Importance of Being Last

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I often used to pleasantly tease my Bengali friends that the name West Bengal is an anachronism since there is now no East Bengal apart from the football club (?).

And there is no West Pakistan either...

I now read that all political parties in West Bengal are seized with the issue of a name change...wonderful!

But one reason advanced by the politicians is this:

"Whenever there is a meeting at the Center, we get the last opportunity to speak on a subject. By then, people are bored and the atmosphere is not conducive to make a point. Altering the name so that it begins with an alphabet earlier in the series will allow the state to move up the order"

...ToI, 8 July.

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My neighbor in Dandakaranya Qrs at IIT KGP stunned me with the list of names in his family...they all started with A...Arup, Alok, Avik, Abrhro, Achintyo, Anindyo, Aniket, Amit...

I asked him why this partiality to A. And he replied that they all wanted to be first in the Roll Call.

I don't know now, but during my time at IIT, the Registration Numbers and so the Roll Call Order largely followed the JEE Merit List. So, I didn't have to ask my students who stood where at the entry point...the names in the last were mostly Vibhishans... Floor Crossers.

But in many Institute Committee Meetings alphabetical order used to be followed, as the above complaint says.

And Physics was the last Department...And Sastry was the last name in the Phy Dept...before Sharmajee joined...

But we never complained.

Of course I attended very few meetings at the Institute level but I did attend many in the Phy Department before youngsters joined.

And I always found it an advantage to speak last for the following reasons:

1. Those who are eager to speak, speak first and so they don't have the benefit of listening to the arguments against their preconceived notions. And when they try to intervene they are shouted down: "You have had your say, let others speak!". So the chap who sits quietly and speaks at the end has a more balanced and comprehensive approach to the issue and gets the credit for speaking well.

2. If the Chairman is experienced, he would prolong the Meeting giving the appearance of letting everybody have their say till other members shout them down. The advantage of this is that the vociferous with lots of lung power are tired and tend to either doze or even leave one by one.

And the few quieter ones stay back till the end and take a consensus between themselves...and even get to draft the Minutes.

3. In a rare Meeting chaired by the Director with representatives from all Departments, most everyone assembled started resisting the introduction of a new Physics Syllabus for all B Techs with QM as a compulsory subject at the Second Year level. We five chaps from the Phy Dept decided to keep quiet till everyone shouted and got bored, and we quietly pushed it through.

4. In one of the few Meetings I attended at the Institute Level, everyone from the Science Departments was asked to be present and speak up their views...in the usual alphabetical order. Somehow I wanted to duck for personal reasons. And as it happened, there was a pell-mell of contrary views and fighting by the time it was halfway through, and the Item was dropped.

So, it may not always be a curse to be the last.

Of course my experience is only with academic matters; in matters of allocation of limited funds and resources, it may be a disadvantage...in which case, as it used to happen, one could ask for alternately reversing the alphabetical order...

5. Last but not the least is the blessing of being invited last, as every KGPhian knows, to the Grand Viva abattoir...

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