At GIM one could hear of reforms quite often and I was party to one of the programmes that aimed at changing the GIM system..but the problem at GIM was that it was peculiarly bureaucratic…. It all started with good intentions and began well but as the old saying goes, the smallest deed is better than the grandest intention and it often got screwed at various levels. The same happened with the EMEP show..
The great Experiential Management Education Programme- the brain child of the ice cool HQ chambers, which the likes of Prof Ram called as Humbug, which the audacity of Anand had prompted me to take up as the great opportunity, which fell on me as a result of God-knows-who’s – plot, which got to start with a lot of trumpet blast and display just to die a sudden death as corporate theatres and debate sessions gave way to the academic pressures … As Ram had put it “when we don’t have sufficient time to finish classes you should have known that this will become a burden for you….” Easier said than done… HUH!!!
When the day the top brass called me finally to announce the death of the EMEP programme which they put it as “shelving for the time being” and the outsider that I was, I was the last one to be formally told. Every one else discussed it, laughed at it (in secrecy of course) and passed stupid grins at me as if I was a criminal caught with illicit liquor.
Jesus and Manohar sat next to next in the King’s chamber where I was summoned. VC and his files were in attendance and so were a couple of senior Professors. Ram was missing but Dr Joseph the ED was there as the Snowy dog of the Tintin series, present in every frame.
Every time I stepped into the larger than life place, I shuddered and shivered for no reason.
After the intro and the shelving for the time being phraseology by the VC, all the faces looked at me seemingly expecting me to blurt out, react or at least respond. But I preferred to be silent. I knew the trap; I sensed it on every face. The large photograph of Jesus the lord was the only one which at GIM remained the same, the same compassion and solace beamed, the same comfort and serenity in display. All others either stared, or scowled, some looked confused, some at times bewildered, often amused, some smiled, and some kept gazing at the ceiling as if Pablo Picasso had painted it and just left. I could see the trouble in the Kings face that for all his verbosity now looked silent and it was strange…
It is a failure that we didn’t take the EMEP programme to its desired levels of success… said the VC … clearly in what to me looked like the GIM way of orchestrated accusation.
I just wanted to know who will make the WE sound YOU and point the finger at me..
Manohar? He had nothing to do with me.. virtually nothing…
Jesus..? Will he? After all I was like his younger brother… will he?
Or any other professors? ... who looked like odd men out in the gathering..
Or Dr Joseph?… he could be the chosen one and he could be happy to put the first nail on me…. I could see a dirty bunch of hairs that rose to the occasion, from his huge ears..
Will it be Prof .Mathew Cherian my HOD, the oil faced jerk who had a lot of axe to grind…
Jesus sat a bit forward and leaned on to his dad’s table. Silence ensued as Jesus has this unique ability to convey a lot when he spoke and a lot more when he didn’t…
You were the convenor of the EMEP programme Professor Sukesh Menon and when it has failed … he said in an outlandish direct assault which was so atypical of him…. you should be answering..
I didn’t react because I couldn’t react.
Was it because it was Jesus who was the aggressor? Or was it because the total aggression was unfounded and biased? Or a combination of both…?
I kept looking at Jesus in disbelief, guess I still had a feeling that it wasn’t he, or even if it was he it wasn’t he who was talking ..he was just reading out a dialogue from a script that some one had penned in this absurd drama….
I hated Anand for the confidence that he bestowed on me to take up the job, I hated Ram for praising the first outsider who got SUCH a task at GIM… I hated myself for being so gullible, for walking into this trap with such appalling naiveté ….
You could have said if you were not interested….said the ED, smiling and looking at the HOD… together they looked like Shakuni and Duryodhan ,the plotters in Mahabharata…. Hate fumed in their eyes and I suddenly saw myself as the hapless Draupadi who got trapped in the Kaurava court!
No one wanted the EMEP, may be no one except the management, the students didn’t take the spirit of it as it was seen as another programme which was planned and send down by the top, the faculty hated it for the same reason plus the extra work for no BENEFIT as they saw it , the management forgot it after the launch for they had better things to do and for me it was hot potato that I could neither swallow nor throw away ….
I guess you can give an answer … said the King in whose hands he had an egg shaped paperweight which was an antique piece that came with him after one of his travels. He played with it as if he didn’t want to look at my face even when he talked…
Yes sir… I said suddenly…. I can… the answer is simple…. Every time a programme like this is planned, its closure is planned as well. To my knowledge that is why here things don’t work the way it should be.
Eye brows went up and disbelief spelled with oil and anger… I wasn’t being valiant in the large room which threatened a simple being like me, but was just being an animal defending it self when driven to a corner….
Academic community is the worse when it comes to politics and back stabbing…. I said without doubt and with poise….. and here we have that in abundance.
You are deviating from the topic.. said the ED, annoyed and upset…
I raised my hands, disallowing him to finish, stared at his ugly face and pasted a firm look on his full to bursting eyes . Sure enough he went silent but not before looking into Prof Mathew his co plotter to take over.
I don’t know what they all tell you sir.. I said to the King and his son… outside the HQ its all a game.. whatever you plan they want it to fail and they will make sure that it is failed…
No one spoke….
I looked at Jesus, the real one who looked frozen like a child who forgot his next dialogue on stage…
I looked at Jesus, the one in the picture who still smiled at the dirty crowd with compassion….
Anything more sir? …. I asked
Nothing Sukesh.. Said the King, putting and end to the drama even as the crowd waited for an anti climax… you may go now….
I stood up with a smile which I never had the spine to smile, shook the big guy’s fatty hands, turned to my left , bowed at Jesus and Manohar and walked out.
My mobile vibrated….
Anand calling.. it said….
Showing posts with label EMEP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EMEP. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Experiential learning ...Part II
It was an angry morning.
Dark and dim sky stared down at lesser mortals who panicked at the sudden change on what would have been a sunny and sultry summer morning. It wasn’t pouring when I drove down from home to office but it was about to begin. It was only a matter of time. The heavens kept grumbling and shouting and it was pitch dark at 8 45 in the morning when vehicles queued up and scrambled at the huge gates of GIM.
It was exam day… the seniors writing their first exam of the third semester and the juniors writing their first exam of the first semester. GIM wore a look of gloom, to a degree due to the fuming sky but mainly due to exams which was always a tough affair.
Jansi Williams and her team of faculty assistants were busy in pasting role numbers room after room after which the peons will lock them and keep the students at bay till the first bell goes on air at 9 30 am. The kids sat, stood and walked with books, some teamed up discussing possible questions, some sat alone, some stared at the dark heaven hoping for divine intervention. Some assumed the role of teachers where they taught (more because in the process their concepts got clearer and less because the listener’s welfare was a concern) a few who cared to listen …Still others kept searching their laptops for power points and reading stuff the faculty would have provided long back when he or she taught but which got lost among other important things like hottest songs and spicy videos… No one sat idle or without reading or writing, as in GIM all said and done exams was not an easy phenomenon…
The list of invigilators was published a day in advance and I knew that I had to do the boring job of going around in the exam hall, around and around peeping into papers, gawk and gape at violators, be suspicious and above all pretend to be alert and stern as the cameras watched unkindly. I have always felt that exam time at GIM was testing time for the students of course but more so for the teacher who invigilated.
Faculty members please listen… came out Dr Joseph the ED, from his cabin to the common area of the faculty room…..
All heads turned and all eyes posted at the old man who stood in a stylish posture which he would have thought as similar to the James bond 007 but de facto looking like Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura….
It is assumed that the seniors know all the rules, but it cannot be the same with the juniors… he declared.. the faculty members are asked to announce it before the commencement of the exam….
He listed out the rules,( which if all of them were to be broadcasted, would be taking half the time of the exam) and then said…… All the best to all of you…
Satirical he tried to be occasionally and most of the times it sounded like a gibe……To survive an exam season at GIM was tough for the taught and the teacher …..
Anand called me in intercom…
Hey Suk…. He said …. We are in adjacent halls… hall 5 and 6 in second floor…today we should finalise our plan for operation apple cart….
Well I needed to … after all GIM had chosen me as the anchor for its EMEP programme which will turn around the future of the MBA guys…and may be turn around GIM as well…
Exams when it began were as usual a mixture of hilarity and horror …. hilarity for the observer and horror for the partaker … I was in class 6 which was the last hall in the second floor and from where, the two rows of windows if opened we one could see the endless limits of the sea… The A/C was in full swing and windows couldn’t be left open as per the rules… GIM hated knowledge and noble thoughts that came from outside, understandably so, but fresh air too?
Walking up and down in a large class room for an entire stretch of 3 hours was not an easy task, particularly for the lazy academics that did no work physically as most of our work was intellectual, and using the brain (again that is a supposition, assuming that....
1. every teacher had brains or intellect as they call it,
2. it worked always and ....
3. the outcome was fruitful for the students at large…)
I did a lot of thinking during such sessions, walking up and down noting down stuff, ideas ,philosophy, verdicts, names, instances ,judgments and any such crap in my note pad.
My mobile vibrated …
1 message… it said
Anand Mohan ….
Breaking news …..Prof Latha is sent out from the exam hall by Jesus, for sitting and reading India Today … …. the SMS said…
I don’t remember who this Prof was… well I mean knew her who joined recently but wasn’t close to her, for want of time and interest … It was pointless in GIM… people came and went as in a railway platform… relations became a burden when they left…
Jesus walking in seeing the lady in her chair, relaxed with India Today, the kids in sharing info verbally via gestures and physically… some in a shock with his answer papers in the neighbors table, some with two question papers in his possession while the hapless neighbor has none…….
Annoyance, angst, alarm …. I tried to visualize the exam hall from where the faculty invigilator would have had to go out with head down, reluctant and disgraced ….
I walked even more briskly after the SMS… kept my note pad in table and feigned to be more vigilant, as the cameras beamed their eyes on the hall and also as I knew that Jesus will come out from nowhere with salvation and surprise to the suffering…
Anand never came from hall number 5 to 6 to discuss operation apple cart as he called it. I was relieved that he didn’t, as apple cart was not a darling project of mine (I know I was the chosen one though) and as I didn’t want to walk like an accused…
Hi sir… said Suhail khan who emerged from a hall after the exam, as I walked down with the answer sheets to be deposited at the exam coordinators office.
Hey how did you do your paper …. I asked him just for courtesy
Fine sir… he said but a smile was missing…
Any problems in your class sir..?
No why? …I felt it anomalous… oh yes…. may be he was referring to the prof who was caught updating her information on India today……Jesus was an idiot to reprimand a faculty in public…
Prof Anand caught three guys copying….. and they are debarred from writing further exams….. said Suhail Khan….
Anand will not do that …..was my first response but I kept it to myself…I wanted to see him….
He didn’t come to the faculty room for some time. Most of the prof’s had returned with their answer sheets… students were seen here and there; especially the studious ones who dared to do some post mortem of the QP with their teachers but Anand didn’t and his mobile phone was not reachable….
I went and stood at the main door of the faculty room to get hold of Anand the moment he comes in……
The dark skies still loomed … and all of a sudden power went off…GIM was engulfed in darkness… for a long minute it lingered and no one made any sound……then came down a thunder with ground breaking ferocity… the doors clang and I ran outside fearing an earthquake……then came a huge uproar from all the floors, in unbelievable unison, the students shouted /cried/sang and it reverberated across the corridors and walls…
Rains lashed down after hours of waiting and so did the guys in all the 6 floors of GIM… scattered they were and yet it all came together…..
The darkness was welcome, and even a deluge would be greeted with cheers…
GIM stood trembling in the thunder… it stood shivering in the rain, and as if ashamed, it kept its head low, slowly bowing unable to swallow the infamy….
Even in the thick of dimness I could feel the smell of denim and yet, I missed him….
Dark and dim sky stared down at lesser mortals who panicked at the sudden change on what would have been a sunny and sultry summer morning. It wasn’t pouring when I drove down from home to office but it was about to begin. It was only a matter of time. The heavens kept grumbling and shouting and it was pitch dark at 8 45 in the morning when vehicles queued up and scrambled at the huge gates of GIM.
It was exam day… the seniors writing their first exam of the third semester and the juniors writing their first exam of the first semester. GIM wore a look of gloom, to a degree due to the fuming sky but mainly due to exams which was always a tough affair.
Jansi Williams and her team of faculty assistants were busy in pasting role numbers room after room after which the peons will lock them and keep the students at bay till the first bell goes on air at 9 30 am. The kids sat, stood and walked with books, some teamed up discussing possible questions, some sat alone, some stared at the dark heaven hoping for divine intervention. Some assumed the role of teachers where they taught (more because in the process their concepts got clearer and less because the listener’s welfare was a concern) a few who cared to listen …Still others kept searching their laptops for power points and reading stuff the faculty would have provided long back when he or she taught but which got lost among other important things like hottest songs and spicy videos… No one sat idle or without reading or writing, as in GIM all said and done exams was not an easy phenomenon…
The list of invigilators was published a day in advance and I knew that I had to do the boring job of going around in the exam hall, around and around peeping into papers, gawk and gape at violators, be suspicious and above all pretend to be alert and stern as the cameras watched unkindly. I have always felt that exam time at GIM was testing time for the students of course but more so for the teacher who invigilated.
Faculty members please listen… came out Dr Joseph the ED, from his cabin to the common area of the faculty room…..
All heads turned and all eyes posted at the old man who stood in a stylish posture which he would have thought as similar to the James bond 007 but de facto looking like Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura….
It is assumed that the seniors know all the rules, but it cannot be the same with the juniors… he declared.. the faculty members are asked to announce it before the commencement of the exam….
He listed out the rules,( which if all of them were to be broadcasted, would be taking half the time of the exam) and then said…… All the best to all of you…
Satirical he tried to be occasionally and most of the times it sounded like a gibe……To survive an exam season at GIM was tough for the taught and the teacher …..
Anand called me in intercom…
Hey Suk…. He said …. We are in adjacent halls… hall 5 and 6 in second floor…today we should finalise our plan for operation apple cart….
Well I needed to … after all GIM had chosen me as the anchor for its EMEP programme which will turn around the future of the MBA guys…and may be turn around GIM as well…
Exams when it began were as usual a mixture of hilarity and horror …. hilarity for the observer and horror for the partaker … I was in class 6 which was the last hall in the second floor and from where, the two rows of windows if opened we one could see the endless limits of the sea… The A/C was in full swing and windows couldn’t be left open as per the rules… GIM hated knowledge and noble thoughts that came from outside, understandably so, but fresh air too?
Walking up and down in a large class room for an entire stretch of 3 hours was not an easy task, particularly for the lazy academics that did no work physically as most of our work was intellectual, and using the brain (again that is a supposition, assuming that....
1. every teacher had brains or intellect as they call it,
2. it worked always and ....
3. the outcome was fruitful for the students at large…)
I did a lot of thinking during such sessions, walking up and down noting down stuff, ideas ,philosophy, verdicts, names, instances ,judgments and any such crap in my note pad.
My mobile vibrated …
1 message… it said
Anand Mohan ….
Breaking news …..Prof Latha is sent out from the exam hall by Jesus, for sitting and reading India Today … …. the SMS said…
I don’t remember who this Prof was… well I mean knew her who joined recently but wasn’t close to her, for want of time and interest … It was pointless in GIM… people came and went as in a railway platform… relations became a burden when they left…
Jesus walking in seeing the lady in her chair, relaxed with India Today, the kids in sharing info verbally via gestures and physically… some in a shock with his answer papers in the neighbors table, some with two question papers in his possession while the hapless neighbor has none…….
Annoyance, angst, alarm …. I tried to visualize the exam hall from where the faculty invigilator would have had to go out with head down, reluctant and disgraced ….
I walked even more briskly after the SMS… kept my note pad in table and feigned to be more vigilant, as the cameras beamed their eyes on the hall and also as I knew that Jesus will come out from nowhere with salvation and surprise to the suffering…
Anand never came from hall number 5 to 6 to discuss operation apple cart as he called it. I was relieved that he didn’t, as apple cart was not a darling project of mine (I know I was the chosen one though) and as I didn’t want to walk like an accused…
Hi sir… said Suhail khan who emerged from a hall after the exam, as I walked down with the answer sheets to be deposited at the exam coordinators office.
Hey how did you do your paper …. I asked him just for courtesy
Fine sir… he said but a smile was missing…
Any problems in your class sir..?
No why? …I felt it anomalous… oh yes…. may be he was referring to the prof who was caught updating her information on India today……Jesus was an idiot to reprimand a faculty in public…
Prof Anand caught three guys copying….. and they are debarred from writing further exams….. said Suhail Khan….
Anand will not do that …..was my first response but I kept it to myself…I wanted to see him….
He didn’t come to the faculty room for some time. Most of the prof’s had returned with their answer sheets… students were seen here and there; especially the studious ones who dared to do some post mortem of the QP with their teachers but Anand didn’t and his mobile phone was not reachable….
I went and stood at the main door of the faculty room to get hold of Anand the moment he comes in……
The dark skies still loomed … and all of a sudden power went off…GIM was engulfed in darkness… for a long minute it lingered and no one made any sound……then came down a thunder with ground breaking ferocity… the doors clang and I ran outside fearing an earthquake……then came a huge uproar from all the floors, in unbelievable unison, the students shouted /cried/sang and it reverberated across the corridors and walls…
Rains lashed down after hours of waiting and so did the guys in all the 6 floors of GIM… scattered they were and yet it all came together…..
The darkness was welcome, and even a deluge would be greeted with cheers…
GIM stood trembling in the thunder… it stood shivering in the rain, and as if ashamed, it kept its head low, slowly bowing unable to swallow the infamy….
Even in the thick of dimness I could feel the smell of denim and yet, I missed him….
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Outsider !
The hot tea and banana fries went in to make some change in me.. The hunk who never indulged in oily stuff ordered a vegetable sandwich (cheese free) and waited….I kept gulping the hot banana fry as he sat there watching me.. Advice was to follow… hit the gym… eat healthy.... bla bla bla…
But nothing happened…
He was unusually silent….
I guess Sukesh.. he said ,possibly unable to endure the dirty sounds that I was blatantly producing… the time has come…
I looked at him questioningly… time to hit the gym and compete with him in looks? Aura? Majesty?... huh!! no way…
Time to change things here…. Time to upset the apple cart…. Said Anand looking somewhere far through the window, and talking to the world…
I laughed… Banana fry could wait but these communist style utterances from a US educated, branded, neo colonialist, capitalist symbol of a man was quite bizarre and once in a life time chance to encounter with….
You mean in the GIM? change things here?… I laughed again as if he was kidding….
Yes in GIM… we can do it… this EMEP programme is a God send opportunity to do it….he uttered with an unyielding expression…
I didn’t smile… I didn’t even react… I couldn’t unravel this puzzle named Anand mohan…
I know .. he said quickly…. You are a statusquoist ….. and you remain so… but imagine what is the fun in passing off like a ship in the night…? Sukesh Menon….. just another academic? You want to be the role model of the hundreds of kids here… the aspiring young managers…
My banana fry got over and his sandwiches had arrived…. He kept talking while I tried to make both ends meet… connect the apparently unmatchable threads… this story had a hero for sure, but who is it..? Anand or me? This story had villains for sure? And is this guy one?
Suhail khan for instance… he was helpless and you stood there even more helpless… you should have helped him… you should have gone to Jesus and told him … Said Anand,,,,
I woke up… he was referring to the episode outside the HQ some days back… Suhail khan had shared with me his plight and predicament in this same canteen and later outside the HQ…
You pretended to be apathetic… and then he came to me… said Anand… and you know what he said… ?
I didn’t know… I just knew that Anand went to Jesus and saved Suhail from his troubles… and also knew that Suhail would be eternally obliged and would be worshiping Prof Anand Mohan as his hero…
Even Sukesh sir is not able to help me… Said Anand… I repeat.. Even Sukesh sir…
You know why that EVEN came there… asked Anand?
I didn’t know… and I kept quiet… today it was my day to listen and I decided to do it….
He admires you a lot… simple… The sandwiches were getting over and a fresh glass of carrot juice came….
Huh… I said in desperation… I don’t believe it… why should he? And ok… I accept it for argument sake… he does… even if he does, what do you expect me to do?
Help them… said Anand… in management teaching dude, the teacher is a model not only inside the class, even otherwise, particularly young ones like us.. most of them see them in us.. see a possible them in us…
Was it new to me?
I myself had been a student in a B school some years back and have admired some teachers, revered some like a fanatic fan, and have detested some with vengeance… But in a place like GIM was it all possible?
It is dude… EMEP will start after the exams scheduled for day after tomorrow… we will make a plan and that plan will change the GIM system… trust me man it will… he said with a smile, even as I paid the bill and walked out…
He quickly followed me… you didn’t say anything…
You know everything… I said with a smile… you even know what is in my mind… and what more you expect me to say… ?
Anand plucked a flower from the garden… Dr Joy was an avid admirer of flowers and plants and that made the GIM gardens a wonderful place…… remember Gray??… he asked me…..Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,….And waste its sweetness on the desert air….. remember?
I nodded…
I knew what he was hinting at but couldn’t commit…May be I would have if it was not for Prof Ram who came across the garden and stopped to talk to me…
Anand kept walking as I expected… walked some distance and turned back throwing the flower to me and to say…. I will wait… operation apple cart cannot launch without you….
I couldn’t reply, since Prof Ram was already there just opposite to me….
I am sorry…. Prof Ram said… for the EMEP thing… I didn’t know that it was thrust on you….
I smiled… here was the most senior of GIM professors, in the midst of this garden apologizing to a much junior professor, young enough to be his son….
No issues sir… I said touching his hands which he locked with mine ….
This is a good opportunity Sukesh… Said Prof Ram to me as my face opened wide and my eyes fluttered… it’s the first time that such a big responsibility has passed on to an outsider…
That was again a GIM parlance… Outsiders are those in GIM who didn’t subscribe entirely to the management philosophy there as compared to insiders who were hardcore loyals to the HQ. Prof Ram was an outcaste... far away even from outsiders...
I just smiled… Prof Ram walked to the canteen as I did into the GIM building…
The huge mansion stood there, staring at me, the outsider, the first one who made it……
Anand had almost convinced me… now Ram too…
Sukesh Menon was still frightened to seize the chance!
But nothing happened…
He was unusually silent….
I guess Sukesh.. he said ,possibly unable to endure the dirty sounds that I was blatantly producing… the time has come…
I looked at him questioningly… time to hit the gym and compete with him in looks? Aura? Majesty?... huh!! no way…
Time to change things here…. Time to upset the apple cart…. Said Anand looking somewhere far through the window, and talking to the world…
I laughed… Banana fry could wait but these communist style utterances from a US educated, branded, neo colonialist, capitalist symbol of a man was quite bizarre and once in a life time chance to encounter with….
You mean in the GIM? change things here?… I laughed again as if he was kidding….
Yes in GIM… we can do it… this EMEP programme is a God send opportunity to do it….he uttered with an unyielding expression…
I didn’t smile… I didn’t even react… I couldn’t unravel this puzzle named Anand mohan…
I know .. he said quickly…. You are a statusquoist ….. and you remain so… but imagine what is the fun in passing off like a ship in the night…? Sukesh Menon….. just another academic? You want to be the role model of the hundreds of kids here… the aspiring young managers…
My banana fry got over and his sandwiches had arrived…. He kept talking while I tried to make both ends meet… connect the apparently unmatchable threads… this story had a hero for sure, but who is it..? Anand or me? This story had villains for sure? And is this guy one?
Suhail khan for instance… he was helpless and you stood there even more helpless… you should have helped him… you should have gone to Jesus and told him … Said Anand,,,,
I woke up… he was referring to the episode outside the HQ some days back… Suhail khan had shared with me his plight and predicament in this same canteen and later outside the HQ…
You pretended to be apathetic… and then he came to me… said Anand… and you know what he said… ?
I didn’t know… I just knew that Anand went to Jesus and saved Suhail from his troubles… and also knew that Suhail would be eternally obliged and would be worshiping Prof Anand Mohan as his hero…
Even Sukesh sir is not able to help me… Said Anand… I repeat.. Even Sukesh sir…
You know why that EVEN came there… asked Anand?
I didn’t know… and I kept quiet… today it was my day to listen and I decided to do it….
He admires you a lot… simple… The sandwiches were getting over and a fresh glass of carrot juice came….
Huh… I said in desperation… I don’t believe it… why should he? And ok… I accept it for argument sake… he does… even if he does, what do you expect me to do?
Help them… said Anand… in management teaching dude, the teacher is a model not only inside the class, even otherwise, particularly young ones like us.. most of them see them in us.. see a possible them in us…
Was it new to me?
I myself had been a student in a B school some years back and have admired some teachers, revered some like a fanatic fan, and have detested some with vengeance… But in a place like GIM was it all possible?
It is dude… EMEP will start after the exams scheduled for day after tomorrow… we will make a plan and that plan will change the GIM system… trust me man it will… he said with a smile, even as I paid the bill and walked out…
He quickly followed me… you didn’t say anything…
You know everything… I said with a smile… you even know what is in my mind… and what more you expect me to say… ?
Anand plucked a flower from the garden… Dr Joy was an avid admirer of flowers and plants and that made the GIM gardens a wonderful place…… remember Gray??… he asked me…..Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,….And waste its sweetness on the desert air….. remember?
I nodded…
I knew what he was hinting at but couldn’t commit…May be I would have if it was not for Prof Ram who came across the garden and stopped to talk to me…
Anand kept walking as I expected… walked some distance and turned back throwing the flower to me and to say…. I will wait… operation apple cart cannot launch without you….
I couldn’t reply, since Prof Ram was already there just opposite to me….
I am sorry…. Prof Ram said… for the EMEP thing… I didn’t know that it was thrust on you….
I smiled… here was the most senior of GIM professors, in the midst of this garden apologizing to a much junior professor, young enough to be his son….
No issues sir… I said touching his hands which he locked with mine ….
This is a good opportunity Sukesh… Said Prof Ram to me as my face opened wide and my eyes fluttered… it’s the first time that such a big responsibility has passed on to an outsider…
That was again a GIM parlance… Outsiders are those in GIM who didn’t subscribe entirely to the management philosophy there as compared to insiders who were hardcore loyals to the HQ. Prof Ram was an outcaste... far away even from outsiders...
I just smiled… Prof Ram walked to the canteen as I did into the GIM building…
The huge mansion stood there, staring at me, the outsider, the first one who made it……
Anand had almost convinced me… now Ram too…
Sukesh Menon was still frightened to seize the chance!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Experiential learning... part I
I went back, to the happy news that Anand Mohan was supposed to break to me the other day. I was appointed as the coordinator of the Experiential Management Education Process (EMEP) which was conceived and envisaged by the top with inputs from wizards like the ED and thrust upon me and the students of MBA. It was just the latest one in a series of programmes that was launched and withdrawn but the ones like me who was caught unawares were usually the victims. It was acceptable that when it was conceived the executor was never told but it was not tolerable that even when it was to be executed, the executor was kept in darkness, totally.
EMEP programme is designed for the wholesome management learning experience to be transferred to the pupil through various means that are non classroom type and to supplement the class room learning that will make perfect managers…
said the document which announced my coronation and when I stood there at the notice board reading it, I saw eyes, many pairs of them staring at me and my name in midst of the semantic jugglery which seemed to have been made to make the whole announcement look mystifying.
Happy eh…? Asked Prof Ram while I sat in the common area of the faculty room…
EMEP Menon… some one said… has arrived….
I didn’t respond.. I didn’t know what the whole thing was about… In fact I didn’t even remember what EMEP was… Jesus would have known it and so was ED but no one else… I for sure no…
The management recognizes talent… said some one smiling in sarcasm …. The right person for the right job…
Many others laughed in mirth… John Holland would be proud… the personality job fit theory is being proven right….
I hated the academic community for its propensity with which it prejudged people and the penchant with which it found delight in it … but I was one among them and may be in more than one occasion I have done the same as well.
I sat there with a smile just because I knew that boys don’t cry …
How I hoped that the cameras had recorded it all and Jesus had just walked in with a stick punishing the bad.
How I hoped that the notice just disappeared or gave some other name instead of mine as the coordinator of the EMEP show…
How I hoped that no one could read it till I make it clear from Dr Joseph the ED or even Jesus as to what this new thing was…
How I hoped that I could ask some one…..WHY ME?
The ED didn’t help much and talked without clear answers.. he specialized in vague and formless talk when he desired so and it was clear that my answer will not come from the old war horse…
EMEP will help them achieve what class rooms cannot… he told me… its is a pioneering method which so far no B school has adopted and we are going to create history of sorts…
It was not my answer… I mean… not for the worry I had and which I had put across to him as a question…. and in any case I didn’t want to create history…
The question mark in my face became more prominent and yet he said again…
It is about innovating new pedagogical tools which will complement the management learning and enhance the wide thinking and the open behaviour that management students should be having…
From his verbal diarrhea I could guess who would have written that notice which I read in the notice board and who would have suggested my name to Jesus… He hated me for no reason or for some reason which I couldn’t make out….the toilet episode with Sri Laxmi was a long forgotten one for me, even for Sri laxmi but I guess he still lived there.. inside his stinking toilet….
I had understood what he meant even though the long sentences didn’t make any sense.. I was there and was to take care of a show which will keep the students engaged in an extra curricular stuff during after noons.. I hadn’t had time for the curriculum and now this one…
I didn’t venture to see Jesus as I knew it wouldn’t make any difference… he will not present long winding sentences for sure, nor will he jargonize but he will keep you affianced in his mesmerizing speak which will make you stop thinking about what you are there for and leave the room with him hand in hand feeling so proud that the director of GIM saw you as so dear a friend…
This time I am not going to take it lying down… I swear… I told myself as I wrote it down in my note pad….
Then you will have to try doggy position… said a husky voice from behind…
What …? I turned around to see Anand in a blue shirt and cream trousers, with that classic smile flowing, and the smell of denim announcing his arrival. Any day he was the best dressed person inside the campus and if a voting was done he would for sure win, hands on…
I didn’t get you.. I said apathetically ….
Every time if you are taking it lying down, you cannot enjoy it… said Anand …try alternative positions…
I didn’t reply… I think I didn’t smile even… he didn’t expect any reply either… he went on…
What is your problem? He asked me… quickly adding… other than me???
I smiled this time.. all said and done, his being there gave a respite…
I told you ‘happy news’ is coming… fuck the world… now you are the chosen one… said Anand… Imagine what all we can do … every afternoon, the whole crowd is at our disposal…
I looked into his eyes… he had large striking eyes resolutely set in his handsome face- every inch of which was made to perfection, he stood in a pose which resembled Michelangelo’s David with with one leg holding his full weight and the other leg relaxed. A slight s-curve to the entire torso was his way of standing which made him different…
Stop admiring me… he said accompanied by a loud laugh… and reply…
Admiring my foot… I said in embarrassment … I did admire the guy and his vitality… but was troubled of the possible repercussions of his behaviour…
Can we take a stroll? ....He asked…
I wanted it, wanted badly to escape the gloomy comforts of the faculty room..
Escape its stillness that could kill…Its sound that was torturous …the cameras that make one smirk even in suffering…the populace who could peep over cabins fulsome in jealousy... abundant distrust that flew freely along with the conditioned air from the centralized AC plants…
I just wanted to go where there were no notice boards with words and words in print that meant nothing and no bosses who hurled shocks like stones that rained down along with dying comets!!!
EMEP programme is designed for the wholesome management learning experience to be transferred to the pupil through various means that are non classroom type and to supplement the class room learning that will make perfect managers…
said the document which announced my coronation and when I stood there at the notice board reading it, I saw eyes, many pairs of them staring at me and my name in midst of the semantic jugglery which seemed to have been made to make the whole announcement look mystifying.
Happy eh…? Asked Prof Ram while I sat in the common area of the faculty room…
EMEP Menon… some one said… has arrived….
I didn’t respond.. I didn’t know what the whole thing was about… In fact I didn’t even remember what EMEP was… Jesus would have known it and so was ED but no one else… I for sure no…
The management recognizes talent… said some one smiling in sarcasm …. The right person for the right job…
Many others laughed in mirth… John Holland would be proud… the personality job fit theory is being proven right….
I hated the academic community for its propensity with which it prejudged people and the penchant with which it found delight in it … but I was one among them and may be in more than one occasion I have done the same as well.
I sat there with a smile just because I knew that boys don’t cry …
How I hoped that the cameras had recorded it all and Jesus had just walked in with a stick punishing the bad.
How I hoped that the notice just disappeared or gave some other name instead of mine as the coordinator of the EMEP show…
How I hoped that no one could read it till I make it clear from Dr Joseph the ED or even Jesus as to what this new thing was…
How I hoped that I could ask some one…..WHY ME?
The ED didn’t help much and talked without clear answers.. he specialized in vague and formless talk when he desired so and it was clear that my answer will not come from the old war horse…
EMEP will help them achieve what class rooms cannot… he told me… its is a pioneering method which so far no B school has adopted and we are going to create history of sorts…
It was not my answer… I mean… not for the worry I had and which I had put across to him as a question…. and in any case I didn’t want to create history…
The question mark in my face became more prominent and yet he said again…
It is about innovating new pedagogical tools which will complement the management learning and enhance the wide thinking and the open behaviour that management students should be having…
From his verbal diarrhea I could guess who would have written that notice which I read in the notice board and who would have suggested my name to Jesus… He hated me for no reason or for some reason which I couldn’t make out….the toilet episode with Sri Laxmi was a long forgotten one for me, even for Sri laxmi but I guess he still lived there.. inside his stinking toilet….
I had understood what he meant even though the long sentences didn’t make any sense.. I was there and was to take care of a show which will keep the students engaged in an extra curricular stuff during after noons.. I hadn’t had time for the curriculum and now this one…
I didn’t venture to see Jesus as I knew it wouldn’t make any difference… he will not present long winding sentences for sure, nor will he jargonize but he will keep you affianced in his mesmerizing speak which will make you stop thinking about what you are there for and leave the room with him hand in hand feeling so proud that the director of GIM saw you as so dear a friend…
This time I am not going to take it lying down… I swear… I told myself as I wrote it down in my note pad….
Then you will have to try doggy position… said a husky voice from behind…
What …? I turned around to see Anand in a blue shirt and cream trousers, with that classic smile flowing, and the smell of denim announcing his arrival. Any day he was the best dressed person inside the campus and if a voting was done he would for sure win, hands on…
I didn’t get you.. I said apathetically ….
Every time if you are taking it lying down, you cannot enjoy it… said Anand …try alternative positions…
I didn’t reply… I think I didn’t smile even… he didn’t expect any reply either… he went on…
What is your problem? He asked me… quickly adding… other than me???
I smiled this time.. all said and done, his being there gave a respite…
I told you ‘happy news’ is coming… fuck the world… now you are the chosen one… said Anand… Imagine what all we can do … every afternoon, the whole crowd is at our disposal…
I looked into his eyes… he had large striking eyes resolutely set in his handsome face- every inch of which was made to perfection, he stood in a pose which resembled Michelangelo’s David with with one leg holding his full weight and the other leg relaxed. A slight s-curve to the entire torso was his way of standing which made him different…
Stop admiring me… he said accompanied by a loud laugh… and reply…
Admiring my foot… I said in embarrassment … I did admire the guy and his vitality… but was troubled of the possible repercussions of his behaviour…
Can we take a stroll? ....He asked…
I wanted it, wanted badly to escape the gloomy comforts of the faculty room..
Escape its stillness that could kill…Its sound that was torturous …the cameras that make one smirk even in suffering…the populace who could peep over cabins fulsome in jealousy... abundant distrust that flew freely along with the conditioned air from the centralized AC plants…
I just wanted to go where there were no notice boards with words and words in print that meant nothing and no bosses who hurled shocks like stones that rained down along with dying comets!!!
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