Cogito Ergo Sum

Have you ever thought how interesting it would be to take up watchman's job? To find out, you need not take up the watchman's job necessarily. Here is an easier way. Be a lecturer in an engineering college, especially in a private college and you will come to know. In fact, the above mentioned lecturer post gives you a taste of many more jobs too.

Internals for engineering students last for one and half hours. One of the rules for room superintendents is to keep walking for the entire duration of the test. Sometime a lecturer can get two or three duties per day, and it can be a terrible experience. Nevertheless, since it is with a break of at least fifteen minutes, it is not all that miserable. Real challenge is to take up invigilation for the end semester examinations. The total duration is three hours and the room superintendent is not allowed to sit at all. In between, this person is relieved for fifteen minutes, which will be effectively only for ten minutes, especially if the staff room is away. 

After going through this horrible exercise of invigilating, it is not hard to imagine how a security guard's day would go. It is no better than solitary confinement, except that here the guard can see the daylight. Can anyone refute this statement-"The most uninteresting job is watchman's job"? Is there any scope for creativity or innovation? Isn't it unfair that they are paid a meagre sum at the end of the month? It may be true that they chose this job. Still, the job is grossly being underestimated. They deserve to be paid better.

Here is an anecdote: The CEO of a big organization was supposed to go abroad for a meeting. On the day of his travel, in the morning one of his night-wathmans came running and said, "Sir, please do not travel today, I dreamt that plane is going to crash." The CEO never believed in these usually, but for a change, he stayed back. The plane did crash. The next day security was fired from his job. What could be the reason? Think.

What do I do these days? Practically nothing!

Semester has ended so quickly. Folks are busy mugging up for and writing the exams. Two and half months of fun has got over. 16th of  this month, I will be completing three months in RVCE. Time flies! 

Does it? Not always. Not when one wants it to. Not when one is desperate. Everyday I get up at 6 or 6:15am, get ready by 7:45am, spend one hour in travel and sit in my room only to wait for clock to show 4pm. I do not waste time, not at all. I have already started preparations for the next semester. I read about general stuff in wiki. I chat with old buddies. Good. 

But I miss my classroom. I miss all those labs where I used to ask funny questions when they got worried about trivial things like attendance. Labs used to be the places where I used to be at my creative "bestest", trying to help students to answer my own questions on coming late. I don't know how am I going to wait till September first week for the odd semester to commence. 

These days even the quotes have started cheating me. They strike only once in a blue moon. One did strike me just the day before yesterday: "I don't get bored easily, because I soon get bored of being bored". A few days ago one more I had come up with: "Changing judgments often is a sign of not being judgmental". These are just some timepass things. I don't really enjoy them anymore. Definitely not after reading the book "Wit"-  a collection of quotes by Professor Des MacHale.

A few words about this particular book: I must thank the person who introduced me to this book (or the other way round? always confused, anyways). The credit goes to our department HOD, Mr.S.Jagannathan. (He is a voracious reader and a person with good sense of humor). This book has well known and lesser known quotes by famous personalities like Woody Allen, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, G.B.Shaw, P. G. Wodehouse, Somerset Maugham, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russel, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Groucho Marx - to name a few. There are also quotes by numerous other people about whom we would not have heard often. The quotes are categorized into Art, Business, Education, Food, Literature, Love, Marriage, Media, Politics, Music, Sport etc. The preface by the author is very good. He has some valid points to say on what can be called as a quote. As Shakespeare said in his celebrated tragedy 'Hamlet': "Brevity is the soul of wit". 

 

Some samples:

Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance - H. L Mencken

I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It's about Russia. - Woody Allen

What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money. - Henny youngman

You are not drunk, if you can lie on the floor without holding on. - Dean Martin

My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying. - Ed Furgol 

In the first place God made idiots; that was for practice; then he made school board. - Mark Twain

An intellectual is someone who has found something more interesting than sex. - Edgar Wallace

A lecture is a process by which the notes of the professor become the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either. - R.K. Rathbun

The sun never sets on the British Empire because God wouldn't trust an Englishman in the dark. - Duncan Spaeth

I have orders to be awakened at any time in case of a national emergency, even if I am in a cabinet meeting. - Ronald Reagan

I have tried in my time to be a philosopher, but cheerfulness always keeps breaking in. - Olivar Edwards

Thank God, I am an atheist. - Luis Bunuel

Woman was God's second mistake. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Purposely I have put the rarely heard ones here. There are many more, probably a few thousands. It is a book one needs to buy and keep. But I don't think it is available in any of the Bangalore bookshops.

Recently while browsing wikipedia, I came across this word polymath. The word is a bit misleading, but the meaning is quite interesting. There is a science fiction by this name: Polymath. Do read it and give a brief review if you can. I have lots pending before I can pick that up.

Bye until the next post...Enjoy.