I think I thought...

Tough…I can already see the writing on the July wall. It’s been tough and I am grateful for this warm-up coz as I see it, it’s just begun. I wish I had more time to analyse and write, and spend more time on my slides, but as a friend said, improvement is never ending. So maybe deadlines are THE solution. To finish the job and move on. Apart from finishing on time, and hearing from everyone that yes you did finish on time (clap, clap), I am uncharacteristically lured by the increment in scholarship that I will get if I meet the deadline. I’ve said this before, and I am saying it again, we are grossly underpaid. Then I look at dad, grandma, grandpa and keep shut. Seems like a series of thankless jobs. But then that just means many who are doing interesting work are underpaid. Doesn’t justify my low pay-check. So I grumble anyway. And so yeah, money and accolades have been acting as carrots dangling in front of me to finish this off.

You may call me mercenary and praise-hungry. I don’t mind. I have always been mercenary and according to me, scientists need to love themselves and their work unapologetically coz most of the time, they are the only ones loving their own work. Corollary of that is whatever praise comes your way, lap it up. With cool shades. May not come ever again. Anyway, so I don’t mind someone attributing me with those adjectives. Honestly though, I wasn’t like this. Earlier, I would never ever ever ever think of work in terms of money or praise. I sought them in other spheres of life but didn’t think of research in terms of money or praise. So yeah, I have grown up and probably grown up for worse. Coz the moment you start thinking of your work in those terms, all the negative annotations of ambition will start creeping in like insecurity, professional jealousy, jack-knifing your colleagues, and I am absolutely clear that I don’t want to tread that path. I would like to believe that it’s just a phase, probably brought on by the colossal pressures of thesis submission and the importance we attach to it. Hopefully, I will steer clear away in the future. So, yes, I wouldn’t like to mix work with money or fame. Work is work, and should be done with a professional finesse without any thought about the perks it will bring. Geeta says the same too…Karmanyevadhikaraste, ma phaleshu kadachan…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are in an age of consumerism…and I get baffled when I see even ecologists fitting the stereotypes. Consume without a thought for future. This is a dangerous trend. I don’t want to sound patronizing (and cliché), but I seriously feel ashamed of the legacy we are leaving behind for future generations. ‘Today’ is the IT word these days, and philosophically thinking, a very nice concept - do things without worrying about the future – but when coupled with consumerism, it’s going to give rise to a very risky and perilous existence. My heartfelt admiration goes to people from our grandparents’ generation who may appear thrifty and frugal but know the exact value of resources. And exactly how it should be spent or consumed. Their actions may not have the support of thoughts and the actions may have at times arisen out of some other needs, nonetheless the outcome is praiseworthy.