Section 2
Knowing Your Audience
kaRRu aRindhAr kalvi viLangum kasadaRach
chol theridhal vallAr agatthu.
Verse 716
"Did you have your paper checked by someone?"
"No, sir" said Purushothaman and added reluctantly, "I think there is no need for it."
"Your paper needs to be checked by someone to ensure that there is no inadvertent inaccuracy. Your Head of the Department is on leave. Please get your paper checked thoroughly by someone, whose erudition you trust. This is an international seminar. There is a chance of the paper you will be presenting in the seminar being published in reputed international journals. My best wishes to you" said the Principal.
When Purushothaman came out of the principal's chamber, he noticed Aravindan, a professor of Mathematics, walking on the corridor. Aravindan raised his hand and greeted Purushothaman. But, Purushothaman turned away, avoiding Aravindan's gaze.
Purushothaman had been moving closely with Aravindan. But, after a sexual harassment allegation had surfaced against Aravindan, Purushothaman moved away from him.
With the affected lady professor not preferring to lodge a complaint and leaving the college soon after the incident, Aravindan was able to retain his job, by apologizing for his indiscretion and begging the principal not to sack him.
After that incident, no one in the college respected Aravindan. Other professors avoided him, like a plague. Aravindan commanded some respect only inside the classroom, sine he was an excellent teacher.
After Purushothaman had read out his paper in the seminar, there was a big ovation in the seminar hall. Purushothaman looked at the audience, with a feeling of pride. His college principal, other professors from his college, professors from various other colleges and a large number of students were among the audience.
A professor from Germany, sitting on the dais, asked Purushothaman, "Mr. Purushothaman! I think that your theory is not plausible. Can I have a look at your paper?"
Purushothaman handed over his paper to the professor.
The professor quickly browsed through the pages. On coming to a particular page, he stopped, spent a few minutes reading that page and then looked up.
"Mr. Purushothaman! You have calculated the value of 6.243 x 10^5, taking it as 6.243 x 10^6, inadvertently. Therefore, the answer you got is wrong and hence your theory. Your paper is based on wrong workings" said the professor, returning the paper to Purushothaman.
Purushothaman was hit by a strong wave of humiliation, he found unable to bear. It was as if he was stripped off his clothes before the large audience.
Purushothaman reluctantly looked at his principal. The principal's face, which was brimming with pride and joy a few minutes back, was now livid, reflecting his anger and embarrassment.
Purushothaman noticed Aravindan among the audience. An apprehension that his own status would also fall to the one similar to that of Aravindan began to rise in his mind.
"All the three persons recommended by you are outstanding candidates, no doubt. But, let me ask you a question. Who among the three do you think will be selected by the international research centre for the contract job?" Chandrakant asked Danvantri, after going through the list of names sent by him.
"I believe that among the three, Arivazhagan has the best chance" said Danvantri.
"You mentioned the name even before I could finish my question! But, Arivazhagan's name is the third in your list. I thought you would mention the name of Gopichand, the first in your list" said Chandrakant, expressing his surprise.
Danvantri smiled, without saying anything.
"Excellent, Mr. Danvantri. As predicted by you, the Centre has selected Arivazhagan for a job on a five year contract. How did you make an accurate guess?" asked Chandrakant.
"Since the three trainee scientists were working under me, I was able to make an assessment about each of them. All the three are highly intelligent and knowledgeable. But, I had observed that Gopichand and Krishna Prasad were somewhat overenthusiastic. They would rush to give their answers to every question and unsolicited opinions on every issue. They had a habit of displaying an unrestrained urge to show off their knowledge and intelligence. I advised them several times that it was not a good habit to hasten to express one's views, in a gathering of seniors and scholars. I pointed out to them that the seniors and the scholars would consider such overenthusiastic actions as showing off and resent such an attitude and behaviour. But, neither of the two changed his ways. Arivazhagan, on the other hand, was polite. He won't be in a hurry to show that he knew the answer to a question, or a solution to a problem. He would wait for his turn, or, till the time someone asked him to answer the question. It was this attitude of Arivazhagan, which I thought, would propel him to be selected for the job" said Danvantri.
"I think you are also like Arivazhagan!" said Chandrakant.
"Why do you say so, sir?" asked Danvantri.
"When I asked you for your opinion about who would be selected, you mentioned Arivazhagan's name, but did not elaborate on why you thought so. You are doing it now, only after I asked you to!" sad Danvantri, smiling.