The year 2023, will forever have a place in my heart for the incredible experiences and realizations that it has gifted me. I got to travel for work, had some great conversations, met new people, learned new culture, and made amazing friends.
But one of the things that I really like about this year, is how it gifted me back my favorite hobby of reading. A habit that I was moving away from for the past couple of years and something that I was deeply missing. I read some wonderful books this year including the autobiography of Michelle Obama.
It was inspiring to read about the people of old times and how strong-willed they were. In her book, Mrs. Obama talks about how determined her parents were to ensure that their kids got the best education but at the same time not compromise on being kind-hearted human beings first.
Last week, my husband and I went to the cinema for Oppenheimer. Keeping aside the fact that the movie is just brilliant, what fascinated me the most was the conversations that those people had. Such deep and intellectual conversations about something they have not yet seen, comprehending the vastness of the universe and the endless secrets it beholds.
About half an hour into the movie we see so many famous personalities such as Niels Bohr, Heisenberg, and Einstein who are familiar to us from our school Science books. They talk about atoms, the mystery behind what happens when an atom fuses, what happens when a star is dying, black hole, and whatnot. They travel across countries to meet fellow scientists and discuss their work, offering to work together and publish papers so that it is useful for future generations. Even more interesting was to see the passion they shared for their common interest, a passion to figure out the truths of the universe.
While watching the film, I could not help but wonder how come there are not so many great scientists these days. Or if they are, why are they not in the limelight? And of course, I had to share my thought with the husband who was immersed in his movie and popcorn. So in between I go- “hey! how come we are stuck with the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos now when in the early nineties there were so many brilliant minds!” He gave me the ‘ here she goes’ look which shuts me up then, only to start a whole conversation later on once we are out of the cinema.
If we look at the bigger picture, most of the famous people, those who could influence policies and make a change, are all businessmen at heart. These people could control almost everything including which research to fund and make progress on. And the conversations they have are on the social media platforms which are(sorry to say this) equivalent to conversations of high school students!
Could it be that this increase in the rise of businessmen and rush to become billionaires is because we as a society have a growing fixation on the fact that the world runs on money?
Recently I happened to watch a documentary on Marie Curie and her exceptional work in the scientific field. Did you know that she was the first woman to win a Nobel prize and also the only woman to win it twice? What an incredible feat, right? But the world mostly remembers her as the lady who killed herself from her own experiment. It was so heartwarming to see her story, how she continued her education even when society banned ladies from getting an education at that time. Fast forward to the present age and we (at least some of us) are entitled to basic rights to education. Social media and the internet give us easy access to knowledge and news from the world.
We are now at an age where something as simple as one’s gender is confusing where parents are scared of upsetting their children, where there are millions of movements for women empowerment with no results, and where there are billions of money awarded to climate change mitigation yet with no real actions. Yes, there are conversations but all online and all focussed on finding faults and what went wrong. Yes, everyone can voice their opinion now, yet nobody’s voice is heard and acted on. It’s just random talks, rants, and a lot of noise.
The eighties and early nineties were years of inventions, discoveries, and great minds. And agree, it was also a time that saw horrible happenings such as wars, mass killings, patriarchal ideologies, etc. But there is no denying the fact that that was an era of some brilliant minds that ever existed. And sure, there might not be many breakthroughs to be made, however, we can all agree that we have some real problems that need real solid solutions. For instance the climate change issue.
When was the last time that as a group of friends, or colleagues you sat down and brainstormed on such topics? Most of the time we just end up talking about day-to-day lives and personal issues, which of course is required but maybe once in a while it is better to get together and talk about other stuff as well.
Another thing that you would notice from the movie and otherwise is the change in dressing these days (or not dressing up). Does anyone else notice that there is only casual dress code these days? And I understand comfort is the new dress code, but sometimes it is good to dress to the occasion. One can always do that without losing the comfort element. Dress up to the seriousness of the occasion when you are attending a meeting so you show respect to the others around you.
The purpose of this article is to serve as a reminder to brush up on those awesome ideas that you have in you. To have beautiful conversations with your friend on topics other than your day-to-day life. To dig out your inner scientist/ artist/ literature enthusiast that might have been lost somewhere in between the hustles of adulting. It could be as simple as discussing a good book that you read recently. Share the thought, share what you felt while reading it.
How about the next time you meet someone over coffee for small talk, try to make it a big talk? You never know, that could be a start to something new!
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