If we see hierarchy in any company, end of the day, everyone assists someone. If you work in a very big corporation, hierarchy is so long that you do not get to see the higher-ups. We are constantly assisting and we are constantly assisted.

Here is a question! Who wrote Mahabharata? Think again if you answered ‘Vyasa.’ Vyasa narrated Mahabharatha, while Ganesha wrote it. Today, you rarely find an autobiography not written by a biography assistant. It is understandable that in a working environment, it is difficult to do everything by oneself. Having someone to do the tasks, as we think of next steps, helps improve efficiency in workflow. In olden days, there were candleholders to hold the candle while someone read at the religious ceremonies. Today, in research institutes, there are research-assistants that perform the routine experiments, while the researcher designs study, interprets data, gets funding, and writes papers. As research-assistants are not involved in thinking process of the study, they are restricted from being authors in research articles.

When I married, our priest brought his assistant with him. The priest performed important tasks and hopped off to the next wedding, while the assistant performed the remaining tasks. Did not realize till then that a priest profession needs an assistant too. When I recollected, I realized that social services professionals like auto mechanic, truck driver, security officer, and tailor too have assistants. The long list of names scrolled at the end of any movie, shows how many assistants are involved in the production. So, assistants play a major role in any profession and thereby in our lives.  We all have used some or the other assistant in our lives.

With technological development, the robots are replacing assistants. That’s what I thought till I used one. A robotic machine we bought in our research institute, extracts DNA, RNA, and proteins from human clinical specimens. But, it required me to arrange all the reagents in it, check its performance, clean up after use, and back up the data. End of the day, I realized, I am assisting it. It is unlike my other technological assistant that I enjoy using—Siri in iPhone. It reminds me of things, maintains my calendar, reads my messages, takes voice commands, and finds a good restaurant near my location. We invented technology and then invented technological assistant like Siri to assist us with technology.

Seems like there is a difference between using an assistant to do extra-work and using an assistant to do your primary work. If used properly, assistants are of great help. I try my best to use any assistance with a bit of caution. Giving them due credit, encouragement, and help in their career prospects, is the responsibility that I strive to take care. As long as I do that, I will enjoy my newly earned job—Assistant Professor in my local University.