"He's smart !" Really?

Had a delightful conversation with dasa today evening. Amongst other things, we finally hit upon the topic of how problematic it is, being "apparently intelligent". For the uninitiated, its a state where, you and people around, begin to believe that you are smart enough to do bigger things in life. The reality being, you are no better than the average person out there, doing average things. [A word of caution. This is not to be confused with "latent intelligence", where the underlying intelligence has only, not got a chance to express itself. Whereas here, is the assured case of its absence!]. So, what exactly is the problem? Derived from Hindu mythology, is a term called trishanku - generally used to signify things that do not belong to either end, of any given spectrum. The apparently intelligent are not dumb - as to not have any expectations, and hence be contented with whatever they do. Nor, are they stud enough to fulfill the expectations they develop due to their being apparently intelligent. Thus, resulting in constant conflict. And add to it remarks from people like - "Oh, you are so smart. Why are you still in this company?" or "Oh, why did you just stop at B.E. Why don't you study further?", resulting in total jai. Such, is our avasthe. So, the next time you meet someone who is apparently intelligent, show him/her some sympathy, ok ?