Be Brilliant But Better Be Smart

A copy of my article published in OPEN Page of The Hindu today

The 19 th Feb 2023


Be Brilliant,but better be smart

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Many parents lament that their children are not very brilliant.

But does brilliance always pay?

Many people love to see neighbour’s brilliant children fail.

You feel like nobody understands you.

Every one does have high expectations from you.

You are in the habit of over thinking,over analyzing

and over estimating that stall all your happiness.

Everybody is brighter than somebody else in some

way or other.

For all the hype that goes into top rankers,we realise that

there are certain distinct disadvantages also which hit

you on your way.
You are informative. You are logical.You know what you

are talking about.You can easily spot fallacies in debates

and counter them so easily and effectively.That is great.

But the other participants don’t like their stand to be

questioned,their reasoning to be invalidated and their

choices to be proven wrong.You can prove yourself as

‘Know-it-all’ guy but can be embarrassing to the other guy,

On many occasions the brilliant one creates an impression that

he can do everything himself without any assistance.
Brilliance is not I. Q. but only rote knowledge.But

real smartness is a combination of intelligence,wisdom,

good soft skills, and a pleasing personality.

Reminded of Albert Einstein’s powerful statement that

everybody is a genius and that one should not judge a fish

by its ability to climb a tree.

It is a misconception that being intelligent and brilliant

is a super power in itself to conquer the world.It is myth

largely promoted by rank holders themselves.There is a lot

more like emotional intelligence,social attitude,EMPATHY,

compassion- all these things should not be underestimated

in the presence of centums and ranks.

But is being that much brilliant always to your benefit?

There are instances where mediocre brilliance works better.

What do sociologists opine?Critical reflection and shrewdness

are sure positives.But when there are too many opinions

from too many brilliant individuals, or alternative courses of

action,work slows down.

Many employers these days prefer only second class graduates

to have unifying effect.People content in an atmosphere come

to a consensus easily and that creates greater enthusiasm,
visible concentration leading to greater success. Super brilliant brains don’t accept ,become depressed when a job does not

meet their level of intelligence.

But there is a hitch.Being accommodative can keep you stuck

in your current job longer.Being exceptionally good at a lower

level job may prove to be a deterrent.The boss will ever keep

you as assistant and earn agood name and fame out of your

sweat.

After all there is a major difference between actually being slow

in the uptake and acting as if you are a few cards short of a
deck.This trick is not to play a dumb exactly but to learn when

to assert your intelligence and when to hide the same.

You may not feel the urge to be acknowledged at every single

point of time but prove to be a great success in due course.

Don’t worry about being perceived a bit slow.Better future lies

ahead.Being slow and asking dumb questions ,especially during
negotiations ,the opposition party may reveal details that they

should not.

This is not to desist students from attaining greater heights,

but to advise them the reality of the situation and assess their

real worth.

Real smartness lies in knowing when to look smart and act

smart.Silence works well if you are smart enough to know

when not to look and act smart.


Vathsala Jayaraman

Vathsalaj @yahoo.com

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