Dear Marshall,
A person referring to himself or herself as "Dr. XYZ" is sure to be suffering
from INFERIORRITY complex ....... or is a first generation learner, justifiably
proud of his or her achievement. The first needs psychological counselling ,
the second type needs understanding. Persons who ILLEGALLY prefix the names of
AWARDS to their names e.g. "Padma Shree XYZ" need to be pitied for their low
self worth. I was surprised to see the Award as a prefix even in the Official
Gazette of Goa. You bet, it was for a Moidekar!
It is right for a third party to address someone with a MBBS, B.V.Sc., Ph. D.
or D. Litt as "Dr. XYZ" in India. In most counties only registered Medical
practitioners [RMP] may use the prefix "Dr." to aid identification in case of a
medical emergency. All others suffix their name with the degree as in Ajit
Shirodkar, Ph. D. or Padmakar Dubhashi, D.Litt.or Kashinath Hiremath, Ph. D.
These gentlemen normally sign off only with their first or last name, even when
writing to simple gardeners like me. For formal correspondence they use "Dr.
XYZ" as per the local tradition.
Innovative ideas are found by those who do not have a Ph. D. or a D.Litt .. ...
they affix their designation, as in "Principal XYZ". Even some Higher Secondary
Teachers and College Lecturers conveniently label themselves as "Prof" ... some
even after retirement as lecturers!
The disease is not endemic to Goa. I know of a scientist who screamed at a
M.Sc. student because he addressed him as "Mr. XYZ". He insisted, "I have
worked hard for my Ph.D. You must call me Dr. XYZ" This particular Dr. died of
a heart attack at a rather young age of 45 years.
Most "Dr." in Goa are a post Goa University phenomenon. Almost all of them are
happy to have a single doctorate degree. It is now compulsory to have a Ph. D
to become a College Principal or a "Reader" even in the college departments.
With 46 Colleges, there must be around a 100 Ph.Ds in Goa University affiliated
Colleges. There may be another few hundreds teachingin the Goa University
campus or doing research at NIO, etc.
I had a class mate for B.Sc. who was put on "probation" [limited credits per
semester/trimester because of below average performance in the previous term]
but now has two Ph.Ds. under her belt. Most of my classmates who went for
research or teaching have at least one Ph. D. It is compulsory to be assesed as
a "Reader" or "Associate" professor.
Many of the Associate Professors and Professors in college had three of four
Ph.D.s in different disciplines,in different Universities and in different
countries and yet would say to me as a student, "Miguel, please call me Raghu
or as my friends call me, Rags." when the name may have been Dr. K. Raghupathy
,Ph.D in Horti[UAS],Ph.D. in Botany[UCLA] and Ph. D in Genetics [London]
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 21:18:18 +0530 (IST)
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Goanet] Appending professions before names
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I have been observing one pecularity particular to goans i.e. appending their
professions before their names eg. Advocate..., Engineer ..., Architect....
Besides of course the sundry doctors whether of medicine or philosophy or plain
honorary. No where in the rest of India is there such a standard practice
except for doctors which is understandable. Can someone throw light about this
practice? Is it a way to display class or superiority?Generally those who
cannot command respect demand respect by displaying their qualifications in
matters not connected with their subject.
Regards,
Marshall
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