I feel like a 'somebody', a 'honu' in academia, when library-hands, instead of self-styled intellectuals -recognise me, and breed familiarity through lines like..."Ah, hello there, why didn't you come yesterday, had reserved this book/article/journal especially for you..." Oh...it makes my day. Everytime. :-)...
For these are the men who have hobnobbed with the doyens, known them when they were no more than hapless, eager wannabe's; helped them out, when they had racked their brains for a very important piece of data, or that particular, now-rare edition; spent sleepless days and nights on end sharing (and almost always, alleviating!) the frustrated agonies of writer's/researcher's blocks!
The warm tone of familiarity in their old, crackling voices therefore reassures me, just like the smell of old, crumbling, dog-eared fairy-tale books. And nestled safely in the nimbus of such a vast knowledge-sphere,a vastness unbound by 'degrees' and 'laurels', I smile to myself; for, I have a feeling, i too shall make it, i am in safe hands...make it to the list of shite-academics! And all because of unsung heroes as these...
1 comment:
you'll meet many more of them in life. they make libraries and archives worth visiting. we academics keep promising to call them regularly but few of us actually do once our thesis or book is safely filed in. interesting, we remain in touch with our editors for life, call them over for dinner and all that, but almost none of us strain a single muscle to get these unsung men and women an extension in service. shame on us! but then there are also vein, incompetent sarkari naukars who refuse to show you documents that you know are freely available on the internet. i have met some of these too, and so would you. finally, like every profession, there are fresh apples and rotten apples in this profession too. the difference is some enjoy their work and some work to enjoy other things elsewhere. overall though, i do think intellectuals and academics, including me, take themselves more seriously than they are worth. i swear. we are a vein community of mediocres who dread excellence and innovation. the card country. you get the drift?
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