Gadagkar, R (2018) The Luxury of Introspection. [Book Chapter]
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Gadagkar 2012-In Beyond the College.pdf - Published Version Download (2MB) | Preview |
Abstract
One day I was quite randomly switching channels on my television in India (we have over a 100 channels, though few that are worth watching) and I came across a channel on which Mr. Raj Kapoor was being interviewed. Raj Kapoor was an icon ofindia's film industry; he was a most famous film producer, director and actor in Indian cinema before it got the vulgar label of Bollywood. The interviewer, a very beautiful actress by the name of Simmi Garewal, asked Raj Kapoor many difficult questions, especially about how he managed to balance his life with his wife and large family on the one hand and his many women on the other. But in the end she asked him the most difficult question: she asked him to name his most favourite among his many films. He hesitated, said it was very difficult but finally named the film 'Mera Naam Joker'. The interviewer was surprised (as was I) and protested that the film was a total box office flop. Raj Kapoor said with a smile that all his films were wonderful, they were like his children and he loved them all but if he was forced to pick a favourite he would pick the one that did not do so well in the world. How I wish scientists had the courage to say something like that. In today's world scientists only tell you how many times they have been cited and what their impact factor is and what their h index is, and so on. I sometimes wonder who is in show business - filmmakers or scientists! Since then I always tell my students this story and tell them that by the time they become independent scientists they should have the maturity to have an opinion of their papers, even of their unpublished m<l:duscripts, independent of what the reviewers might think.
| Item Type: | Book Chapter |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin |
| Keywords: | Joachim Nettelbeck, Communication |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2021 07:21 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Jun 2022 11:51 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68318 |
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