My brother has a way of elevating stories to the level of life defining theories. A few of those are so popular between us that these have become part of our life. I would like to share a few of those in the coming weeks will start with the Barber Theory.
Barber Theory: One can do lots of things if he does not have complete knowledge.
Once upon a time there was a barber in a village. He was also the de-facto local surgeon who took care of all the surgical needs of the village. Operating seamlessly through any boils, tumors any other ailment that came across and his hand never trembled. So cheap and efficient was his service that professionally trained surgeon of the area started to get affected as no patients went to see him. He was sad and complained to his peers and friends. One of his doctor friends told him, “Don’t you worry! I will fix it for you tomorrow.”
The very next day the physician went and witnessed the barber in action. Once ther surgery was completed, he asked the barber” how could you perform with so much confidence?”
The barber said “what is the big deal. I do this regularly!”
The Physician explained “if you had cut a little bit extra on the right it would have severed the vein that supplies blood to the right side of the brain. The blood circulation to the brain would have stopped leaving the patient paralyzed.” And he went on to explain exactly where each vein and nerve and tissues and muscles and all the other body components were. He also described in detail what the risks and consequences were if something gone a little wrong.
When the barber went to perform the next surgery, his hand was trembling and he was not sure anymore where to cut and how much to cut. He was worried about the consequences as he was aware of the possibilities and the dangers.
Knowledge makes a big difference! (May be at times, if not always!)
This is in response to Shekhar Kapur’s blog post “A Blackberry addict discovers grassroots enterprise in India” (http://shekharkapur.com/blog/2010/07/a-blackberry-addict-discovers-grassroots-enterprise-in-india/)
