His Favourite Book

Chapter 52 - Applied Theories

[Next day; University]

Muskan was seated at her usual place. What was not usual was her company. Neither Aashna nor Kartik were beside her to study together, gossip, fight, tease- nothing at all. She stared blankly at the projector that threw lights on the white screen, as their professor continued to teach. Muskan casually turned around and saw Abhimanyu's seat empty, too. Heaving a long sigh, she leaned forward on her desk and kept her elbow on it. Her head rested on her palm as she pouted at the day's void.

'What might have happened at Abhimanyu's home...' Her thoughts seemed to have been stuck in the centre of a whirlwind.

"Uhmm... Ma'am, may I come in?" A male voice brought Muskan back to reality. Standing at the doorstep was Abhimanyu, asking permission to enter the ongoing class.

The professor glanced at her wristwatch. "You're 20 minutes late."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Won't happen again."

"Get in. Sit."

After a long class of a tired batch of students blankly staring at the PPT being presented, Muskan finally smiled as the class timings were about to come to an end.

"Alright. Any doubts?" The professor was about to conclude her PPT.

"Ma'am!" A student from one of the middle benches raised his hand.

A loud, unified groan could be heard in the class. 'That son of a— how can you have doubts in every topic man? And always asking them at the end of a class? Bloody toppers. May the ghost of Freud haunt them forever.' Muskan thought as the professor agreed to hear out the doubt.

"We're all learning so many theories by so many professionals. Some theories are modified, and some are original. How do we choose our psychologists to support them? Who was the most genuine person to come up with the best theories?" The doubts stated.

"Hmm. Good question." The professor's words signalled to the class that the answer was going to be a long one. The students who had packed their bags and were ready to leave settled back with annoyed expressions dwelling on their faces.

The professor smiled seeing the tired faces but continued anyway, "Are we learning psychology to support theorists or even theories, for that matter? If that's the impression you're under, let me tell you that you're on the worst path in the field of Psychology. We're learning human behaviour. The causes, the results, the kinds- everything about not only humans but also animals. Every living creature, basically. Don't you think the theorists were humans too? They were equally prone to making mistakes as we are."

The class suddenly witnessed the straightened backs of students as the Professor's answer got interesting with each passing sentence.

"Every psychologist and every theorist has proposed a bunch of theories of all possible sorts. Each one has proposed some amazing, not-so-amazing, brilliant, non-practical, applicable for a large group of people, applicable for below/above average group of people, kind of theories. For any psychologist you would want to biasedly 'support', you'll find some questionable statements made by them. Now if someday you get a client whose treatment seems to be inclined more towards the psychodynamic theories, and in case you don't support Freud, will you rob the client of their therapy? No, right? As I've always said, whatever decision we make, it's always supposed to be in favour of the person concerned, and not about yourself or even the person who proposed that treatment. All in all, it's not about supporting or disregarding any psychologist. We are not here to accept or reject any theories. We are here to agree with the theories we like and accept the existence of the theories we do not agree with. Every theory in existence will be somehow, somewhere applicable to someone. It is your responsibility and duty to be unbiased regarding the same and look for the best combination of theories suiting your context. Don't go for the theorists, go for the theories. All of them."