Story Of One Rejected In Love

Life is full of surprises and startling revelations. Agreed? No? Well let me share with you a bitter sweet experience. There was this seminar on “Zero Energy Homes” by guest speaker Saad Asif CEO Nexton Group, organized by NUST Science Society under its series of seminars TECHTALK. I attended this seminar and at the end of the seminar there was this interactive question and answer session in which the organizers asked some questions from the audience based on the lecture given by the guest speaker. It was basically a clever tactic to check if anyone was paying attention, plus to make sure the audience stayed on its toes (in a manner of speaking) next time around. Correct answer warranted a free Kit Kat chocolate bar (I happen to love Kit Kat very much).

On the first question asked I eagerly raised my hand determined to win a Kit Kat (i hadn’t eaten a Kit Kat for a long time).

Host: What is the biggest source of power consumption in homes?

Me (effectively misinterpreting the question and with everyone’s eyes on me): Iron

(Silence)…

…

…

God, why did I raise my hand? Why? But then the organizer pronounced my answer as incorrect, and I was relieved of my misery.

Not to be deterred I raised my hand again a few questions later. This time I was very confident my answer was right because I happen to have done a lot of reading on this stuff.

Host: What is the first step to power efficiency?

Me: Reduction of power losses in distribution and transmission.

Host: Sorry?

(I was sitting in the last corner of the hall)

Me: REDUCTION OF POWER LOSSES IN DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSMISSION!!

Host (after a moment of deliberation): Incorrect!

Now, I am seething. The question asked was WHAT was the first step to power efficiency, not HOW you achieve it. I was sure my answer was right. Though not in the exact wordings but still it was correct. Alone, sitting in the corner of the seminar hall, with half of the directors siting behind me, I felt like a fool.

Well you tell me, if I said milk was beneficial for children. And you said no, not the milk, but the cow is beneficial. What would be your reaction? Part of me wanted to raise hell in the middle of the hall and challenge the organizer’s decision. But then I thought better of it and looked forward to the free samosas and tea awaiting me.

During the refreshments when I was talking to other executive members I met my best personality of the day, the organizer himself. I made no issue of hiding my bitterness and shared with him my grievance, to which he smiled and said that those chocolates were a marketing perk to arouse interest in the audience and thus were not for members of society itself.

So this (embarrassing) experience taught me quite a few things.

Number 1: Being the organizer you can’t share the privileges enjoyed by the general audience J

Number 2: Always be attentive in these lecture and seminars, because you never know, there might be a packet of chocolates lying inside that dais.