predicament

During the last academic year, representatives of an organization came to give a talk for students. It is more of students and company interaction. It is routine exercise where students come to know about companies and the managers getting the feel of students. It is optional for organizations but compulsory for students. 

On that day, all students were assembled and a manager of a company X, with much enthusiasm started his address with a tautological question: Can anyone explain the reason for your coming for this talk? One first year student answered spontaneously, “We are here, otherwise we will be fined Rs.500” All the students burst out laughing. The members of the placement committee started seeing stars in the day, and the manager laughed nervously.

Simple question and an honest answer, matter should have been over then and there. But the student became hero for few and a villain for many. The members of the committee were upset and agitated, because it is an integral part of placement process, and if a student irritates the recruiting company, it can result in unwanted reactions.

I could understand the anger of the committee members at the same time I could sympathize with the innocence of the student. As a student I have been in the position of that student many a times; innocently saying something outrageous, mainly to deal with the boredom that class room creates, and eventually finding myself in a thick of storm.

Once during the class on medical ethics, the professor asked the question; can the child who is mentally retarded be killed? Some said yes, and some others no. I was sitting in the last row, and the professor asked me what my opinion is. I said, “No, the child should not be killed just because he is mentally retarded” The professor further enquired, “Why do you say that, what are your reasons?” Spontaneously I answered, “See, all of us are mentally retarded, only degree varies, therefore that child can’t be killed” Surprisingly all my class mates laughed out loud, but the professor was angry.

My intention was neither making fun of the argument nor irritating the professor. Unknowingly I ended up doing both. In the eyes of the professor I became the villain, my friends congratulated me for being radical hero, and girls in the class thought I am a comedian. I did not want any of the roles; all I wanted was sleeping in the class. Sometimes, if the time is not alright, anything can happen. Now the irony is that I am teaching ethics too.

I still sympathize with that student and also understand the predicament of the placement committee.