The travails of a "nerd"

Today, a fifth-grader cribbed to me about being called a “nerd” by her classmates. Well, that set me thinking. Is it really bad to be referred as a nerd? What does the term actually mean? I found an interesting definition in the dictionary – “the group of people who will most likely make a life changing invention that will radically change the world. The computer was invented by a nerd. The macintosh/apple and windows were invented by nerds.”  Then why does one shy away from being called a nerd? Is it a fault to be born with higher intelligence or to have intellectual pursuits?

Smart kids are normally called nerds by their classmates. There are plenty of reasons for this. Most kids aspire to be at the top of the class, but they are unable to. So they try to pull the toppers down. It is a simple case of “sour grapes”. Just because you are not smart, you spread the word that it is not great to be smart. Since there are many students in this category and the smart ones are few, they sort of get alienated from the rest of the class.

Smart kids are in the good books of the teachers. While in school, generally, the teachers are the idols and students vie for their attention. The highly “unpopular” or rather the highly popular back-benchers get their share of attention due to all the wrong reasons. The smart ones gain the attention by their smartness. The average, which forms the bulk of the class, is naturally envious.

There is a problem with being called a nerd. Smartness is generally not associated with “being cool”. So smart kids are not so cool, as they say. Well, it depends on perspective. Their interests could be different. They have set a high standard for themselves which they find difficult to break. They generally like to be in the good books of their teachers and don’t want to rub them on the wrong side. It doesn’t mean they don’t want to have fun. They are fun-loving creatures too. It is just that their idea of fun is different and they might find the activities of the others as frivolous.

So what should the nerds too? Get together with other nerds. They would understand your predicament. Pursue your interests and hobbies. Learn to ignore the sneers and the jibes. These things don’t matter in the larger picture. Just have fun the way you want to. Continue to develop your smartness and flaunt it without inhibition or fear of being labelled a “nerd”. Just remember that though they are ridiculing you, in fact, they are envying you, and would probably talk to you about it when they encounter you decades later.

V V Laxminarayana – An inspiration!!

I was fortunate to listen to V V Laxminarayana, Joint Director, CBI during the last few days of his extended tenure in Hyderabad. He addressed a 1500-odd crowd of mostly students – civil services aspirants, at Ramakrishna Math, on “Ethics, Integrity & Probity”. It is unfortunate that ethics & integrity, which need to be a part and parcel of human nature, instilled as a habit, needs to be re-inforced externally these days, where corruption is omnipresent.

JD Laxminarayana (JD), as he is popularly known, comes from a small town, telugu medium school, and chose to address the gathering in Telugu. He studied engineering in REC, Warangal, and went on to do his M.Tech in IIT, Madras. He was pursuing his Ph.D, with the ambition of becoming a professor, when he wrote the Civil Services exam, inspired by his seniors. Upon being asked if he did not get stressed because of the competition, he said one needs to work with the heart and not the head, then there is no stress. He would have faced tremendous amount of pressure from all directions because of the high-profile cases that he has handled, but his mantra is Pranayama for 20-30 minutes, which keeps his energy levels high, through the day till late evening.

According to him, one develops moral values and ethics from 3 major sources – Home, School and Temple. Of course, he is referring to Home, which used to be the abode of multiple generations with lots of cousins around, in a joint family. School – where the master was the guru, who led by example. With the evolution of nuclear families and the commoditization of education, it is no wonder that ethics needs to be re-inforced externally.

He exhorted the parents in the crowd to make sure that their children play for atleast one hour per day. He also asked the students to do so as games teach us to deal with a lot of varied situations, to deal with success and failure.

He said Knowledge should lead to the following – Creativity, Righteousness and Courage.

Regarding Wealth, he said it is of 3 types – Uttama, Madhyama and Adhama. Uttama is the wealth earned by hard work in the right manner, Madhyama wealth is ancestral wealth and the last is earned by unethical means. One should only aim for the first variety or Uttama through perseverance and hard work. The second variety might accrue, but should not be aspired for, and the third one should be completely shunned.

He said a civil servant is a servant of the public and not a government servant. There is no definition of “government servant”. So citizens have every right to question them and they are accountable to the public. He suggested that each person should create a center of excellence around oneself – could be at home, workplace or society and that is the only way that excellence could spread and as a nation, we could develop and get rid of corruption.

He advised the students to aim for the following:

1. Work in such a manner that parents would be proud that you have uplifted their family name.

2. Create such an impact that your school/college would invite you to be a chief guest in your alma mater.

3. Transition from being an autograph-seeker to an autograph-giver.

Lastly, here is the list of books that he has recommended over the course of his lecture –

·         You Are Unique & Turning Point by A P J Abdul Kalam

·         Who will cry when you die by Robin Sharma

·         My experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi

·         You can Win by Shiv Khera

·         The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

What struck me most about the JD is his simple manner and humble attitude. He is an unassuming gentleman with absolutely no airs. He spoke to the students in a very down-to-earth manner and answered all their questions patiently. Though the organizers were trying to cut short the questions, he was ready to answer all. Time and again, he stressed on the need to change oneself and the surroundings rather than wait for something else to change. He also said that one who does not cast a vote has no right to crib about the government. The government becomes accountable to the public if more than 80-90% cast their vote in the election. Of course, I could only capture the essence of his speech, but it was very inspiring and motivating. If it could change even one small aspect of your life, it is worth the effort. It was a pleasure to listen to him and I felt truly privileged to have attended the session.

Best wishes to VV Laxminarayana as he takes up his next posting in Maharashtra.