Viswanathan K's Thoughts

Venki Ramakrishnan, in his very well written book, Gene Machine , talks about prizes, rewards and recognition at one point: “(The Nobel Prize) has become deeply embedded in popular culture, representing not only having done something great but actually being great.” But for most scientists, “fantasies take a backseat to reality”. And yet: “Nevertheless, scientists are only human… The corruption (of awards) starts early, with small prizes throughout our education, then prestigious fellowships, then early career under-forty prizes.”   With so many prizes, one might think that these prizes are “all independent” and would “recognize many different scientists and discoveries”. But in reality: “Often one bold committee makes the first award in a new field, and then other prize committees play it safe by following suit. This can quickly have a snowballing effect, with the result that the same luminaries pick up lots of awards.” Worse: “Instead of differentiating themselves...

The Deccan Herald called the award to Major Gogoi, the man who tied a (alleged) protestor to his jeep and used him as a human shield, as “wrong and perverse" . Why? Because, they say, the army was “rewarding a person for an egregious crime he has committed”. It went on to add that all “right-thinking people have condemned it”. This is a ridiculous argument: who decides which set of people are called “right-thinking people”? In any case, how did they figure out what those “right-thinking people” feel anyway? At least Santosh Desai’s argument was better. He said it’s not fair to criticize Major Gogoi because he had to make a decision in real time, in a situation with no clear ground rules. What do his detractors expect, asks Desai. That he should have opened fire on the protestors? Or that he should have just gotten pelted with stones by the protestors? After all, says Desai: “Stones are neither harmless nor are they lethal, at least in most cases- a barrage of stones can c...