Front and back benchers

 

A friend of mine was curious to know if I was a front or back bencher in my school. And he also wanted my views on front/back benchers. I am sharing my response to him with you all. I have been a front bencher in the school. The two varieties of students who generally occupy front benches are 

1. those that are studious

2. short statured persons

Bright and intelligent students do not necessarily occupy any specific bench rows. I also notice that the front benchers are those who are "byhearting" (కంఠస్థం పట్టే) variety. They like to raise their hands everytime a question is asked "who can answer this?" - half the time to please the teachers and at other times to satisfy their yearn for recognition from class fellows. It's my view that most of the front 

benchers suffer from this impresso-mania.

My front bench preference was more due to my height. My analysis is borne out by the fact that not all front benchers succeed in getting into premium colleges or courses later after they leave schools or colleges.

Front bench behaviour is also noticeable in employees in all Organisations and Institutions. Employees exhibit this behaviour while participating in meetings (Lecture meetings / presentations / brain storming sessions etc) training classes. Here, as seating arrangements are generally different from the classic classrooms setup in schools, they get identified as "front bencher types" by their simple or obvious questions in meetings (though the answer is known to them) to give an impression of their active participation. It's my view that these are another set of "impresso-maniacs" or "boss-pleasers" Again, these aren't the types of employees who usually rise to positions of eminence in the Organisations they are employed in.

To quote the late A.P.J Abdul Kalam, “The best brains of the nation may be found on the last benches of the classroom.” The backbenchers in every school and college often are labelled as “wasters,” who will never be able to achieve anything significant in life. Everyone feels that the front benchers, who raise their hands and know all the answers to all the irrelevant stuff, are the only ones with the guaranteed bright futures.

Bill Gates, said:“I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” Backbenchers are those “lazy” people, who time and again have proven to be the real heroes. If you look dispasionately, the backbenchers are the ones who have the best time. They may be mischievous, but they always have fun.

The back bench of a class represents, freedom, expression and creativity. Have you ever seen how these “failures” have the capacity to learn an entire chapter just 20 minutes before an examination, and still pass? That’s skill, and it’s about time we refrain from unnecessarily running them down. These fellows grow up to be highly successful– Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein; these are some of the world’s most successful people… all who have admitted to being ‘backbenchers’ all their lives.

Please note that I am not running down anyone specifically with these observations. There are many exceptions. I like everyone to share views and experiences as front/back benchers.