Dude, science?

My mother loves plants. She has quite a wide array of plants in the modest space of my home. 

Lately, she has been troubled by an increasing pest problem. An insect called Mealybug has infected trees of hibiscus, mango and guava resulting in heavy defoliation(loss of leaves). She has used many spraying insecticides to no avail(mealybug develops a waxy coating which doesn't let the poison sip in).

After quite a lot of thinking and administering the sprays myself, I decided that there must be some array of chemicals which can be administered from within the plants. The chemicals go with water at the root, the insects ingest it along with the sap and then, die. Quite obviously, the chemicals shouldn't disturb the metabolism of plants.

A single search query gave me the answer. Systemicides. One of them is called imidicholoropid. Shortly afterwards, I took my bicycle and reached the nearest agro shop. I began to describe what I wanted. Here is a snippet of the conversation with the shop attendant S.

Me: Do you have an insecticide which can be administered to the roots?

S: Huh? There is nothing such as that. Describe me your problem.

Me: <Description given>

S: Oh, you take this pesticide. Spray it all over the plants. It is enough.

Me: No, it isn't. It has already been tried.

S: Tell me again what you exactly want.

Me: Have you heard of imidicholoropid? It works by getting into plants along with the water. The insect dies after ingesting the sap.

S: (smiling mockingly) Is it even possible?

Me: Yes. It is science. You use internet? There are pages and pages on the agricultural websites.

S: Dude, I am a practical person. I am in this business for 22 years. Science has not yet developed enough. What will fancy degrees do? I know more stuff than a person at an agricultural institute. (he then went on to describe his success at various farms and how he taught various degree holders 'things')

I left the shop feeling weird. A man who runs his living by selling things made possible by science(fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified seeds) believes that science is a joke. What do you think is the condition at the level of farmers?

I don't know why science has such an outlook among the general public. Or why people tend to believe in religion or fantasies more often and far strongly than science. Forget those who never went to school - I have seen many educated people falling into the trap too. It is deeply troublesome that this question has not been sufficiently asked - what is the essential thing missing from science education?

I don't know the answers yet. But, I do know one thing as far as the human society is concerned.

Bullshit baffles brains.

One question

After coming through Storypicks from a TED talk, I decided to ask questions from my elders whenever I find time. The result has been amazing. I know more about my place, my parents and the arrow of life.

Yesterday, I went out with my father. In earlier days, there happened not many grocery shops in the town. As prosperity increases, so does the number of shops - I have seen it while I grew up. Naturally, it is going to be more evident in case of my father. So, I asked him: from where did he bought groceries back in his childhood?

He told me to tag along. He will show me the shop. I followed. It was quite a long walk. We entered a small shop facing the road. It was old - wooden doors, low banked doorway and consisted of two rooms. Luckily for me, there sat an old man. He recognized my father. After coming to know that I was his son, his joy knew no bounds. He told me how my grandfather, after getting his monthly salary, carried my father to the shop. How they had to have a short laugh. After a while, I bought two small copper plates. Before we left, he told me to keep visiting him and his shop.

It is an amazing feeling to hear about your father as a child. Hear about your grandfather - whom unfortunately I have never seen. All from someone living.

The wonderful experience originated from something very simple.

A single question.

A snap chat

Today, I was roaming with my father. After a while, a person called my dad from the other side of road. My father recognized him. While crossing, he told me that the person was one of his peers - who also topped the B.Com graduation exam in his time. I understood that this was going to be ugly.

So after a brief chat with my father, his attention turned to me. Let us denote this person by X. Here is the conversation that followed(recreated in English).

X: So, you study CS at BIT Mesra?
Me: Yes.
X: What about the semester exams? What is your GPA? Your rank?
Me: (Honestly) Not good. Just above 7. I don't study. Rank is nowhere. Virtually unknown.
X: What? My daughter studied IT from __ in Bangalore. She has a CGPA of 9.483. She happens to be a gold medalist. (To my father) What is your son doing? What has he achieved? Even if he hadn't told you, let me. Placements are going to be difficult for him.

(That was the blow.)

Me: Why are you asking my father? Ask me. I don't even know my CGPA to three decimal places. What have I achieved? Nothing significant. But as you will definitely misunderstand what I am trying to say, I would add one instance. Few days ago, I won a tablet from American Express. How? By actually writing code. As you seem the person who quantifies everything, let me tell its price. About Rs. 16,000.
X: Arey, why are you firing up? No company cares about whether you have won a tab or not. They care about your exams.
Me: With two sems left, I can't do much about my academics now. I am in no mood either. Just like you don't give any worth to my achievement, I don't give any to your daughter's. Afterall, this is a free country. But do expect me at your home someday. I will have a job then.

That was all. My father was actually laughing on the way to home. Told me, he never expected I would say something like that. For the very first time , he told me that I have grown much.

So much for an occasional chit-chat.

P.S: No offense to any highly 'ranked' scholar reading this. I am not glorifying low CGPA either. Just remember that whatever you do in life, you also have to pay the consequences. No hard feelings there.