A FEW OLDIES: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A

“A pervasive mediocrity, like a poisonous miasma, had crept into the life of A.  Its fingers were of smoke- ghostly and intangible- touching and polluting and wounding and infecting and scarring every aspect of the life of A.

A did not realise it until it was too late- until optimism gave way to scepticism to disillusionment to resignation.”

The professor read out the piece, slowly and deliberately, hoping to invoke the pathos of the life of A, through measured modulation and trained use of his vocal chords. 

“A is our case study for today.”

He added in a more quotidian manner.

“A was a product of the past century- a typical example of homo sapiens as it existed before eugenics found the key to unlocking human potential.”

The professor’s voice resounded as he stressed ‘eugenics’ and ‘human potential’ using all his oratorical prowess and lung capacity.  By this, he believed that his class of some 20 odd students would imbibe the importance of the decisions taken by their ancestors. 

“A’s…maybe one of you should read”

Cultivate and create interest through interaction- the professor ardently held to the principles taught to him in school, by pleasant teachers in fresh airy classrooms, their voices designed so as to leave a lasting impression on their students.  The professor hoped he was attaining their level of acoustic perfection and etching the ideas on the brains and souls of his talented tractable bunch of eager learners.  His every vein pulsated with the necessity of having to do justice to his profession, to his employers, to his students, to himself.  It prodded him to work, yet his well-conditioned personality and instinct of self-preservation never let him over-work, never allowed fatigue to creep in.  He was perfect- perfectly happy, perfectly healthy, perfectly content.

“Jacob…?”

Jacob had a pleasant voice- with right intonations and stresses, he could weave an effect that was almost magical. Jacob could be a good professor one day, his teacher thought, of course it depended on the cumulative of all strengths and weaknesses that Jacob possessed which would be analysed as always and the best possible decision taken.  But still, he persisted in a non-profitable day-dream of Jacob becoming a professor and later in life, speaking with gratitude about his teacher who taught him the Life and Times of A and inspired him to reach such heights as he had attained now, in a trembling voice, pitch slightly wavering so as to produce lumps in the throat, pits in the stomach and such like, while he, the professor, would bask in reflected glory, as the tutor of one of the finest teachers and orators of the world.  The professor knew precisely the extent of his own talent and that of Jacob’s and understood without envy that he could never hope to attain the levels of brilliance that Jacob could effortlessly reach.  He was content in his knowledge and submission to knowledge, unlike A, his case study.

“Maybe you could read out this part…”

The tiresomeness of the Life of A, his struggle to rise above his mediocrity, his miserable failure, the death of his hopes, his resignation to being one of a million, the sameness he shared with a mediocre population which he tried vainly to escape from,  his lack of understanding about his own strengths or rather lack thereof, his pathetic attempts at excelling at something which was scientifically and indisputably  beyond his abilities- Jacob’s perfect reading, conveyed more than the mere words.  The students were profoundly moved. They all thought A was ridiculous, of course, but now they also felt a certain amount of pity for the wretched soul, who not knowing his inherent weaknesses and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his genetic incapability to live his dreams, plodded on from failure to failure, from heartbreak to heartbreak, plunging into an abyss of despair, living out his life finally as an insignificant clerk in some shady company, coming home to a shrew, dying as he was destined to die- a mediocre man, a failure who did not have the sense to see that he would ultimately only be a failure- no fault of his own, he was just not the right material.

Every aspect of the Life of A was given in precise detail in the student notes.  A was checked, analysed, dissected, labelled and classified, as were several men and women of his Times.  This analysis would help the progeny of the race to understand their ancestors, their- excuse the coarse word- stupidity, their irrationality, their dissatisfaction, their failures, their lack of acceptance of scientific and genetic certainties, the inanity of the ideas which may have prompted them to resist eugenics and efforts to improve the race through selective mating, specially designed curricula etc and persist in the belief that somehow they would circumvent their genetic limitations and attain some sort of glory- ultimately helping the present and future generations look at them with some amount of pity at least, if not understanding.

The students muttered amongst themselves, incredulous, finding it impossible to believe that someone could be so dense, so intransigent, never giving up despite proving to himself everyday that he was simply inadequate, so utterly foolish.  It was unbelievable, most people during the Times of A lived similar lives and yet, they resisted change, a shift in lifestyles, refused to accept eugenics and the comfortable lifestyle it promised.

The professor smiled knowingly as he heard the muttering, inwardly thanking the heavens that he was born in these times, when he was capable of acknowledging his limits and not attempting any foolhardy ventures into domains which would not suit his skill set.  Of course he would have liked to have another set of skills, like Jacob perhaps, but what can you do, science still cannot alter you much after you are born, then again he was a good professor, it matters what he can do best, not what he wants to do, what a beautiful elegant notion, he saluted his forefathers, the ones who had bought about this state of affairs of course.   They have created Utopia, they have actually done it, no communism or fascism or capitalism, no plutocracy, aristocracy, none of oligarchy, theocracy- foolish notions of men- just a perfect system, a system that could not possibly err because it was based on fact, on actual proven genetic facts, assigning everyone a role, a level to which they could rise, one knows now, one knows how far one can go, the satisfaction of a life well-lived wells up in every human being today, the joy of knowing their strengths, their limitations, it was tantamount to knowing the future, everything settled in the best possible manner, no hassles, no trials and tribulations, no more men and women like A.

“Now what should A have done?  Today A would never exist, A would not be created. Misery of failure is no longer present in our times. Acceptance of our limitations helps us live in contentment. We know, right when we are born, who we are, where  we can go, what we can do, we know it from facts that are undeniable, we no longer have to struggle because we know. But the Times of A were different.” said the professor, looking everyone in the eye, impressing upon them the beauty of their Life and Times.  

“Your may work in groups of four, analysing the Life of A, where he went wrong, what he should have done and any other points of interest, for the next ten minutes, then I want one of you from each group up here, to present your conclusions…I think this case study will effectively dispel any doubts about the ethics of eugenics. I cannot put it more clearly; you can see for yourselves, compare and contrast your own lives with that of A’s.”

The Life and Times of A, in particular, was chosen to be part of the curriculum, precisely for this purpose, to efficiently remove any seed of sedition against the established eugenic system.  Not that there was any threat, but there was some incident of protests, demonstrations and such things which are now found only in history textbooks, at the time of inception of the system.  No one, in their right senses, who read about the Life of A, would want to go back to his Times of wintry discontent.  It was much better to be told your abilities, much better to submit oneself to the irrefutable authority of scientific knowledge and improved statistical and probabilistic methods.  

Michael came up first to speak.  The professor nodded appreciatively, he knew Michael would.  Michael was quite a thinker, of course the side effect was that he could at times be refractory- the system was still not a hundred percent efficient, one had to deal with some negative aspects if certain required positive traits were to be introduced, but that could not be helped. Through proper education and guidance, Michael would think up new ideas which were in keeping with the system in place; he would be an independent thinker, a visionary who saw the right visions. 

The professor wanted to put Michael on the track; he would perhaps be a leader, a top level administrator, the man on the dais everyone looked up to. The professor would bask in the light of Michael shining and be respected as the man who shaped one of the greatest. But that requires work, lots of work, Michael must be taught to think properly, slight tendencies of unprofitable pondering over silly issues that he had now, they must be removed and then Michael would be perfect. Michael will be analysed a few months from now, lots of work to be done before that.  He apparently sometimes talks about wanting to be a critic or traveller or some such thing, straying from the path of maximum benefit, as calculated using the best of technology available.  That was of course legally impossible, but one might avoid the unpleasantness if Michael would, well, not be so Michael. The Life and Times of A would certainly root out any foolish tendencies. Michael could not be as good a critic as he would be a public speaker, and we need no more Magellans, thank you very much.

Michael walked up to the raised dais, murmured ‘Hello’ into the microphone which automatically adjusted itself to his voice, tone and pitch, so as to accentuate modulations and variations.

“A was undoubtedly a failure, and his life was irrefutably one replete with humiliating and almost, dehumanising experiences.”

The professor smiled, Michael would come round, he knew that. He was a good boy, a boy who could think, good, good.

“But I don’t think he’s pathetic. In fact, he is my hero and I am here to tell you why.”

The professor decided a trifle wistfully that Michael was a case for Sebastian to handle, Michael would thank Sebastian now he thought, meanwhile he had other students to think about. If they would only fix the system errors, it would so much easier. Listening to this boy’s conclusions would only be a waste of time, and he certainly didn’t want his students to start thinking that way, He knew from the profile study that Michael possessed the ability to be extremely persuasive if he wanted to.

“We’ll finish this off tomorrow.  Class dismissed.”