Does Size Matter?

Friends, belated New Year Wishes to you all.

I am back after a hectic year and work schedule and a wonderful holiday with my boyfriend.

It was a great holiday, during which we had a world of time, to discuss so many topics without any distraction. One question that racked our brains was – Does Size Influence Performance or is it Self Confidence & Self-Belief that contributes to a greater performance.

Though at the end, I would be asking you the same question for an answer based on your experience, I would like to share my experience on the subject too.

I am of the opinion, at the moment, Size Does NOT Matter for a greater performance, while my boyfriend John is of the opinion that Size Does Matter. I wanted to quote a few research findings on the subject, but somehow could not remember a single Thesis/Paper on the subject. And also, since Computer and Google were out-of-bounds, I was feeling like a fish out of water.

Days went by discussing the issue, many times over, without any conclusion. I did mention that there could be a relation to genes and such, but John never believed so.

After a great holiday in one of the best holiday-spots in India, we returned home couple of days back. Last weekend, I visited my doctor friend and casually raked up the question. “Oh, what a surprise, and what a coincidence. I am in fact researching on the subject and was finding it difficult to get volunteers for certain harmless tests.” True to profession, the doctor wanted me to get John for a check-up. Immediately, I reached John on his mobile, and told him that the doctor wanted him for a check-up. I told him the tests-on-him would also help the doctor in preparing the thesis. John was flabbergasted for a few moments, but sportingly agreed to meet the doctor.

Last Saturday, we went to the doctor’s place. The doctor asked how the question came up for discussion. We mentioned that it was just on a casual note that we started off. Being in the profession for many decades, the doctor seemed quite skeptical of the answer, but did not confront us with any uncomfortable or embarrassing questions.

The doctor asked us, if we really experimented. We just nodded as an answer. “How long did the experiment take – 10 minutes, 5 minutes or lesser that?” I replied, “Doctor, we must have experimented at least 15 times, and each lasted not less than 30 minutes.” “Wow… 30 minutes each session?” “Yes, indeed” I replied back. The doctor sitting in front of us, turned back, nodding the head, mumbled something that I could not make out. “Doctor, did you want some information from us?” “NO, Sindhu, nothing, I was just wondering about your 30 minute sessions…” replied the doctor with an un-approving smile.

The doctor remained silent for a couple of moments. “John, get into the room. Remove your trouser and lie down on the bed” commanded the doctor. “But doctor…” “Just follow my instruction, John.” John went into the room.

The doctor then moved away and got a couple of instruments that looked like a Test Tube, a Scale, an Electronic Instrument, et all. “Doctor, John is a very sensitive person. Please don’t hurt his ego at any cost. I dread to imagine a mortified John.” “Don’t worry Sindhu, I have seen hundreds of Johns in my lifetime.”

As the doctor moved in, I just peeped into the room. I saw huge posters adorning the walls – that of Aishwarya, Madonna, Sam Fox, Britney Spears, M S Subbulakshmi, et all. Doctor closed and bolted the door leaving me out.

I was keeping my fingers crossed. The doctor being quite young, bold and a beautiful lady, I was a bit worried too. She also mentioned that it would take about an hour for the “Tests”.

“Who in these posters interests you John?” “I like all, but the poster of Aishwarya Rai puzzles me. “Excellent. Most of my clients who have come to this room, have only asked why M S Subbulakshmi”

After an hour…”Sindhu, come over here please” called the doctor. As John was moving out of the room, I asked him about the tests. “Simply great. She is really an interesting character. And I feel relieved” replied John. I closed and bolted the door.

“Now, lie down Sindhu” came the dictate from the doctor. I lied down and saw a huge instrument with so many display-meters and a huge lamp above my head.

She pushed my skirt up and connected couple of “electrodes”. I was a bit puzzled. “Doctor, is this ECG test? I don’t have BP problems.” “This procedure is similar to ECG, but not ECG. This is the latest instrument that I have got from Germany. So keep shut till I complete my recordings” replied the doctor. She switched on the machine, took some readings, and asked me about 50 questions and closed the session. I could not answer to quite a few of those tricky and sometimes embarrassing questions.

I mentioned that the poster of M S Subbulakshmi puzzled me though.

Thereafter we moved out and sat at her table. She said, she has taken all the required readings and that she told that after analyzing the data, she would prepare a report and that would form part of her final Thesis.

She reached out to a website – http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/heshe.html - and narrated that at birth, both boys and girls have the same brain size, but in adults, men’s brain weigh about 12% heavier, and size is bigger by about 2%. And hence she said that men tend to perform better overall in many instances. But women with a greater Self-Confidence and Self-Belief have performed better in many instances. And she said that the research is still continuing in various parts of the world to establish a relationship between the size of the brain and performance, in both men and women. And towards this, she was collecting data from both men and women. The data included not only the size and image of the brain, as is generally the case, but also certain other parameters along the body.

I was a bit awed. But she thanked us for presenting ourselves and helping towards her research. She complimented us, with a Pen Stand with an Electronic Display with a Medical Company’s logo on it.

“Bye, bye doctor…”

Coming back, have you ever wondered on this aspect? Post-back your thoughts and comments on this.

Sindhu