no hope that they change, the evidence of which is there in the history itself. How should the world order its priorities in this dilemma? Simply a matter of ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

The preceding account vividly shows that ordering priorities is a complex issue altogether. So, one should try to be ‘a bit’ wise in ordering one’s priorities at hand and should be ready to face the consequences whatever they may be. Further, the most important point to be noted down or remembered at least is that, “Ordering priorities is not a serious issue as such if we remain simple and peaceful in our mindset and that we should consult others only when we sincerely believe that we are absolutely brainless fellows”. However, I presume that you are not going to take my words in this regard for I clearly know that you have your active discretionary faculty which always helps you in “Ordering Priorities” just like that.

Datla Chiranjeevi Raju