Say ‘No’ to In-Absentia Certificates!
Boycott Conferences that Target your Wallet!!
Well, when organizers of seminars/ conferences
share with us their colossal burden on paper presenters bunking their
presentations and indulging in obtaining for themselves in absentia certificates, me thought it is time to step into the
breach and spell out this despicable act of having on them such cheap,
manipulated in absentia certificates!
In the interests of good research, me
thought of sharing with y’all a few thoughts here below, on this kutty little
post!
First of all, remember that a
paper that you present at a conference is a rare-o-rare, one-of-its-kind opportunity
knocking at your door, offering you exclusively on a platter, a wonderful
chance of a lifetime, to prove your mettle at presenting your vibrant thoughts
on your ‘eureka moment’ or your ‘something new’ moment that you’ve painstakingly
researched and got for yourself, over a prolonged, patient period of time!
Secondly, it would do well to bear in
mind that, presenting a paper gives you a chance to stand before an august audience, all geared up, with boldness and with guts, with a refined air of confidence, and thereby experiencing for yourself
what it really is, to stand gentle and bold, cool and calm, in front of a
gathering without the shivers or the quivers!
Thirdly, presenting a paper is added
chance to get your thoughts and ideas legitimized, validated and approved, with
added inputs, suggestions, questions, critiques and clarifications coming your
way from unexpected good Samaritans in all directions!
So yesss! if you have received any in absentia certificates thus far, in
your academic sojourn, basic courtesy and basic etiquette demands of you that,
you better burn them to ashes, at the nearest hearth, at the quickest possible
time, after having torn them off into a thousand plus pieces!
It’s a huge scam and a hugeyyy sham of
the highest order, to sport an in
absentia certificate on you anytime in your life.
Please for heaven’s sake, burn to ashes such
sham of an in absentia certificate
right away!
Now moving on to the all-important
clarification that awaits you on -
Choosing a Conference to attend -
Well, as regards participating in
conferences, and choosing for yourself a good Seminar or Conference to attend/ or
to present your paper, there are a few salients that you need to watch out for!
And yesss! watch out for these salients below with a keen nuanced and critical
eye!
First and foremost, the speakers! Are
they experts in their subjects? Have they published books, and/or presented
papers, published their papers in renowned journals, and proved their integrity
in academia over the years?
Secondly, does the conference take the
initiative to come out with a publication of the papers presented, and dispatch
the book/journal to you in a reasonable time-frame?
Thirdly, is the Department a full-fledged
Literature department that has a BA and an MA programme in English Literature?
Fourthly, are the chairpersons capable enough
to sit on their chairs and devote considerable time to focus on the paper
presenter without any distractions? Or do they act the chairperson for
namesake, checking their latest whatsapp messages while the presenters are making
a presentation of their painstaking, original research?
Is the chairperson capable of asking at
least five solid questions to every paper presenter who comes forward to
present a paper?
Does the chairperson encourage questions
from the audience also?
Finally, is the conference priced to a
minimum?
On this be convinced please! Always check
out on the pricing of the ‘conference fee’!!!
If the conference fee runs to thousands, please for heaven’s sake it’s better you stay back at home, and take a
chartered trip to the Anna Centenary Library or any other good library, and do
some real good reading and add some more inputs to your research, waiting in
the meanwhile for genuine researcher-friendly conferences to come up!
As Tagore beautifully says in his Gitanjali,
‘Where the mind is without fear, And the
head is held high, Where knowledge is free…!’
Indeed, if knowledge should be accessed
by everyone, it should not be priced at a whopping premium on sky high mode! Rather, it
should be offered at the minimum workable costs possible, Ain’t it?
In this regard, Jidduji, elucidating on the topic
of ‘Right kind of Education’, adds to say that, the true, noble
teachers, ‘they long for an opportunity of service as a hungry man longs for
food, and they are always watching for it. Their hearts are so full of the
divine Love that it must be always overflowing in love for those around them.
Only such are fit to be teachers - those to whom teaching is not only a holy
and imperative duty, but also the greatest of pleasures!’
People like my librarian Dr. Jesudoss
Manalan come under those rare few noble hearts!
Just imagine a situation where knowledge
is priced at a huge premium!
Can the lay researcher ever get the chance or the
opportunity or the bhagyam to access
this elitist knowledge? Nayver!
Do they long for an opportunity of
service as a hungry man longs for food as Jidduji says, or do they long for an
opportunity to make a fast buck on unsuspecting research scholars!???
Our munnorgal
(our ancestors) made sure that knowledge was accessible by all and sundry!
Chiefly by the lay!
And that’s one reason we are here, as teachers and organizers
of International Seminars/Conferences!
Let’s not forget to remember our low
estate too!
If Conferences price their events at such
an exorbitant price, at an unreachable Mt. Everesty skyhigh cost, they
literally convey the news to you that their event is not for real, genuine,
original research or for the noblest kind of peer interactions!
On the other hand, they are just dubious means
and methods to fill up their own coffers to buy for themselves additional
bungalows or limousines every other year!
Of such conferences beware! Stay away! Stay
far far awayyy!
You better wait your turn for another
lovely ‘knowledge is free’ confy to come your way!
And it will!
The DRBCCC Hindu College, Chennai has set a wonderful
trend in this regard! They are hosting a conference on 05 October 2019.
And pray guess the conference fee?
A decent Rs. 100/- for every presenter, which
is inclusive of a lovely folder, a pen, a notepad, wonderful working lunch and
a cuppa coffee!
I could visualize the noble Nobel
Laureate Tagore himself blessing the conference with his rich showers of
blessings!
May your tribe richly increase, dear Hindu
College! May knowledge always be free! Forever be free!
May your love for research, may your love
for real, serious, vibrant, thought-provoking interactions set the tone and the
trend for all the greedy goblins to emulate by the dozens!
Hats off to you Hindu College, Chennai! Giving y'all the invite! If possible participate and be blessed!
Way to go!
To sum it all up, a passionate researcher
will never ever sell themselves to petty, cheap and nasty in absentia certificates! Neither will they step into the high-fee
confy zones ever!
If you want to know what it is to be
passionate about doing research, get a crash course on the basics of being passionate
about research from Dr. V. K. Vasudevan! You can access him at our blog post
HERE. His passion for research literally brought tears to our eyes! And almost
all of us seated in the little hall, gave a standing ovation to this gentleman!
He should be 80 years now!
Dr. Vasudevan is a retired RBI officer, who is so so so passionate about literature. Hence, after he retired as an officer
with the Reserve Bank of India, he started on his research when he was well over 65
years, and after four illustrious years of painstaking research, at the tender young age of 69, he presented his spell-binding,
electrifying defence of a viva voce, to an august gathering of attentive and
enthralled minds which had a host of his grandkids lined up in the audience
too, here at MCC!
After reading more on Dr. V. K. Vasudevan
at this post HERE, chances are that, you will make a huge bonfire for sure of
all your crappy, sloppy, in absentia certificates,
at the nearest available hearth and burn instead, with passion and zeal for
doing real, rigorous research in all its splendor and charm!
Best wishes to you!
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