This year marks the 10th anniversary of the awarding of an honorary doctorate of letters to Gérard A. Besson. In 2015, the University of the West Indies bestowed this honour on him, which meant a great deal to the author and historian who had come a long way from being a dyslexic child in the 1940s and 50s, when even attending a regular primary school was out of bounds for him.
To mark the occasion of his achievement, we are reproducing here his very funny and philosophical speech to his fellow graduands, which is on the one hand "pure Jers" to all who knew him, and on the other speaks about the difference of truth and reality that was an important theme in his life.
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To be recognized and honored by the University of the West Indies is to be the recipient of an extraordinary accolade. Extraordinary, because in this time of institutional decline, some would say failure, this university has maintained the standards of excellence on which it was founded. I am humbled by this honour, I am grateful to those who thought me deserving of it and, in my heart, I remember all those who have guided me to where I stand before you all today.
In one way or the other they were all teachers. Three stand out; the first was Randolph Alan Young who ran a school for children with learning disabilities. Another was Prof. Bridget Brereton, who encouraged critical thinking and the third was historian Olga Mavrogordato. She too ran a school, an unorthodox one, very strict and very inspirational, as she taught love of country. Though an unorthodox person in many ways, Olga touched the lives of several people, who have, over the years, been honoured by this university for their historical work. Of the seven or eight who in one way or another were inspired, enlightened or even irritated by Olga, three of them have stood here, and received honorary degrees. They are, Adrian Camps-Campins, Fr Anthony de Verteuil and Michael Anthony. Historians, all, and as such, preservers of our National Heritage.
Fellow graduands, I have been allowed a mere 10 minutes to address you. This is rather like one of those little pies you get at cocktail parties– the first bite you take you have not reached the meat– the second bite you’ve passed it.
That being the case, I thought that as a storyteller, I should tell you some stories. Stories that come from the great storytelling tradition of the world: the stories told on the caravan routes from Timbuktu across the Sahara to Cairo thence to take the old Silk Road to the furthest east. Tales recounted around campfires, in sand-blown caravanserai, in places with names like Alexandria, Bukhara, Katmandu, and Bactria, narrated by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and happy wonderers. These were told as teaching stories or wisdom tales. From this tradition huge epics emerged, such as the Mahabharata, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Old Testament— they are all founded in this oral tradition.
Often these stories were related as parables; this is because we are story telling and story-hearing creatures. We love stories and learn much better from them than from cold facts. Advertisers, Politicians and Prophets know this and often use story-tellers and stories to sell their products, their promises or, their gods.
One of the great storytellers of the old Silk Road was the Sufi master, the amazing Mullah, Nasreddin.
He told this story.
“Truth entered a village naked as the day he was born. The villagers had one look at the naked truth and were afraid of the stark harshness and drove him out in anger and malice. Dejected, the Truth wandered in the desert. Without food and nourishment, he weakened and would have soon died of loneliness. One day he got to the home of the Parable. She took him in, nursed him back to life. Soon the Truth was feeling well again. This time he returned to the same village clothed in a parable and was welcome and accepted with ease.”
As social scientists, you are, to be, in your professional lives, concerned with society and the relationships among individuals within a society, and, as such, you must always be very mindful about recognizing Truth, even when disguised as a parable.
I will tell you a Sufi story.
“Nasreddin dreamt that he had Satan’s beard in his hand. Tugging the hair, he cried: ‘The pain you feel is nothing compared to that which you inflict on the mortals you lead astray.’ And he gave the beard such a tug that he woke up yelling in agony. Only then did he realise that the beard he held in his hand was his own.”
Now, as social scientists, it is vital, that you recognize the difference between truth and reality. The reality he experienced in his dream, so real, was like any reality that is experienced –– and like all realities it passes away, while the truth of his realization endures. Never accept reality, until it is proven, by truth.
Truth is a universal constant, it is like the Newtonian constant of gravitation, or Pi, the mathematical constant, and it is different from reality, because realty changes, alters, ends, and begins again.
Now you understand that with Sufi stories you must pay close attention, otherwise you may miss the meat of the matter. Sufi stories urge you to develop the faculty to tell the difference between reality and truth. And, in so doing, to thy own self be true. –
––––––––– This was a pause, all story tellers must know how to use the art of pause.
As you enter your professional lives understand that honesty is an aspect of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness and straightforwardness.
Professional integrity. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principals and moral uprightness. You must be honest in your professional life, not because honesty is the best policy, but because it is shrewd, clever, to be honest. Being honest shows that you are possessed of sharp powers of judgment, and that you are astute.
I will tell you one more Sufi story.
Mullah Nasreddin once became a university professor. One day he arrived at the weekly university talk open to all the public. Typically these talks were given by visiting professors and attended by the university staff and their spouses, as well as a few students and general public.
As Nasreddin entered the huge lecture theater the university the Principle took him to the side and said, ‘You are giving the talk.’
The Mullah replied, ‘I’m not ready for a lecture. What happened to the guy who was supposed to give the talk?’
The Principle informed him that the visiting professor had been delayed because of a hurricane and he had to give the talk.
Nasreddin asked, ‘Why me and what’s the topic?’
The Principle told him, ‘You talk on the subject of sex, because you are the only one whose wife is not here,’ and before he could complain he pulled Nasreddin with him to the podium and there announced that professor Nasreddin was going to give a talk on sex and marital bliss.
So, Nasreddin started to wing it and soon he was quite enjoying himself and got into a stride. Everyone really enjoyed the talk. Forty-five minutes later he finished and received a standing ovation.
That evening when Nasreddin got home his wife asked how the day had gone. The Mullah said that he had given a talk.
‘Really,’ asked his wife, ‘What was the talk about?’
Now Nasruddin did not wish to tell his wife that he had been talking about sex and marital bliss and perhaps revealed some information about their sex life and bedroom happening. So he replied, ‘I talked about sailing.’
His wife was incredulous. She said, ‘But you don’t know anything about sailing?’
‘I know that, but they didn’t,’ and that was the end of the conversation.
The next day Nasreddin’s wife bumped into a couple of faculty ladies who had heard the talk. One of them told her, ‘I didn’t know your husband was such an expert in the subject.’ Nasreddin’s wife said, ‘He! Oh, no he really isn’t such an expert. In fact he’s only done it twice, and the first time he lost his hat and the second time he fell over the side.’”
This, above all fellow graduands as you enter your professional life: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, that you cannot then, be false to anyone. Seek out and speak the truth, and you will enjoy the meat of the matter.
Thank you.
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Gérard Besson died in 2023.
