Acharya versus Adhyapak
Acharya versus Adhyapak
“I have a
confession to make - I teach, but I am not a teacher”, I matter-of-factly asserted
to my colleague from Indian Institute of Technology. Adarsh1, a
professor at an esteemed IIT was visiting IISc for a short lecture. At
the end of the lecture, a mutual friend introduced us and Adarsh handed me his
visiting card. As I flipped the card, I saw that one side had been printed in
Hindi and his designation was printed as प्राध्यापक. In Hindi, the term अध्यापक implies
teacher and this translation of Ajay’s profession riled me to that point that I
was moved to object. “Don’t worry, I ran it by our Hindi Department and they
assured me that this was the correct translation” said Ajay trying to calm me
down. I wasn’t convinced and that is when I voiced the statement above.
That
day my colleagues were perplexed as to why I had fixated a simple, almost
trivial, translation rather than the complexities of fluid mechanical
simulations that had been part of the lecture. After our meeting, I did some
research and determined that the word is indeed accepted as a legitimate
translation for the job of professor (see table below). This left me deeply
dissatisfied. For better or for worse, I do take my job description seriously. As
an assistant professor at IISc, my job duties include teaching, research and
university related administrative duties. So, what exactly is wrong with the
word अध्यापक? After
all it implies a profession, which exceeds that of the teacher.
I
find this translation inadequate on two significant levels. First and foremost,
in our research careers we are constantly challenging the frontiers of human
understanding. At these frontiers ‘hard science’ evaporates leaving a fuzzy
collection of hypothesis and experimental evidence. The data and various
hypotheses are often contradictory, and we sometimes find ourselves treading on
the soft ground of philosophy and instinct rather than a pathway paved by hard
science. As a result, we are frequently required to deconstruct what we were
taught in schools/universities and create brand new paradigms of knowledge. The
constant questioning of accepted wisdom is probably the most important attribute
that differentiates professors from teachers. As an example, when I was at
school I thought I clearly understood the distinction between the three states
of matter, viz solid, liquid and gas. When I became a professor, and started my
research in ‘soft matter’, which is the name given to “gooey” materials, I found
myself questioning whether I truly understood the differences between solids
and liquids. It turns out that the difference is not as straight forward as we learned
in school or even during our undergraduate years.
The second
thing that differentiates us professors from teachers is our responsibility for
dissemination of knowledge and our commitment to move knowledge out of
laboratories and classrooms and into society. For example, not only would a
professor look into methods of water purification, but he would also look for
avenues to translate this knowledge into society where it could provide actual
benefits and services to people. This is how universities often become
incubating grounds for hard-tech companies. Finally, some genuinely care about
the world – an exercise that can turn a scientist into a crazy philosopher. For
example, I find the rapid rise of artificial intelligence troubling and often
worry if Skynet is already opening its eyes in the murky depths of the internet
and trying to make sense of all the data.
So,
who am I? I am a bouncer at the nightclub rave ‘party of truth seeking’ that is
happening around us. Many truths are there- some barely clothed, and some in
Victorian style gear. Some scientists are trying to court these beauties, while
other geniuses effortlessly attract the truth beauties without even breaking a
sweat. As a bouncer, my job is to make sure the party keeps going in full
swing. But, if anyone tries to molest truth then I’ll throw them out. This is
what we do when we work as editors, reviewers and even authors of research
papers. Hence, I disagree with the traditional Hindi/Sanskrit translation
of my job title. Instead, I propose a translation based on the word आचार्य
which would be more reflective of the comprehensive nature of our jobs. See
table below for the proposed translations.
English Designation
|
Current (Accepted) Hindi/Sanskrit
translation
|
Proposed translation
|
Assistant
Professor
|
उपप्राध्यापक2
|
उप
उपाचार्य
|
Associate
Professor
|
सह -प्राध्यापक3
|
उपाचार्य
|
Professor
|
प्राध्यापक2,3
|
आचार्य
|
Esteemed
Professor
|
गुरुदेव
|
Notes & References:
1.
Name changed
3. Translation by
Google
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