XXXIV Oxford & the blue blood of Bernstein

Annie’s mind was still with Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake she had no idea when she had slept but whenever it was it was bliss, but now she was being gently woken by someone, she moved aside one part of her eye patch and looked with a single eye and realised it was Prof. Bernstein, gently tapping her on her shoulder and when he saw she had finally responded he just moved his mouth without a sound but she could make out the words ‘Bon Jour’, Prof. Bernstein often loved going into French and Spanish once a while just to add a bit of colour to his conversations, Annie smiled and replied Oh! Its morning already? Where are we ? have we already reached ? the questions came slow but they followed each other and Annie was taking efforts to talk in a low tone, the Prof. was looking out of the aircraft Window and spoke without looking at Annie that they were about to land and that the news about the weather at London wasn’t very good and that their aircraft had to undertake multiple sorties over Heathrow before getting the direction to land.  

For Annie, all that didn’t really matter, for her Oxford beckoned. They were to stay at the Hilton near Oxford, the conference was to be held at the T.S. Elliot Lecture theatre inside the Merton College, an institution whose history dates back to the 13^th Century, the event was part of a series known as the John Locke lectures and what Annie was told by the Prof. was that the Oxford University was celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the John Locke series this year and Prof. Bernstein was also the Honourable Chief Guest for the event , a rare honour usually reserved for Heads of only the European Schools of Philosophy, but an exception was made, since the Prof was at the forefront of developing and bringing several Schools of Philosophy and Thought under one roof.

The guest list at the event included Harry Frankfurt, Noam Chomsky, Amartya Sen, Thomas Friedman, Orhan Pamuk , Rushdie and a few more luminaries of Philosophy, Psychology, Literature, Journalism , Economics and Cognitive Sciences from all over the world.  

Annie was looking forward to spending some time at the Cambridge University, her previous Alma mater, She was hoping to catch up with some old research colleagues and some of her past gurus at Cambridge and discuss some specific research information on Hume and Hegel. Annie also hoped to maybe drive down to Cotswold if She had the time. 

The Prof. had his own plans and had told her that he would want some freedom from her once the Conference and Dinner was done, Annie had just smiled and not given a clear commitment.

The aircraft finally landed, London seemed wet like hell, it was pouring so hard the noise managed to permeate even through the sound proof aircraft, the BA hostess had given them all the necessary help, Annie was glad Dan had included a couple of warm clothing accessories while packing her stuff, a good long woollen overcoat that also had a hood and gloves, even if she had forgotten to mention it to him, Annie mentally thanked her luck – she expected everything to move with precision, priority luggage check out, priority immigration process, quick pick up at the Airport and priority Check in at the Hotel – these were ‘given’ when you travelled with Prof. Carl Bernstein - Executive Director & Chairperson of The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, USA and the Head of various Congressional Committees working on updates and amendments required to be carried to the American Constitution relating to Rights, Liberty, Freedom and Justice in an increasingly digital Universe, Prof. Bernstein was also a personal advisor to The president of The United States of America on various matters of International Conflict and Neo Political thought.

Beneath the geniality and general mirth, packed in a 5'8" mildly surplus frame, Prof. Carl Bernstein was a very serious man, and he had those looks too, still had thick hair above his head, a piercing eye - made laser like - by his thick progressive glass, a round face with a thin mouth that was capable of sharp, hurting sarcasm when provoked. He had a reasonably good sense of dressing and a great sense of humor. He was brought up on a menu of liberal American thinking, but oddly was a Republican. 

Bernstein was born into a family of Academicians with a long, successful political and artistic lineage, the Prof.’s family DNA included some past American President and one of the Kennedy sisters as a part of their blue blood,  Prof. Bernstein’s family had a history of successful Senators from Massachusetts including one of America's rare few lady Senator, the current, who was his Mother. Bernstein's Father was no more. He had 2 elder brothers serving as bureaucrats, one was in fact the American C-D-A in Pakistan.     

Bernstein believed that the human psyche was a conglomeration of different types of zones, starting from the macro level Cognitive mind to the micro level zone of hunger and sex. Many of his early papers brought out this belief through topics like Love, Freedom , Liberty and Materialism that eventually became cult classics in the field of not just Philosophy but even in the field of art, literature, psychology and Economics. Prof. Bernstein believed that the various Schools of Philosophy across the world were unnecessarily moving in isolation to each other, especially the Analytic Philosophy School, The School of Continental Philosophy and the Frankfurt School, he also felt that the other faculties like the Quantum Sciences, Anthropology, Environment, Economics, Literature, Management and even Justice should start collaborating their research with the field of Philosophy and last but not the least Prof. Bernstein also felt there had to be a strong central body that could bind all the World Schools of Philosophy under one roof.

Prof. Bernstein was a potential Noble Laureate and an OBE in waiting for a while now.