The Varsity Suckers

How do people grow up to be geniuses but jerks? What is the relationship between intelligence and empathy or humaneness?

From the very highest rank of the social hierarchy, we observe people with immense intelligence and talent but with very little concern to the outside world. Either they are so engrossed in their expert fields so as to forget their potential to serve the human society or they intentionally abandon their “human” role in pursuit of some futile reputation which is completely alien to me.

Obviously, you should be wondering by now, “What the hell is this guy speaking about?”.

Knowledge: How much is too much?

Since sometime now, I have been thinking about the conduct of “some” (obviously not all) lecturers of the University I study in. It is a growing concern in my faculty that the uneasiness between certain lecturers and the students is at its peak. Sharing a common view with the rest of the student body, I observe that certain lecturers are inherently working against the students, slipping away from their responsibilities, trying to deprive the students from their basic rights, lying at most times to cover up their mistakes and basically forgetting that they were once undergraduates too. Although no explicit outbreak of dispute has taken place yet between them and the students, I feel one is very imminent.

Now I seem to realize why these people are behaved so. It’s in their nature. The perfect example for this was one of my “distant” friends from school. Exceptionally bright, but that’s all he was. As I remember him, he hardly took a shower, hardly spoke with another person, never knew that man was a gregarious animal, hardly taught anything to a fellow student but was obsessed with the academic work. He would solve mathematics problems writing on his arm during the physical training period in the middle of the playground. He would solve problems if he could find an isolated corner in a wild party. But nevertheless, he was undoubtedly one of the brightest and most talented mathematics students I knew at the time. So he achieved great results in the A/Ls, won a scholarship and now studies in America and will probably return someday with a “Dr” tag attached to his name.

As far as I see, the life stories of the lecturers (once again, not all) I mentioned above couldn’t have been any different. I would put my money on the fact that if my friend returns to be a lecturer someday, his conduct would bear great resemblance to those lecturers I mentioned. It’s just that they (both the lecturers and the student I knew) care very little about the outside world since they are so concerned about their academic excellence. It is as if they are confined to their academic world and have very little interaction with the rest of the society.

But for the misfortune of the students of the universities, they get appointed as lecturers because they are qualified (in the technical sense) and because that’s the main profession that will help them to continue their obsession for excellence. The most depressing fact is that the lecturers who actually care for the students and always stay with the students remain quiet because they realize that being the minority, their voice is of little use in situations like this.

What we need in the universities are not nerdy professors with little or no social interaction. But nice people with adequate knowledge who care about the students and act in a socially responsible manner. I just wonder whether this situation is common in other universities as well???

(PS: Those who know my identity: I’m sure you know the people I’m talking about. Those who don’t know me, well… just imagine this is a real situation faced by you and let me know what you feel)

Good Blogging | Evil Blogging

It has always been the case with the human race that whenever an invention is brought up there are always people who are ready to exploit it in the most negative way it was supposed to use. This was the case when Einstein discovered the certain concepts of nuclear fusion which ultimately led to the disastrous H-bomb. Though not in the same context and magnanimity, there has been a surge of rather inappropriate uses of blogging in the Sri Lankan blogosphere recently. Apart from the usual exploitation of the “anonymous” luxury tag to rebuke the writers, we observed several blogs dedicated to discrediting famous figures in the society. Those who came across the two blogs that slang mud on late Prof.V.K.Samaranayake and cricket commenter Ranjith Fernando should now have a good idea of what I intend to write in the rest of this post.

Now, I did not invent the concept of blogging or nor do I have the right to influence people on what they write in their blogs. But I believe that even though blogging is still in infancy in Sri Lanka, it is a powerful medium of information sharing, collective knowledge building and in short, a good way to build up the semantics of our society. Beneath these prospects lies the basis that this concept of blogging is something that we can utilize to the betterment of the community. In essence, it should be used for the “good” not for the “evil”.

So why do we use it for the wrong? Why dedicate a blog completely to censure a single person? Why talk of the miniature faults a person could have through a dedicated blog, completely overlooking the immense contribution he/she has provided to the community? Why spread hatred in the minds of the readers when you can fill them with love or at least something worthwhile?

It is disheartening to see how people lobby together to put off a person in a single act initiated by a single person who “may” have personal rivalry with the targeted person. Is it in the human nature that people enjoy the resentments thrown at another not caring whether those arguments are rational or not. Reminds me of the situation where people used to post anonymous publications on tree barks, especially in villages which came to know as “Kele Paththara”. Are we to trot back to that less civilized era through the advancements of technology?

A word or two regarding these two specific blogs seems appropriate. Firstly, my contention on the blog about Prof.V.K.Samaranayake was nothing but pure detest. It seemed that whoever went on pulling out a jerk out of Prof.Samaranayake’s character had completely overlooked the immense contribution he has made to the Sri Lankan society. The majority of the Sri Lankans who’d appreciate the benefits of information technology advancements would invariably regard Prof.Samaranayake as one of the key personnel who made efforts to have our own identity in the IT field and a person who took revolutionary measures to see that Sri Lanka keeps up with the IT development rate of the rest of the world. However, no one can please everyone. It is conceivable that through his carrier of 43 years he obviously failed to address certain sections of society and his actions may well have caused loss of personal interest to some in the face of larger benefits to the majority. But are these minor mishaps worthwhile to completely erase the good deeds he has done to our young generation? (BTW: this specific blog is not functional at the moment. Is it because that those who started it are now potential targets to censure or is it because they fear that the death of Prof.Samaranayake has put their anonymity at higher stakes is up to the readers to decide.)

The other blog that targets cricket commenter Ranjith Fernando is pretty much the best example for the wrong use of good things as I mentioned before. Personally, I don’t like Ranjith Fernando’s commentaries as well. Not because I can think of a better Sri Lankan to give English cricket commentaries in the international arena but simply because I feel that his commentaries are below par with those of others from other countries. And it is observable that he uses the same, rather hilarious set of phrases whenever he commentates. For all I see, he is aging and that very fact must be affecting his commentaries as well. However, he is the only Sri Lankan who has made his name as an international cricket commenter along with Ranil Abenayake (as far as I my knowledge goes). And sometime back I found an interesting reply posted at that very blog by a sensible person pointing out all the good Mr.Ranjith Fernando has done to cricket in Sri Lanka. So again the question is why rally people to slang mud on one person when it is clearly visible that all the time wasted on those efforts result in nothing but wasted words and thoughts of anger.

If they really want to slang mud on some people (though I still oppose to the whole idea) why not aim all those mud slinging on the politicians of Sri Lanka? Why don’t they start “politicianXsucks.com, politicianYsucks.com” and so on and leave out the people who have done some good in their lives? Encouraging comments will flow in thousands. It is through the Ranjithfernandosucks blog that I found what large numbers of people pour their negative opinions whenever they get a chance to do so, even if it doesn’t concern them at all.

Again, I do not intent to fixate a prototype on how blogging should be done and what people should use as contents in their blogs. All that is to be said is that we should try to use the things that are meant to be used in a good way in a good way. After all, how brave can you be being “anonymous”?

Prof.V.K.Samaranayake - The Legacy Lives On

One of Sri Lanka’s most renowned luminaries in the IT arena bid his farewells to the country yesterday leaving a legacy that is unprecedented. Prof.V.K.Samaranayake, the Chairman of the ICTA and a forerunner in the uprising of the IT sector in Sri Lanka, passed away at the age of 68. As a person who is enjoying the fruits of this great man’s seeds, I’m inclined to write a few words in his memory.

As much as controversial some of his actions were, Prof.V.K.Samaranayake’s view was to bring home the luxuries of IT that were enjoyed by the rest of the world. His view was to use the information technology in our own way, devise mechanisms to make the technology adapt to the circumstances in Sri Lanka and to get the whole country, especially the younger generation, involved in the Sri Lankan IT evolution. The ICTA, which flourished and made considerable contribution to the Development of Sri Lanka, was his premier channel of service. The concept and the implementation of the “Nenasala” project was one of the huge leaps in the IT education sector in Sri Lanka in recent times. The Sinhala Unicode system which is now underway was one of his major interests in the recent past and invariably was one of the leading personnel who drove the concept forward.

Being an undergraduate of the institution he began, the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), I vividly recall the assistance, the guidance and the encouragement he provided us in launching the all-island IT quiz competition that was organized by the undergraduates of the UCSC. The fact that it embraced school children from all over the country and that it was a considerably large project in blossoming the IT awareness among the school children were reasons enough to attract unconditional support from this legendary person and to make the ICTA main contributors to the project.

He will be missed, that’s for sure. As a single person who had a far fetched yet achievable vision, he will always be remembered.

The Police Law

“We followed the lead of the suspects who were accompanying us to disclose the places where they hid their weapons. At the site, the suspects attempted to throw grenades at us and we were compelled to shoot for our self-protection. In this encounter, we are sorry to say, none of the suspects were apprehended again; all of them are dead”

Feel like a familiar statement? If you are Sri Lankan, you should be familiar with this. The above statement has been the excuse for several police-lead executions in the very recent past in Sri Lanka. It seems that the Sri Lankan police has assumed the role of the judicial system and is cleansing the society by eradicating the suspected criminals without giving them a fair trial.

The whole country was shocked at the news of the five murders in Delgoda last month. No person with a human heart would have approved the atrocity and would want nothing but the death penalty to the people who committed the crime. A series of incidents followed these murders. The houses of the suspects were burnt down and the two main suspects were shot to death by the police.

The question is, to what extent should we justify the actions of the police in these situations. Even though I’m so glad that the two persons who commit this brutal act are no more (assuming they are the actual murderers, based on their confession), it is just not the way a civil society should act in such a situation. It should be questioned whether we can justify the outrageous behavior of the people of the village following this event. It seemed that the Sri Lankan police acted in a lazed manner in controlling the vengeance of the people of the area who were obviously frenzied by the whole crime. The very purpose of the police is to enforce law and order in the country. Not to keep their eyes closed in the face of revengeful behavior of the public or to encourage them.

It seems that the killing of suspects facing criminal charges during encounters is the new trend of the Sri Lankan police. The incident in Delgoda bore resemblance with several such encounters in the recent past namely, the Ganemulla Bollatha three murders case, the jewellery plunder in Ambalangoda and the killing of the police officers in the Meetiyagoda police station. In all these cases, the criminal suspects were shot dead in alleged encounters where they had gone with the police to show their weapons hideout and at which place they attacked the officers. How hard is it to take these suspects with their hands properly cuffed so that they can’t throw grenades at the police? Are we really to believe these excuses set forth by the Sri Lankan police?

In a way, these executions of the criminals in this manner can be justified. Knowing the procrastinating procedure of the Sri Lankan courts, the absence of death penalty in Sri Lanka and the influence of politicians in these circumstances, people would think that there is a good chance that these criminals will get away with little or no punishment at all and hence it is better to punish them in this manner. But it is just not the way a civilized society should act. Vengeance is not the answer to vengeance. It is the responsibility of the government and the authorities that a sound judicial system is in place and the convicts are punished accordingly. And the role of the police should be to make sure that law and order is maintained and the general public has faith in their judicial system.

Again, as much as I’m happy about the destiny of these murderers I feel that if this procedure continues it will attribute to nothing but to the loss of faith in people of their protectors and their judicial system. It is time for the police to stop acting out of vengeance and show exemplary behavior to the citizens of this country that we are still a civilized nation and that we still abide by the law.