Human Signs
Sometimes we don’t know why people do what they do, even if they are our good friends. Here are some stories that may look funny on the surface but may have a deeper meaning.
Incident-I
I was a guest lecturer for a batch of first-year undergrads. I only had one hour per week for a few weeks. My time slot was on Tuesdays at 10 am. It was their first day of lectures and I wanted to make a good impression. I drew a figure on the board and started explaining it. Suddenly, I saw a young man standing at the door with a laptop in his hands. He looked impatient and annoyed. He stepped into the classroom and stared at me. I checked my watch and saw that it was almost 11 am, but not quite yet. I gestured to him to wait for two minutes and continued my explanation. He didn’t budge. He walked further into the classroom and turned his back to me. He opened his laptop and began typing something. I felt embarrassed and angry. I stopped talking and left the classroom. Some students followed me.
The next Tuesday, I was wrapping up my class when he showed up again with his laptop. He didn’t even wait for a second this time. He barged into the classroom and headed straight for the board. He erased my figure and started writing something else on it. I was shocked by his rudeness and disrespect. I grabbed my attendance sheet and walked out of the classroom. Many students came out with me.
The following Tuesday, he repeated his act again before I could finish my class. This time, he didn’t even bother to erase my figure on the board; he just wrote over it with his own words. I stormed out of the classroom without saying anything; most of the students did too.
I wondered who he was and what he was teaching them; apparently it was ‘Human Science’, a new subject that had been introduced after much debate in the institute by some experts from other places; but why did he have to be so rude? Did he think that his subject was more important than mine? Did he have any manners or patience? Did he know how to make his subject interesting to the students? Did he care about their learning or feedback? Did he realize that he was ruining their impression of himself and his course?
Incident-II
It was a typical morning at the department, except for one thing: a showdown was about to happen between two senior professors. I had just stepped out of my office when I saw Prof. Roy standing at the door of a nearby classroom, looking impatient and angry. He was supposed to teach a class at 11:00 am, but it was already 11:15 am and the previous class was still going on.
I glanced inside and saw Prof. Singh, a lady professor who was known for her expertise and passion for her subject. She was writing something on the board, oblivious to Prof. Roy’s presence or perhaps ignoring it deliberately. She had a reputation for being stubborn and assertive.
I felt curious about what would happen next, but also uneasy about being involved in their conflict. I tried to avoid eye contact with Prof. Roy, but he spotted me and called me over.
“Hey, come here and see this,” he said loudly. “This lady is not stopping her class even after seeing me waiting here. How rude is that?”
I reluctantly walked over to him and looked at Prof. Singh again. She turned her head briefly and gave me a cold stare before resuming her lecture. I felt awkward and wished I could disappear.
“She always does this,” Prof. Roy continued ranting. “She thinks she owns this classroom and can take as much time as she wants. She has no respect for other faculty members or students.”
He moved closer to the door, as if ready to barge in and interrupt her class. But he stopped short of doing so, perhaps sensing that it would be too aggressive or inappropriate. Suddenly, Prof. Singh stopped writing and walked towards the door as well. She looked furious and ready for a fight.
“I was about to finish my class by 11:00,” she said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “But you started hovering around like a vulture, trying to enter before I was done. You did the same thing last week too.”
Prof. Roy also raised his voice and said that she never finished her class on time and always kept him waiting outside like an idiot. They started arguing back and forth, hurling accusations and insults at each other while some students watched with amusement or shock. I felt embarrassed by their behavior and wondered why they couldn’t act more professionally or courteously towards each other.
Why did Prof. Singh not end her class earlier when she knew that someone else had booked the room after her?
Why did Prof. Roy not wait patiently or politely ask her how long she would take instead of trying to force his way in?
Why did they both continue their quarrel even after attracting attention from others?
Why did they have such bad blood between them that they repeated these incidents often?
Why did they forget that they were supposed to be role models for students?
Incident-III
It was supposed to be a normal day at work for me. I was sitting in my office room, finishing some official papers when I heard a commotion from one of the nearby classrooms. I frowned as I recognized Prof. Thomas’s booming voice mixed with some students’ shouts. What was he doing here? He had no business teaching this class. I got up from my desk and walked towards the source of the noise. As I approached the classroom door, I saw Prof. Ayyar standing at the front of it, confused. He saw me too and waved his hand frantically.
“Help me!” he mouthed silently.
There was only one door to enter the classroom and leave. Unfortunately, the seating was arranged in such a way that the faculty or students might enter from the back side of the hall as per orientation. And, more than this on both sides, front and back, as per the facing direction of students, there were blackboards for use while teaching.
I opened the door slightly and peeked inside. What I saw was unbelievable. Prof. Thomas was standing at the back of the class, facing away from me, holding a piece of chalk in his hand, and writing furiously on the blackboard. He was lecturing about some advanced topic that had nothing to do with the syllabus. The students were staring at him with wide eyes, some trying to take notes, some trying to interrupt him, and some trying to escape. “Excuse me,” I said loudly, hoping he would hear me over his own voice. He ignored me completely and continued his rant.
“Excuse me,” I repeated louder, stepping into the room fully. He still didn’t acknowledge me and kept on talking as if nothing was wrong.
I have come to that stage of this essay where nothing starts to make sense, whatsoever. Let us skip the questioning part and move on to the next incident.
Incident-IV
He had been waiting for this day for months. The classic movie he loved so much was finally playing in his town. He had read every review, watched every trailer, and memorized every line.
He couldn’t miss this opportunity to see it on the big screen.
But fate had other plans.
It started raining cats and dogs as soon as he left his house. He ran as fast as he could, dodging puddles and splashes, but it was no use. He was drenched from head to toe by the time he reached the theater.
He looked at his watch and cursed. The movie had started half an hour ago. He didn’t care. He sprinted towards the ticket counter, hoping there was still a chance.
“Please,” he said breathlessly,
“Please give me a ticket.”
The ticket official looked at him with disdain.
“Tickets closed,” he said flatly.
“No,” he said desperately, “no, you don’t understand. I have to see this movie. It’s my favorite movie of all time.”
The ticket official shrugged.
“Sorry, but you’re too late.”
The man felt a surge of panic.
“Please,” he said again, “Please, I’ll do anything. I’ll pay double, triple, whatever you want.”
The ticket official shook his head.
“It’s not about money,” he said coldly.
“Then what is it about?” the man asked frantically.
“It’s about logic,” the ticket official said smugly.
“What logic?” the man asked incredulously.
“The logic of not letting you in,” the ticket official said calmly.
“Why not?” the man asked impatiently.
The ticket official leaned forward and whispered in his ear:
“Because if I open that door for you,” he said slowly, “all those people inside will run out screaming.”
Annexure
Now it starts to make sense. The reason why the faculty in the first incident behaved the way he did can be explained using the ‘logic’ in the fourth incident. Prof. Roy could have avoided the second incident if he had been a bit more patient. He saw a female professor in the class, even though it was after 11.00 am. He should have waited for a few minutes instead of barging in. But his pride might have made him too impatient to wait even a minute. That’s why there was a clash of egos and some amusing scenes for the public to see. The classroom also had a door at the back. Luckily (or unluckily) he didn’t try to enter from that door and start teaching from behind as he did in the third incident. The third incident was probably an accident or an unexplainable case of impatience. But Prof. Thomas was too arrogant and irresponsible to even check the schedule before he walked into the classroom where another teacher was already teaching. The construction unit stopped his habit of ‘coming in from the back door, going to the front of the room and starting class by installing a new door on the other side of the classroom. Anyway, having two doors for entering or exiting the class could have caused more weird incidents.
These are some stories from recent past that makes me think that what we need is a lesson on ‘Human Signs’ rather than ‘Human Science’.
