Saturday, January 3, 2009

The curtain raiser !!!

GIM did everything new with a lot of fanfare.. Course launches, batch inauguration, building openings and the like was an opportunity for the B school to get photographed and bask in sheen. Dr Joy and his family show unbelievable camaraderie, Jesus and Manohar hugged each other making the audience (those who know the inside story) awe in bafflement and the others envious of the unity in the family….everyone smiled and everyone was a friend of everyone…. It was UTOPIA….. perfect and ideal…

Experiential Management Education Programme (EMEP) inauguration was no different. I, as the convenor had a tough time in scheduling the programme and getting it approved. Running from pillar to post was better than from Dr Joseph to Jesus to other larger than life jug heads who for nothing found fault and asked for a change often because the other guy had liked it.. No one was that bothered about the EMEP programme per se as they were about the inauguration….

We are getting the head of one of India’s largest FMCG majors…
said Jesus in one of the first EMEP meetings…. to launch the EMEP ….

Jesus did what he promised generally and had the right contacts and networks.. why not ? used to say the likes of Prof Ram… He is a rich kid of an even richer father… and could afford to spend and be promiscuous to befriend the right guys….

I never agreed to it… I knew many even richer guys who hadn’t had even half of the network that Jesus had…

It’s the flair … the attitude…and also the money….in that order and Jesus had it all in the right mix….

The building was decorated as if it was a marriage hall… I felt a bit odd at times, but proud to be the main anchor (technically though!) of the show. It was a Jesus show and everyone knew it… Sukesh Menon was the convenor of EMEP, the first outsider who was bestowed with such a task at GIM.. de facto but it was His Grace, His Highness the Crown prince of GIM who ran the show…

When Dr Joy had his new picture in the portico ( in which he looked even worse than the old one, where fat hung from all his face like a pug) inaugurated by the guest, when as the convenor I walked down with the guests to the fully crowded auditorium (it was after all compulsory) when the King gave his usual speech in his drab and monotonous tone( the same brauhaha repeated with same inertness) when the anchors touted the GIM and its programmes ,particularly the EMEP as a revolution in management education (!!!) when speeches vied with speeches as if it was the Biggest Bore Competition, when finally the lamp was lit by the guest and when he went on with his speech, when at last to a group of tired faces, standing at the podium I had to give a vote of thanks… I just searched for one face….

Anand Mohan !!!

And he was missing… And I felt odd… I wanted him to see my show… wanted him to correct his notions that I was an incapable idiot… Proclaim to him and his types that EMEP is going to be MY SHOW and not OUR SHOW as he seemed to believe… I missed him….

At the lunch room were the show of camaraderie was repeated Ram came to me in between and took me to a corner… in fact he dragged me ,an unsuspecting me who was trying to grab some fat chicken pieces from the Murghi Mugalai bowl.

Anand has left …Ram said… he left in a hurry….

Left? .....I asked loud…. You mean resigned?

I felt a kind of dubious pleasure at the exit of my enemy….Anand Mohan had bruised my bliss and in the last few days ever since I had declared a silent war on him he came across me a couple of times in what looked like just accidence but I wanted to believe otherwise.. Wanted to think that he did everything- even walking- with hidden motives and intentions…..

No … he was there in the morning but then left.. saw him rushing out to his car and then ….said Ram even as he dipped his finger in the green palak juice and licked his fingers…

I forgot the chicken and the lunch… for the workers at GIM such lunches and dinners gave them the rare chance to seek revenge… eat as much as possible or even more than possible…

When the fanfare was over and GIM had fallen into a post lunch siesta, I but got into EMEP with more vigour and energy… Anand –his presence and absence had made me a competitive animal… had scheduled a meeting of the EMEP organizing committee, but before that had to brief Dr Jesus of my EMEP plan…

You will report to me as far as EMEP is concerned ..said Jesus… that way your main concern is over…ED will not interfere in EMEP…

A smile, a vicious one was shown in his face for a split second which out of the blue got into something more sympathetic and I CARE FOR YOU type…

That was not my main concern… in fact that, at that point was not my main concern at all…My anxiety was the implementation… the grand plan had earmarked every afternoon for the programme and no class room type stuff was allowed…

Games, Drama, Debates…. We had a blue print before the show was inaugurated and the rest was left to be decided LATER….

We will have sub teams.... lead by faculties and with students implementing it…one day one team… a week five teams… he said

I didn’t like the idea.. IT was MY show…I didn’t like this with Jesus… he made me the hero and launched me… I was just bathing under the glory of arc lights and attention when another 5 sub heroes suddenly came from nowhere….… this plot didn’t look good for the launch of a hero…

I but for want of a choice, kept quiet….

One day one team… I kept mumbling as I sat drawing up a plan….

It was silly.. this whole thing ..I knew but at that point of time, it was life and death and I did not want to die..

Simple !!

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