Silent or Dumb?

                       
Some people just do not like to talk. not in the way of being anti-social or shy, but genuinely not liking a public show. Sadly, we have crashed on a blabbering world where whoever talks is a genius, whoever talks is knowledgeable, adorable and interesting and whoever prefers the quieter side is the polar opposite. Do note, that the quieter side referred to does not mean uninterested or mentally absent criteria. i strictly mean the section that is aware, knowing, attentive, and yet, with a preference of hearing out others' point of view and contributing only when asked. This need not necessarily even mean that the quiet are the shy ones, or lack confidence. I would like to tell about a very different reason for sealed lips. The need to allow the person in charge of the situation with some piece of mind, to become an attentive and peaceful audience.
When you push this into a classroom situation, it is hardly fair to call the silent part of class "dumb"; considering that this very "dumb" part of class is among the high scorers in academics, they do not disturb classes, have more than 90% attendance, care to stand up and wish the teacher, care to do assignments and projects in time, give sensible presentations and even help the somewhat "technically challenged" teachers set up a simple projector for their class. And on the contrary, the "non-dumb" part of class have a record of trouble making, high-teacher-BP, late assignments (or no assignments), walking out of exam halls, interrupting lectures with pranks and stupid questions that take the teacher 7 hours to explain, and so on...
Usually we have stories and movies saying "do not underestimate the fun-loving section of students, they are the real gems". But that really does not mean that you start undermining the "good-ones" as being lame, boring and dumb. it is just that the prefer partying, DJ, drinks and all after class hours. Sadly, here the situation is "ulta" and the joke is on the supposed Ideal students. sigh!