WHILE running my dad’s interior designing firm many years ago, I was called to the house of a potential customer who wanted to do up his place. I sat with a design book in hand and waited to begin my presentation about the type of interior we could design for him. I never got started!
From the word go the man didn’t stop talking. He told me about interiors, about furniture, about how labour should be handled, about his tables, his chairs, where his bed should be placed and what design he wanted for them, and about most everything my job entailed. “Sir, “ I told him as I got up to leave, “I don’t think you need us!”
I visited his home many years later and found it a mess; his sitting room looked like a mixture of different styles and his bedroom was worse than pictures I’d seen of interiors of cave men in the dark ages! I’m sure you’ve met many like them, “What are you doing son?” “I’m doing my studies in management uncle!” “Ah, management, let me tell you about how to handle a company!” Or they visit a doctor and start off, “Doc, let me tell you about the latest cure for diabetes!”
The problem with them is that they have stopped listening to the opinion of others because they feel they know it all. Like this store owner who overheard his salesman saying to a customer, “No, ma’am, we haven’t had any for some weeks now, and it doesn’t look as if we’ll be getting any soon.”
Alarmed, the owner rushed over to the customer and shouted, “That isn’t true, ma’am. Of course, we’ll have some soon. In fact, we placed an order for it a couple of weeks ago.” Then the owner drew the salesman aside and growled, “Never, never, say we don’t have something. Now, what was it she wanted?” “Rain!” said his salesman.
That was a small joke to lighten the mood, but generally one avoids these know all’s till they stare you in the face, and today we have many who sit in Delhi who’ve stopped listening to scientists, researchers, historians, and anybody with knowledge, because he or she have found a solution from within the depths of their own extremely limited knowledge. They sit in seats of power and have stopped listening to warnings from experts or views of others, because they think they know it all!
Why do they think they know it all, because they feel small to hear someone with knowledge give them information. So, they pretend they know everything, but today what is even more sad, and could lead to disaster are that millions in the country are actually fooled into thinking that they know it all. Stop being fooled, and with that ink on your finger you have the power to tell Mr Know All, he doesn’t know it all..!
—( bobsbanter@gmail.com)
