The annual convocation day.
The big wigs of GIM in convocation attire- long robes with all its silk and golden brocades, the hoods, head caps and its golden tassel danglers, the paraphernalia and pomp which every one seem to mirth at , the marching tunes, the rows of students in black robes with golden borders which but by design stood way behind the ones their teachers and the management wore , the smiles , the hugs, the relief in faces that were about to escape, the contented parents, the dinner waiting, the photographs, and the long speeches that was waiting to be vomited from the big guns that sat fully loaded on the stage and finally the moment when each student walks up to the stage with his head held high , shaking hands with the guest and takes his or her certificate and pausing for a photograph…for the ‘convocated’ it was a perfect ending for a not so perfect journey …
Teachers beamed from their seats as the function began. I sat in the second row with Prof Ram next to me and Sri Laxmi just in front. I could see Dr Joseph running up and down with his Aide-de-camp, the oil faced HOD as if they were organizing the whole thing and as if without them, none of the 370 odd kids would pass out that day.
Ram scratched my thighs and said… pretension of the highest order… it is not important how you work, but it is important how you show you work!
Life is a show sir.. I said philosophically......some are show masters
And some just sit and watch … said Ram smilingly…He wanted to scratch again but I skillfully dragged my thighs out of his antenna’s reach…
Ladies and gentlemen .. came Anand’s voice….Welcome to the 16 th annual convocation of God’s institute of management…
Anand was in his best as the anchor … Every year the onus fell on to some faculty .. many have done it but never with the grace and surge like Anand did the MC job… he has immaculate English , with its intonation and accent so spotless and precise , wisdom, wit and words flowing like a clear stream …….
After the long speeches of all and sundry who sat on the stage, the dictums and sermons on life and secrets to success, it was Dr Joy -the King’s turn…
I knew his speech almost word by word…at least the idea remained unchanged year after year and I switched off… I was already hungry… the sounds of my stomach was much more appealing than the empty hum that the unceremoniously fat grand master of the GIM circus delivered that evening…
The best part of the convocation this year was you sir… the kids seem to unanimously declare as they crowded around Anand after the official function and vied to click photographs with him… I walked around unwanted by the photo mongers and feigning to be unperturbed by the flicker and flash that people in robes and their entire din created…As Anand put it once, it wasn’t entertaining to pass off like a ship in the middle of the night…
Looking dull… said Sri Laxmi, as she struggled with a big piece of chicken that refused to plunge into her plate…
And you look quite active.. I said mockingly even when I had my eyes planted at her attempts to get the chicken piece into a ladle spoon and then to her plate with elegance …
You women are quite adamant … I said.. why don’t you take another piece and give way to others..
She wouldn’t listen and tried with even more ferocity as if I was standing there for the same chicken piece… and bang… ! it launched itself to her plate with a thud and with a large gobbet flying and landing on her gold and pink sari…
I laughed and she fumed… For me the best part of the convocation this year was not the show which was done, but this one…
Anand joined us after the photo session but by then we had almost reached the end of our dinner… Sri Laxmi had washed the oil and gravy stains in her sari, which but remained as a shocking reminder of her failed adventure with a bowl of hot chicken curry…
This is awesome .. said Anand .. to see so many happy faces, so many young guys and gals walking into corporate life… I feel so proud….
I didn’t speak; instead I concentrated on the ice-cream…
You no longer go to the gym isn’t it ?.. said Sri Laxmi…
I do….. every month I go and pay the months fees… I said and laughed at my own joke..
Anand and Sri Laxmi that night, either had gone down drastically in their humour appreciation skills, or they had a ploy not to encourage my crude sense of humour.. not any more…
And you don’t feel happy seeing our happy faces… I said with a large globe of ice-cream stuck in my throat …its not every day that GIM gives its subjects such sumptuous feasts…
Anand looked me, and making sure that his fiancé has her attention elsewhere furtively whispered.. FUCK U !!!
The ice cream globe went in with ease !
Ah…. Here is our man… in came the voice of the king who came in with his entourage…. They were still wearing the convocation robes as kids would wear their school dancing dress all the way back home, after the school day…. We stood up- half in amazement at the sudden royal interference and half in reverence ….
Great job professor Anand Mohan… said the king as he first extended his arms to an unsuspecting Anand who still had a glass of juice in his left hand and a spoon on the other.
Then the King hugged the MC of the day and proceeded for dinner with all his palanquin bearers following him.
Sri Laxmi started giggling the moment the group left , and I joined her, much to Anand’s dismay … The group went from corner to corner and table to table , throwing pleasantries at parents and their wards , a shake hand or two to the teachers and the guests and then proceeding to attack the food counter… I could see Jesus clung to his mobile phone most of the time and couldn’t see Manohar- his brother in law who was noted for his absence.. after all such occasion are where the King’s family show cased their unity in diversity..
The Maharajah’s of Mysore ..I said to Sri Laxmi in a hush tone … on a given day every year used to visit their subjects like this…
Sri Laxmi raised her eye brows…
Anand filled in… that was on Dusshera Suk .. and they used to go naked…..
Sri Laxmi sat shocked…and I said..
But I am sure that one would have looked far decent…
And then she laughed… her ice cream fell all over the place, and still she laughed and she almost fell down.. Anand tried to hold her arms but she slipped and fell, this time really down from where she was still laughing……
Anand stood there like an idiot, with one hand up with the spoon still in it and the other one scratching his ass!
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Experiential Humbug- Part I
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….
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….
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!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Taste of indifference!
Sri Laxmi came and sat opposite to me the next afternoon disturbing my nap…
I was in deep slumber, first with head oscillating left and right and then later half of my huge body on the table and my head on the extended left arm..
I woke up hearing the big laugh… the gal sat there with more chuckles than I could afford at that point of time…
But I am what I am and she was what she was…. elegant as ever or even more, more pompous, more beautiful and more smiling…. like a dream which came descending down with all the heavenly charm..
Yes Madam … I said half awake… how can I help you?
If you remember … she said with her eyes firmly pasted on mine…we are co coordinators of the upcoming seminar… and you seem to be keeping away..
She had become bold… she was no longer the shy damsel who once was lost in the huge interiors of GIM.. she was no longer the same old scared little lass who cried and ran away from the class room unable to bear the kids of GIM…
Her curls of long hairs on both sides of her smooth face moved in tune with the soft breeze and with eyes of such an unsure bluish brown that seemed to have mixed with their whites by mistake, she sat there expecting an answer…
I had nothing much to say… It was a problem of getting the right words and the right content.. being politically right was important… I wanted to keep away from the seminar..My ego didn’t want to play second fiddle to an inexperienced junior girl but my chivalry wouldn’t allow me to be blunt to her with that fact….
May be I should have been an evangelist..…!!!
The phone rang…
Sukesh Menon here… I said
Hey dude… what’s that babe saying… asked Anand on the other side with a dirty laugh…
Huh… I just gasped…
Lucky guy dude…. Got the best babe in town…. he said suggestively...
I didn’t dare to tell him to behave like a professor… Mind your own business.. I whispered instead and kept the phone…
I am into so many other things Sri Laxmi… I murmered without allowing her eyes to lock in mine …. They seemed to be hiding more than what they revealed… or was it just because I saw it that way?
I took it up because they said you will be with me… she said … now I am lost… I don’t know what to do and what next......
Her paradigm shift seminar was none of my worry for sure but she was, her presence was… I wanted to send her off diplomatically…
THEY? Who is that THEY? ......I shot a query to take the discussion to my channel
The management… who else? And you thought I played a game with you to be a coordinator of a stupid seminar…her face blushed with rage….
It is not yet a stupid seminar my dear… I said to myself… if you are going to do it you will for sure make it one…
A smile did bloom in my face which (may be) for her stare appeared like a scorn…
I never knew that you can be so indifferent… she said as she stood up to go but added… Big people have big ego’s I know but I always felt that you are different…
Oh yeah… different and indifferent…. I mumbled as she walked away…
Indifferent? ….
Did she say that?
INDIFFERENT?
That is what Jesus too had told me in the lift the other day…
That was the management’s view point but how did she knew that??
I saw Suhail Khan outside the HQ that evening.. he had a sad look, and agony was looming over it…he looked stressed out and almost about to crumble… If I ask something I was sure he will succumb… wanting to avoid that I tried to walk away without recognising his presence…
He wasn’t ready for that but….
Sir…… Prof Anand is talking to Dr Jesus …. He announced… I guess I will be relieved ....
I tried to smile…
Anand?
The omnipresent James Bond was there every where... he was like snowy dog in tintin series... in every frame... HUH !!!!!…
Why is it that he had no sense of what to do where and what not to do where…? Next time when I get him free I should teach him the serenity prayer.. I kept planning ans that was when Anand Mohan came out of the HQ, cheery and beaming, tapped the guys shoulder and said…. Now you can go and meet him…and let it be the last time ok…
Suhail Khan admiringly looked into the Hunk’s big eyes… He caught the prof’s hands and started crying…
Come on man… Anand said holding him in a tight embrace… be bold… just go in….
I stood there as a silent spectator… This was one rare scene in GIM…. As Suhail went inside, Anand walked away not even acknowledging my being there…
Wasn’t that indifference?
He left a trace of the denim smell and it disturbed me a lot, but the unanswered questions that he left behind was more worrying......
No words in literature can express it fully… you should meet this guy once to know what I mean..
I was in deep slumber, first with head oscillating left and right and then later half of my huge body on the table and my head on the extended left arm..
I woke up hearing the big laugh… the gal sat there with more chuckles than I could afford at that point of time…
But I am what I am and she was what she was…. elegant as ever or even more, more pompous, more beautiful and more smiling…. like a dream which came descending down with all the heavenly charm..
Yes Madam … I said half awake… how can I help you?
If you remember … she said with her eyes firmly pasted on mine…we are co coordinators of the upcoming seminar… and you seem to be keeping away..
She had become bold… she was no longer the shy damsel who once was lost in the huge interiors of GIM.. she was no longer the same old scared little lass who cried and ran away from the class room unable to bear the kids of GIM…
Her curls of long hairs on both sides of her smooth face moved in tune with the soft breeze and with eyes of such an unsure bluish brown that seemed to have mixed with their whites by mistake, she sat there expecting an answer…
I had nothing much to say… It was a problem of getting the right words and the right content.. being politically right was important… I wanted to keep away from the seminar..My ego didn’t want to play second fiddle to an inexperienced junior girl but my chivalry wouldn’t allow me to be blunt to her with that fact….
May be I should have been an evangelist..…!!!
The phone rang…
Sukesh Menon here… I said
Hey dude… what’s that babe saying… asked Anand on the other side with a dirty laugh…
Huh… I just gasped…
Lucky guy dude…. Got the best babe in town…. he said suggestively...
I didn’t dare to tell him to behave like a professor… Mind your own business.. I whispered instead and kept the phone…
I am into so many other things Sri Laxmi… I murmered without allowing her eyes to lock in mine …. They seemed to be hiding more than what they revealed… or was it just because I saw it that way?
I took it up because they said you will be with me… she said … now I am lost… I don’t know what to do and what next......
Her paradigm shift seminar was none of my worry for sure but she was, her presence was… I wanted to send her off diplomatically…
THEY? Who is that THEY? ......I shot a query to take the discussion to my channel
The management… who else? And you thought I played a game with you to be a coordinator of a stupid seminar…her face blushed with rage….
It is not yet a stupid seminar my dear… I said to myself… if you are going to do it you will for sure make it one…
A smile did bloom in my face which (may be) for her stare appeared like a scorn…
I never knew that you can be so indifferent… she said as she stood up to go but added… Big people have big ego’s I know but I always felt that you are different…
Oh yeah… different and indifferent…. I mumbled as she walked away…
Indifferent? ….
Did she say that?
INDIFFERENT?
That is what Jesus too had told me in the lift the other day…
That was the management’s view point but how did she knew that??
I saw Suhail Khan outside the HQ that evening.. he had a sad look, and agony was looming over it…he looked stressed out and almost about to crumble… If I ask something I was sure he will succumb… wanting to avoid that I tried to walk away without recognising his presence…
He wasn’t ready for that but….
Sir…… Prof Anand is talking to Dr Jesus …. He announced… I guess I will be relieved ....
I tried to smile…
Anand?
The omnipresent James Bond was there every where... he was like snowy dog in tintin series... in every frame... HUH !!!!!…
Why is it that he had no sense of what to do where and what not to do where…? Next time when I get him free I should teach him the serenity prayer.. I kept planning ans that was when Anand Mohan came out of the HQ, cheery and beaming, tapped the guys shoulder and said…. Now you can go and meet him…and let it be the last time ok…
Suhail Khan admiringly looked into the Hunk’s big eyes… He caught the prof’s hands and started crying…
Come on man… Anand said holding him in a tight embrace… be bold… just go in….
I stood there as a silent spectator… This was one rare scene in GIM…. As Suhail went inside, Anand walked away not even acknowledging my being there…
Wasn’t that indifference?
He left a trace of the denim smell and it disturbed me a lot, but the unanswered questions that he left behind was more worrying......
No words in literature can express it fully… you should meet this guy once to know what I mean..
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Behave like a Professor!
Life is a game… the better player you are the better is your chances of survival….
For me that was not a motto dictum….. I had inadvertently blurted out that to Sri Laxmi in a fit of anger but when it boomeranged on me from Anand Mohan it really caught me wild.. It did upset me and my thoughts…It slowly and surely swayed me like a coconut tree caught in the wind
Win or loose but play… ? should I or just stay away?
The semester was coming to an end and Dr Joseph- the ED called for a subject review meeting. Exams were just a week ahead and the kids had all gone for their study holidays. Teachers were free with the shutters down the teaching shops and to keep them busy was a big challenge for the top…
Why keep them busy?
Because the HQ thought that the academic community was the worst when it came to poli-tricking and left alone and idle the devils will all meander in rage … Even I thought the same, not because of my status as a pseudo loyal but I lived in that community and experienced the pains of a victim and the triumphs of the winner often.
We need to introduce new subjects.. said the ED… industry friendly things like Strategic HRM .. That seems to be kicking these days…
I will rename my subject as Strategic Brand Management .. said one Prof…
What do you call it now? Asked Anand Mohan who sat next to me in the meeting
Brand Management…..replied the prof….
Huh ….said Anand… and you call it industry friendly… ?
And probably keep the contents the same.. the same power points and teaching notes and even the same age old cases… said Prof Ram with sarcasm..
Strategic Sales Management… ? I wrote in my note pad… Huh… how funny ,,,, I said to myself as I scratched over it..….
This strategy term is misused… Said Prof Ram as if in pain that his patented chemical formula is misused by an unscrupulous horde of amateur scientists… any one and everyone seems to be dragging it ....
Strategy is no Draupadi.. said Anand Mohan with a laugh… Hey Dushasan….
In any case that is not the option that we have been looking for .. said the ED prevailing over the confusion..We need something new… concrete…some thing which when put across the industry will make heads turn…
Anand leaned over to my shoulders and said… they must say… hey that’s sexy…. How about a date?
I couldn’t help but laugh…
The contemporary issues in management has to be bought in…….said Prof Ram
Oh yes ….Oh yes,,,, cried the ED with a blush…you said it… we will have that ..we will freeze on that…
Freeze on what? .. asked many….
Contemporary issues… like say Contemporary issues in Banking…Contemporary issues in HR… wonderful !! … with the reddened face in full bloom the ED kept saying...
Holy shit .. said Anand… the other one was far better… the Strategic prefix….
I didn’t mean it… mumbled Ram… I just said it for example…
I kept laughing … and writing in my note pad… I didn’t want Dr Joseph to see my giggle but there was no escape…
He saw it and kept staring at it as if that was the issue there and not the contemporary issues in whatever bullshit…
I am serious ..said Dr Joseph..
And who is not?… questioned Anand…
Some people seem not to be.. said Dr Joseph with his gawk still fixed into my face… I knew that and kept drawing and writing in my note pad as if the target was not me.. it could be anyone else but me…
But if we are thinking of a revision we should think of something fruitful… really industry friendly…said Prof Ram….
I agree..said Anand even as he shared a wicked smile with me…and for that we need to talk to the industry.. it would be foolish to assume that we do some cosmetic changes and they will accept it graciously….
Precisely… joined Prof Ram
Now this was getting interesting for me… not the content.. I knew that this was a wasteful discussion leading to nothing.. things will remain the same.. but what amused me was the synergy… Ram and Anand was taking it forward like a preplanned strategy.. ooof… not the ‘S’ word again.. like a foot ball match ..pass the ball… ya got it.. I run… and again pass it to you.. got it.. you run… again pass it to me…
Ahem ahem.. I scribbled in my note pad again… the game is getting interesting!!!
Anand winked at me even as he peeped into my note pad and possibly read its contents…
You can write a book on this entire scrawl … he suggested.. and name it frustration !!
Get lost …I said… but I knew it made some sense, I also knew that his tantrums were becoming less irritating for me…
Behave like a professor..I said with a put on contempt …
He took his note pad and started writing…then drew lines over it and then again jotted over and over again…
Will you at least listen to the discussion Sukesh Menon? Asked Dr Joseph in a loud and acerbic tone which gave me a shock… the whole crowd turned to me as if they were seeing me for the first time…
Anand sat there serious, and looked like a professor with the rapt attention that he displayed and the contribution that he so very graciously bestowed during the discussion…
Will you at least listen? Did the old creep say that…?
I was set on fire even as the throng returned to the discussion mode.
Behave like a professor Dude… Anand wrote in his note pad and gave it to me…
For me that was not a motto dictum….. I had inadvertently blurted out that to Sri Laxmi in a fit of anger but when it boomeranged on me from Anand Mohan it really caught me wild.. It did upset me and my thoughts…It slowly and surely swayed me like a coconut tree caught in the wind
Win or loose but play… ? should I or just stay away?
The semester was coming to an end and Dr Joseph- the ED called for a subject review meeting. Exams were just a week ahead and the kids had all gone for their study holidays. Teachers were free with the shutters down the teaching shops and to keep them busy was a big challenge for the top…
Why keep them busy?
Because the HQ thought that the academic community was the worst when it came to poli-tricking and left alone and idle the devils will all meander in rage … Even I thought the same, not because of my status as a pseudo loyal but I lived in that community and experienced the pains of a victim and the triumphs of the winner often.
We need to introduce new subjects.. said the ED… industry friendly things like Strategic HRM .. That seems to be kicking these days…
I will rename my subject as Strategic Brand Management .. said one Prof…
What do you call it now? Asked Anand Mohan who sat next to me in the meeting
Brand Management…..replied the prof….
Huh ….said Anand… and you call it industry friendly… ?
And probably keep the contents the same.. the same power points and teaching notes and even the same age old cases… said Prof Ram with sarcasm..
Strategic Sales Management… ? I wrote in my note pad… Huh… how funny ,,,, I said to myself as I scratched over it..….
This strategy term is misused… Said Prof Ram as if in pain that his patented chemical formula is misused by an unscrupulous horde of amateur scientists… any one and everyone seems to be dragging it ....
Strategy is no Draupadi.. said Anand Mohan with a laugh… Hey Dushasan….
In any case that is not the option that we have been looking for .. said the ED prevailing over the confusion..We need something new… concrete…some thing which when put across the industry will make heads turn…
Anand leaned over to my shoulders and said… they must say… hey that’s sexy…. How about a date?
I couldn’t help but laugh…
The contemporary issues in management has to be bought in…….said Prof Ram
Oh yes ….Oh yes,,,, cried the ED with a blush…you said it… we will have that ..we will freeze on that…
Freeze on what? .. asked many….
Contemporary issues… like say Contemporary issues in Banking…Contemporary issues in HR… wonderful !! … with the reddened face in full bloom the ED kept saying...
Holy shit .. said Anand… the other one was far better… the Strategic prefix….
I didn’t mean it… mumbled Ram… I just said it for example…
I kept laughing … and writing in my note pad… I didn’t want Dr Joseph to see my giggle but there was no escape…
He saw it and kept staring at it as if that was the issue there and not the contemporary issues in whatever bullshit…
I am serious ..said Dr Joseph..
And who is not?… questioned Anand…
Some people seem not to be.. said Dr Joseph with his gawk still fixed into my face… I knew that and kept drawing and writing in my note pad as if the target was not me.. it could be anyone else but me…
But if we are thinking of a revision we should think of something fruitful… really industry friendly…said Prof Ram….
I agree..said Anand even as he shared a wicked smile with me…and for that we need to talk to the industry.. it would be foolish to assume that we do some cosmetic changes and they will accept it graciously….
Precisely… joined Prof Ram
Now this was getting interesting for me… not the content.. I knew that this was a wasteful discussion leading to nothing.. things will remain the same.. but what amused me was the synergy… Ram and Anand was taking it forward like a preplanned strategy.. ooof… not the ‘S’ word again.. like a foot ball match ..pass the ball… ya got it.. I run… and again pass it to you.. got it.. you run… again pass it to me…
Ahem ahem.. I scribbled in my note pad again… the game is getting interesting!!!
Anand winked at me even as he peeped into my note pad and possibly read its contents…
You can write a book on this entire scrawl … he suggested.. and name it frustration !!
Get lost …I said… but I knew it made some sense, I also knew that his tantrums were becoming less irritating for me…
Behave like a professor..I said with a put on contempt …
He took his note pad and started writing…then drew lines over it and then again jotted over and over again…
Will you at least listen to the discussion Sukesh Menon? Asked Dr Joseph in a loud and acerbic tone which gave me a shock… the whole crowd turned to me as if they were seeing me for the first time…
Anand sat there serious, and looked like a professor with the rapt attention that he displayed and the contribution that he so very graciously bestowed during the discussion…
Will you at least listen? Did the old creep say that…?
I was set on fire even as the throng returned to the discussion mode.
Behave like a professor Dude… Anand wrote in his note pad and gave it to me…
Monday, September 29, 2008
Go to Hell !
A professor resigned and wanted to be relieved the next day.
Why? You ask? Well.. at GIM no one did since long back….The intellectual capital that forms one of the pillars in a B school was for ever floating here .Ever since I joined GIM, I was amazed at the number of people who have left the place. After a point of time I stopped counting heads, of who came and who left…stopped crying at farewells and almost closed building relations with my co prof’s as it did not make any sense, not any more,,,…
This one, the new exit also taught Strategy and Business policy at MBA ,like Prof Ram. He was a learned prof, a silent and humble man, a researcher, a prolific writer and voted as a good teacher but unhappy at the way GIM was treating him….
He wasn’t an exception for the discontent factor… it was there in everyone except the loyals…
Some lived with it… some just left it….
What next? Who will take over?..... The question loomed over the faculty room as did it over Dr Joseph -the ED’s table where an emergency meeting of senior professors was going on...
I am fed up with this ..... lamented the ED....I am doing a magicians job here with no one to teach and....
I guess you have to do it and only you can….. I heard some one commenting as I sat in the common area with a news paper but most of the time listening to the gathering (dirty me !!)…
Classes are already in trouble... the new ones are making a royal mess and now this... Jesus my lord.... cried ED
You are right ...laughed one of the professors…only Jesus can save..not the real one... the one here... our lord and saviour......
Ha...... scorned the ED.....he will say the same thing... new ads are released.. new people are joining... we will be flooded with intellect...ha...
The evangelist that he is.. He is good in selling pain... drawing beautiful pictures out of blood even....came another remark.
Still I think what you suggest is true ......he is the only option...confessed ED ....and anyways I am meeting him this afternoon... I guess if you can join me we can jointly put it forward... he pleaded with the dean, another senior pseudo loyal in the GIM faculty room..
Oh I would love to but I am on leave this afternoon....said the Dean with a genuine regret appearing on his face but a smile hiding behind it......he knew that it was a trap and he also knew to keep himself safe, to keep away from it.... after all he has survived the darkness and deluge of GIM for ten long years now...
Dr Jesus didn’t appear that afternoon either and Dr Joseph wandered here and there, in search of the man whom the kids nick named as Samrat Natvardhan or Nuts…Nuts that he is ..
He abruptly vanished and suddenly came back.. Would never tell it to his sub ordinates for evident reasons, and superiors...well… no one of that category ever existed in GIM.... And when he left things accumulated, meetings, decisions, files, even petty and paltry things like timetable revisions and which class room for what specialisation type decisions (HUH!), were put on hold...he enjoyed it with a sadistic pleasure and seemed to have got instant nirvana .... it was his way of telling every one that he is the boss, but the more he did it, the more looked like an ass...
Prof Ram seemed to be the only option before Dr Joseph, to hand over the subject that was left unattended like an orphan...
No way.... Prof Ram as usual didn’t mince words... I am already fully loaded with the same course in two sessions … not any more of the same subject...
But there is no one else who can take it over at this critical juncture... almost cried ED... you have to Prof Ram..
That is not my headache ....thundered Prof Ram... when you recruit faculty you should recruit based on what we need, not on what is available cheap and in bulk...
Now that should not be told to me...stood up Dr Joseph , visibly angry at the sudden development, and the anxious faces that gathered around.....you should be telling the VC and the top management....
I would sir.... no doubt... I call a spade a spade and now I am telling you since you called me. I will tell him if he does.. Have no doubt...Prof Ram retorted
I don’t want to talk to you.... go to hell .... Dr Joseph couldn’t control his emotion as he fell back into his chair...
Prof Ram scorned and smiled in sarcasm as he walked out of the ED’s cabin to the common area of the faulty room....
hahahahahaha….He roared as he came precariously close to me in my cabin ,as I almost fell off in the shock and reverberation.... go to hell? Did you hear that Sukesh ?….He asked a flabbergasted me…. Is’nt that funny? As if we are already not in one...
Ya it is true... I said to my self... But sir why me???
Why? You ask? Well.. at GIM no one did since long back….The intellectual capital that forms one of the pillars in a B school was for ever floating here .Ever since I joined GIM, I was amazed at the number of people who have left the place. After a point of time I stopped counting heads, of who came and who left…stopped crying at farewells and almost closed building relations with my co prof’s as it did not make any sense, not any more,,,…
This one, the new exit also taught Strategy and Business policy at MBA ,like Prof Ram. He was a learned prof, a silent and humble man, a researcher, a prolific writer and voted as a good teacher but unhappy at the way GIM was treating him….
He wasn’t an exception for the discontent factor… it was there in everyone except the loyals…
Some lived with it… some just left it….
What next? Who will take over?..... The question loomed over the faculty room as did it over Dr Joseph -the ED’s table where an emergency meeting of senior professors was going on...
I am fed up with this ..... lamented the ED....I am doing a magicians job here with no one to teach and....
I guess you have to do it and only you can….. I heard some one commenting as I sat in the common area with a news paper but most of the time listening to the gathering (dirty me !!)…
Classes are already in trouble... the new ones are making a royal mess and now this... Jesus my lord.... cried ED
You are right ...laughed one of the professors…only Jesus can save..not the real one... the one here... our lord and saviour......
Ha...... scorned the ED.....he will say the same thing... new ads are released.. new people are joining... we will be flooded with intellect...ha...
The evangelist that he is.. He is good in selling pain... drawing beautiful pictures out of blood even....came another remark.
Still I think what you suggest is true ......he is the only option...confessed ED ....and anyways I am meeting him this afternoon... I guess if you can join me we can jointly put it forward... he pleaded with the dean, another senior pseudo loyal in the GIM faculty room..
Oh I would love to but I am on leave this afternoon....said the Dean with a genuine regret appearing on his face but a smile hiding behind it......he knew that it was a trap and he also knew to keep himself safe, to keep away from it.... after all he has survived the darkness and deluge of GIM for ten long years now...
Dr Jesus didn’t appear that afternoon either and Dr Joseph wandered here and there, in search of the man whom the kids nick named as Samrat Natvardhan or Nuts…Nuts that he is ..
He abruptly vanished and suddenly came back.. Would never tell it to his sub ordinates for evident reasons, and superiors...well… no one of that category ever existed in GIM.... And when he left things accumulated, meetings, decisions, files, even petty and paltry things like timetable revisions and which class room for what specialisation type decisions (HUH!), were put on hold...he enjoyed it with a sadistic pleasure and seemed to have got instant nirvana .... it was his way of telling every one that he is the boss, but the more he did it, the more looked like an ass...
Prof Ram seemed to be the only option before Dr Joseph, to hand over the subject that was left unattended like an orphan...
No way.... Prof Ram as usual didn’t mince words... I am already fully loaded with the same course in two sessions … not any more of the same subject...
But there is no one else who can take it over at this critical juncture... almost cried ED... you have to Prof Ram..
That is not my headache ....thundered Prof Ram... when you recruit faculty you should recruit based on what we need, not on what is available cheap and in bulk...
Now that should not be told to me...stood up Dr Joseph , visibly angry at the sudden development, and the anxious faces that gathered around.....you should be telling the VC and the top management....
I would sir.... no doubt... I call a spade a spade and now I am telling you since you called me. I will tell him if he does.. Have no doubt...Prof Ram retorted
I don’t want to talk to you.... go to hell .... Dr Joseph couldn’t control his emotion as he fell back into his chair...
Prof Ram scorned and smiled in sarcasm as he walked out of the ED’s cabin to the common area of the faulty room....
hahahahahaha….He roared as he came precariously close to me in my cabin ,as I almost fell off in the shock and reverberation.... go to hell? Did you hear that Sukesh ?….He asked a flabbergasted me…. Is’nt that funny? As if we are already not in one...
Ya it is true... I said to my self... But sir why me???
Monday, September 1, 2008
Tug Of War !!!
Dr Joseph was glued to the telephone when the guest walked in with firm steps, a lavish smile and an extended hand of friendship. I was sitting opposite to him with a couple of other colleagues and was about to begin a syllabus review process which was a regular exercise that we undertook at the B school to make sure that we taught what the industry wanted.. whether we actually did it is a different question altogether and can be seen later.....
Yes sir.. will do sir.. no sir.... ok sir.... he kept on saying mechanically and kept the phone....
You look pale and shocked... said Gupta who walked in and didnt bother even to acknowledge the presence of two three others in the room....... For him we were like invisible or some lesser mortals who didnt have the right to exist....
Did I walk in at the wrong time? he enquired...
well no... said Dr Joseph with a sheepish smile...... absolutely not.....but I am afraid you may have to go to the guest house now... and let us begin fresh tomorrow morning...
Cool with me ....said Gupta.... and in any case im here direct from the airport.. would like to have some rest...
As Gupta was packed off,Dr Joseph started sweating as if he has just seen a ghost and told us that the syllabus review can wait and then ran out of the faculty room to the VC's office.......
You will have to help me sir..... he lamented as he almost fell into a chair at the VC's room......There is a man who have come from Delhi on Mr Manohars invitation and we are putting him as a soft skills trainer....
mmmm....mumbled VC who was writing something on a notepad and didnt raise his head to look at the expressions that bloomed at the ED's face.
Sharma of AICTE has recommended him and you know Sharma....continued Dr Joseph......that is why Manohar wants...
And Jesus has told you that Gupta cannot and will not train the students here.. right?......asked VC this time, putting his notepad on to the table...
Dr Joseph smiled in astonishment, for a second, and then out a releif over the realisation that this man who knew the GIM family better than he knew his own, could solve this puzzle as well....
Valmiki gupta went on with his softskills training and the ED was caught in the tussle between the son and the son in law, both directors at GIM .Dr Joseph played his cards safe as per the VC's directives and made sure that he wasnt hurt in the bizarre tug of war between the two power centers at GIM . Jesus was angry and the VC brokered a deal between both the parties, in the Kings chamber and a temporary cease fire was declared... Truce it was but Dr Joseph the ED ,knew that it was just a matter of time before it flared up again.... But for the time being he was happy and thankful to one man...... The VC.. shrewd to the core and a master manipulator he was....
Half the time he spend unravelling such quagmires......Rest half he spend crafting new problems so that he could solve them...........
Yes sir.. will do sir.. no sir.... ok sir.... he kept on saying mechanically and kept the phone....
You look pale and shocked... said Gupta who walked in and didnt bother even to acknowledge the presence of two three others in the room....... For him we were like invisible or some lesser mortals who didnt have the right to exist....
Did I walk in at the wrong time? he enquired...
well no... said Dr Joseph with a sheepish smile...... absolutely not.....but I am afraid you may have to go to the guest house now... and let us begin fresh tomorrow morning...
Cool with me ....said Gupta.... and in any case im here direct from the airport.. would like to have some rest...
As Gupta was packed off,Dr Joseph started sweating as if he has just seen a ghost and told us that the syllabus review can wait and then ran out of the faculty room to the VC's office.......
You will have to help me sir..... he lamented as he almost fell into a chair at the VC's room......There is a man who have come from Delhi on Mr Manohars invitation and we are putting him as a soft skills trainer....
mmmm....mumbled VC who was writing something on a notepad and didnt raise his head to look at the expressions that bloomed at the ED's face.
Sharma of AICTE has recommended him and you know Sharma....continued Dr Joseph......that is why Manohar wants...
And Jesus has told you that Gupta cannot and will not train the students here.. right?......asked VC this time, putting his notepad on to the table...
Dr Joseph smiled in astonishment, for a second, and then out a releif over the realisation that this man who knew the GIM family better than he knew his own, could solve this puzzle as well....
Valmiki gupta went on with his softskills training and the ED was caught in the tussle between the son and the son in law, both directors at GIM .Dr Joseph played his cards safe as per the VC's directives and made sure that he wasnt hurt in the bizarre tug of war between the two power centers at GIM . Jesus was angry and the VC brokered a deal between both the parties, in the Kings chamber and a temporary cease fire was declared... Truce it was but Dr Joseph the ED ,knew that it was just a matter of time before it flared up again.... But for the time being he was happy and thankful to one man...... The VC.. shrewd to the core and a master manipulator he was....
Half the time he spend unravelling such quagmires......Rest half he spend crafting new problems so that he could solve them...........
Friday, August 29, 2008
Juvenile delinquency..
The man was tall, cool and handsome. He almost walked like a model into the long corridors of GIM, confidently into the HQ where the top brass lived.I was just coming out after a meeting with Jesus, where he cracked jokes, shared thoughts and entertained me and a couple of my co prof's who would be organising an industry interaction effort......Madam secretary was not on her seat when he arrived at the HQ reception..... He waited for a while and then took his mobile phone out and rang up some one....
Mr Manohar.... he smiled and smoothly whispered, as if to his girls ears.... I am Valmiki Gupta from Mumbai, hope Mr Sharma of AICTE has spoken to you about me.....
Silence....
Yes I am outside your office,but very well inside GIM, lost in the spectacle... continued Gupta...
A glass door opened and came out Mr Manohar, who was another Director of the B school,not in charge of academics, which Dr Jesus took care of , but in charge of quality assurance and overseas relations.
Manohar ,was the son in law of Dr Joy,whom his daughter had wed after an embattled love life which her father and brother was opposed to. Manohar was Hindu, who was a blot in the evangelist family who could convince others to adopt the way of the cross but their own son in law was an exception and a glaring one...... Manohar and his wife lived in the US for sometime where he ran his own software firm which became big and big and burst one day in the bubble burst. His love for his daughter made Dr Joy carve an office for his son in law, out of nothing and from nowhere....and make him seated in the same HQ where he sat with his son in a cabin adjacent and VC next to it...
Yes Mr Gupta..... welcome welcome... thundered Manohar as he walked out of his office with arms thrown open to receive the seemingly elite guest. After the exchange of pleasantaries they sat in Manohars plush office, every corner of which vied for attention.
I should tell you that you have a beautiful campus and a very charming office... said Gupta
Manohar flashed a smile, a rare one which when he does probably made hearts flutter and made the rise of the son in law to the nucleus of the GIM empire...
That is what everyone says....blushed Manohar.... and the credit goes to the visionary Dr Joy who happens to be my Father In Law.....
Oh ! I did not know that....Gupta looked apologetic even when he did smile and Manohar returned it with a you- better -know- it- you- ass smile....
The two proceeded onto a discussion which lasted some minutes, most of it for mutual admiration and to the fag end for actual business.
Now shall I proceed into my assignment? asked Gupta
I wish you a happy week ahead and hope that after your training our students and their soft skills will get polished up... said Manohar as he stood up to bid farewell...
Wouldnt you be checking my credentials?.... asked Gupta
Mr Sharma says and that is the best credential as far as GIM is concerned......smiled Manohar, this time business man like, adopting it fully from his father in law.......You can meet Dr Joseph our executive director in the second floor, who will let you know the plans for the week.
As Valmiki Gupta walked out, Manohar picked up the intercom and in haste dialled Dr Joseph and told him that the guest is coming , dialled another number,held for a while and then kept the receiver impatiently back to the cradle. He took a piece of paper and wrote....
"Daddy,
Valmiki gupta is here and I have decided to use him as the soft skills trainer for the next one week. Dr Joseph is being asked to take care of. I would be happy and thankful if you can ask Jesus to keep away from this....
Manohar
****************************************************
Mr Manohar.... he smiled and smoothly whispered, as if to his girls ears.... I am Valmiki Gupta from Mumbai, hope Mr Sharma of AICTE has spoken to you about me.....
Silence....
Yes I am outside your office,but very well inside GIM, lost in the spectacle... continued Gupta...
A glass door opened and came out Mr Manohar, who was another Director of the B school,not in charge of academics, which Dr Jesus took care of , but in charge of quality assurance and overseas relations.
Manohar ,was the son in law of Dr Joy,whom his daughter had wed after an embattled love life which her father and brother was opposed to. Manohar was Hindu, who was a blot in the evangelist family who could convince others to adopt the way of the cross but their own son in law was an exception and a glaring one...... Manohar and his wife lived in the US for sometime where he ran his own software firm which became big and big and burst one day in the bubble burst. His love for his daughter made Dr Joy carve an office for his son in law, out of nothing and from nowhere....and make him seated in the same HQ where he sat with his son in a cabin adjacent and VC next to it...
Yes Mr Gupta..... welcome welcome... thundered Manohar as he walked out of his office with arms thrown open to receive the seemingly elite guest. After the exchange of pleasantaries they sat in Manohars plush office, every corner of which vied for attention.
I should tell you that you have a beautiful campus and a very charming office... said Gupta
Manohar flashed a smile, a rare one which when he does probably made hearts flutter and made the rise of the son in law to the nucleus of the GIM empire...
That is what everyone says....blushed Manohar.... and the credit goes to the visionary Dr Joy who happens to be my Father In Law.....
Oh ! I did not know that....Gupta looked apologetic even when he did smile and Manohar returned it with a you- better -know- it- you- ass smile....
The two proceeded onto a discussion which lasted some minutes, most of it for mutual admiration and to the fag end for actual business.
Now shall I proceed into my assignment? asked Gupta
I wish you a happy week ahead and hope that after your training our students and their soft skills will get polished up... said Manohar as he stood up to bid farewell...
Wouldnt you be checking my credentials?.... asked Gupta
Mr Sharma says and that is the best credential as far as GIM is concerned......smiled Manohar, this time business man like, adopting it fully from his father in law.......You can meet Dr Joseph our executive director in the second floor, who will let you know the plans for the week.
As Valmiki Gupta walked out, Manohar picked up the intercom and in haste dialled Dr Joseph and told him that the guest is coming , dialled another number,held for a while and then kept the receiver impatiently back to the cradle. He took a piece of paper and wrote....
"Daddy,
Valmiki gupta is here and I have decided to use him as the soft skills trainer for the next one week. Dr Joseph is being asked to take care of. I would be happy and thankful if you can ask Jesus to keep away from this....
Manohar
****************************************************
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Blame me.. Blame you....
The canteen was a favourite place for the students of GIM... for three reasons....
1.It was a bit far from the ever so ‘disciplined’ folks who ruled GIM from the main building
2. It hadn’t had AC and such plush paraphernalia but hadn’t had the omnipresent camera which made everyone in GIM a talented actor the moment they stepped into the large main door where sat the huge picture of a self obsessed photoposer Dr Joy smiling like an idiot.
3. There they could sit, stand, talk, crack jokes, run, play and very very important...use mobile phones and be young men and women. Live their age and stop feigning to be managers in the making........
I felt relaxed when I walked into the canteen every time for almost the same reasons as stated above… I was not a student there, I taught them Marketing, but felt the same lack of freedom at GIM as did the students and anyone who worked there in any capacity, except of course the family members and close pen pullers and palanquin bearers like the VC, ED and the ubiquitous spies…
It was in the canteen where I sat alone, that a colleague in the Marketing dept opened the news into my ears…
There is a meeting now… at the Kings chamber….and you are wanted….
What meeting? …..I wondered at that info… till five minutes before I was there hanging around and I wasn’t told….
Industry feed back this year seems to have plummeted and they are worried.. he said in hush, as if the walls too have ears…
In GIM it was possible, but I didn’t find a news value in that piece of narrow cast.. it was a known secret… and this meeting was routine….
And now with the AICTE team coming… it is getting into their nerves it seems.. the ED was announcing this in the faculty room….he went on…
I smiled, at his naiveté for the veteran I was at GIM I knew the real reasons and the real formula that works behind every such thing in that B school…
My canteen sabbatical was over and in ten minutes was plunged into the largest chamber in the world which seems to have been conceived modeled on the oval office, but poor execution made it looks like a villains den, that appeared in almost all below the average Hindi cinema..
The students of the second year of Master of Business Administration at GIM batch after batch had one feature which was carried down as if through some inherited gene, with amazing precision... they all become lack luster, lifeless and lethargic.....life suddenly for them, was over or almost near to it.... studies become a mere ritual and so was other facets of life....
It was clearly not the pressures of management education that was the cause of this disease, for even in the first year they have the pressure and they do enjoy it...
It was not the work load that came in the shape of cases and assignments, work books and log tables, balance sheets and brand report cards, for by second year they should be feeling comfortable with all that and not in the contrary.....
As Prof Ram put it..the first years are good… the second years are mediocre and even poor…. But this is what they said last year also… this is what we are going to say next year as well!!!
1.It was a bit far from the ever so ‘disciplined’ folks who ruled GIM from the main building
2. It hadn’t had AC and such plush paraphernalia but hadn’t had the omnipresent camera which made everyone in GIM a talented actor the moment they stepped into the large main door where sat the huge picture of a self obsessed photoposer Dr Joy smiling like an idiot.
3. There they could sit, stand, talk, crack jokes, run, play and very very important...use mobile phones and be young men and women. Live their age and stop feigning to be managers in the making........
I felt relaxed when I walked into the canteen every time for almost the same reasons as stated above… I was not a student there, I taught them Marketing, but felt the same lack of freedom at GIM as did the students and anyone who worked there in any capacity, except of course the family members and close pen pullers and palanquin bearers like the VC, ED and the ubiquitous spies…
It was in the canteen where I sat alone, that a colleague in the Marketing dept opened the news into my ears…
There is a meeting now… at the Kings chamber….and you are wanted….
What meeting? …..I wondered at that info… till five minutes before I was there hanging around and I wasn’t told….
Industry feed back this year seems to have plummeted and they are worried.. he said in hush, as if the walls too have ears…
In GIM it was possible, but I didn’t find a news value in that piece of narrow cast.. it was a known secret… and this meeting was routine….
And now with the AICTE team coming… it is getting into their nerves it seems.. the ED was announcing this in the faculty room….he went on…
I smiled, at his naiveté for the veteran I was at GIM I knew the real reasons and the real formula that works behind every such thing in that B school…
My canteen sabbatical was over and in ten minutes was plunged into the largest chamber in the world which seems to have been conceived modeled on the oval office, but poor execution made it looks like a villains den, that appeared in almost all below the average Hindi cinema..
The students of the second year of Master of Business Administration at GIM batch after batch had one feature which was carried down as if through some inherited gene, with amazing precision... they all become lack luster, lifeless and lethargic.....life suddenly for them, was over or almost near to it.... studies become a mere ritual and so was other facets of life....
It was clearly not the pressures of management education that was the cause of this disease, for even in the first year they have the pressure and they do enjoy it...
It was not the work load that came in the shape of cases and assignments, work books and log tables, balance sheets and brand report cards, for by second year they should be feeling comfortable with all that and not in the contrary.....
As Prof Ram put it..the first years are good… the second years are mediocre and even poor…. But this is what they said last year also… this is what we are going to say next year as well!!!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Raw material !!!
Leeladhar Reddy came from Guntur in Andhra pradesh, eldest son of a poor farmer, and was doing his second year masters in business management in GIM. An average student by any standards as far as I have seen him but keen to know things and learn life…Just like a most of his class mates, he was miserable in communication inspite of the LONG admission process that GIM claimed to have adopted to “ensure better quality of raw material” but his attitude to life was positive and that would be the only reason, why he will end in his dream job if he does.
I met him in the corridor outside the academic office, adjacent to the HQ portion of the main building, where the top brass was deliberating on the King’s feat in Delhi …..The poor youngster was sobbing uncontrollably.....
I am suspended sir, for two weeks and that means my whole semester is gone.. I will have to repeat the sem with the juniors sir.......the guy lamented as tears rolled down his cheeks.....
But for what.. what did you do? tell me ....I can try to help you.....demanded the professor in me but after a split second I regretted…ITS GIM .....PROFESSOR... I told a resentful myself….
I was sitting with Mary anand mathew in class, she touched my hands,touched my legs and..
mmm ..thats enough and you are caught..? Now I regretted even more for that blind assurance that I gave him just then..
Did I say that? What was the wording… I started going back….
Did I say I shall try to?
Or did I say I can try?
Or was it … I will help u..
What the hell did I???
I didn’t seem to hear his problem..... Mine was getting bigger and messier…
And now she is no where in picture sir, now it is said that I did everything and she....cried Leeladhar.....
mmm ... I muttered as if I disapproved it..... well I mean I disapproved it for sure but how did it matter?
I resumed walking into the HQ where the management sat ruling the GIM empire with iron hands and clay heads .....Leeladhar and his adrenalin rise was a non issue , atleast I tried to convince me that….
Mary anand regularly attended classes and probably scratched more thighs, but Leeladhar was left languishing outside the HQ in a vain attempt to see Dr Jesus- the Director of GIM...every morning he will show up at 8 and wait...Jesus will appear all of a sudden ,go in to his room as if he is a horse and is banned from side vision, get firmly saddled in the larger than life chair in his tech savvy, plush office which will put even Bill gates to shame, move in and out making Leeladhar Reddy stand up and sit down, every time with a hope smiling at his face that he may be called in....tea will go in and empty cups will come out, guests will come and go, lunch will happen ,all the women folk will be entertained and they inturn will entertain their boss... and later Jesus will disappear through the lift and into one of his saloon cars into an' undisclosed location' as his secretary would sheepishly say after he has left...Leeladhar would wait, in forever belief that he would be called in anytime.....but in vain....
After many days of this sordid drama, he was called suddenly by the secretary ,and as he woke up from his half slumber in the reception area ,trembling and shivering out of joy that at last he was called in...
You have to bring your father and by tomorrow 9 am he should be here- pronounced the proud lady (the priest has to be prouder than the Gods..Right?)
But madam.... fumbled Leeladhar..... Can I not see Dr Jesus.... and tomorrow.. My father is in Andhra... how can ...I ...god... madam...can..?
That I dont know...Dr Jesus has instructed me to convey this to you and now you can go....Clarified Madam secretary...
Leeladhar walked out cursing his stars and the moments when he felt that it is ok and even exciting to be caressed and cuddled by a girl,and that too in the darkness of a Management class room with chilling AC creeping in and when a boring portfolio management session was in full swing and when got caught, his body couldn’t come back to react and say a sorry and finish it there.... He still had a smile which the Prof took as an act of defiance and shamelessness which landed him in the mess that he was in.......
What will I tell my father... and how will I come out of this quandary..? Was the question that bothered him.
No one bothered.. the offender was a culprit and the ones seen with him, would be equally considered guilty.. Friends vanished and so did onlookers… It was surprising how life could be so cruel,,, but then when your life is more important why put it in peril for the sake of some one else…
Inside the HQ the celebrations had begun... the AICTE had almost cleared the proposal of a seat increase... Yes an inspection team would come, but then GIM has ' seen' many inspection teams in the past....
What is the big deal...? exclaimed Dr Joseph, the ED of the
B School, as he broke the news in the faculty room...
He looked beaming , the loyalist that he was to the King, even more than the King himself !!!
I met him in the corridor outside the academic office, adjacent to the HQ portion of the main building, where the top brass was deliberating on the King’s feat in Delhi …..The poor youngster was sobbing uncontrollably.....
I am suspended sir, for two weeks and that means my whole semester is gone.. I will have to repeat the sem with the juniors sir.......the guy lamented as tears rolled down his cheeks.....
But for what.. what did you do? tell me ....I can try to help you.....demanded the professor in me but after a split second I regretted…ITS GIM .....PROFESSOR... I told a resentful myself….
I was sitting with Mary anand mathew in class, she touched my hands,touched my legs and..
mmm ..thats enough and you are caught..? Now I regretted even more for that blind assurance that I gave him just then..
Did I say that? What was the wording… I started going back….
Did I say I shall try to?
Or did I say I can try?
Or was it … I will help u..
What the hell did I???
I didn’t seem to hear his problem..... Mine was getting bigger and messier…
And now she is no where in picture sir, now it is said that I did everything and she....cried Leeladhar.....
mmm ... I muttered as if I disapproved it..... well I mean I disapproved it for sure but how did it matter?
I resumed walking into the HQ where the management sat ruling the GIM empire with iron hands and clay heads .....Leeladhar and his adrenalin rise was a non issue , atleast I tried to convince me that….
Mary anand regularly attended classes and probably scratched more thighs, but Leeladhar was left languishing outside the HQ in a vain attempt to see Dr Jesus- the Director of GIM...every morning he will show up at 8 and wait...Jesus will appear all of a sudden ,go in to his room as if he is a horse and is banned from side vision, get firmly saddled in the larger than life chair in his tech savvy, plush office which will put even Bill gates to shame, move in and out making Leeladhar Reddy stand up and sit down, every time with a hope smiling at his face that he may be called in....tea will go in and empty cups will come out, guests will come and go, lunch will happen ,all the women folk will be entertained and they inturn will entertain their boss... and later Jesus will disappear through the lift and into one of his saloon cars into an' undisclosed location' as his secretary would sheepishly say after he has left...Leeladhar would wait, in forever belief that he would be called in anytime.....but in vain....
After many days of this sordid drama, he was called suddenly by the secretary ,and as he woke up from his half slumber in the reception area ,trembling and shivering out of joy that at last he was called in...
You have to bring your father and by tomorrow 9 am he should be here- pronounced the proud lady (the priest has to be prouder than the Gods..Right?)
But madam.... fumbled Leeladhar..... Can I not see Dr Jesus.... and tomorrow.. My father is in Andhra... how can ...I ...god... madam...can..?
That I dont know...Dr Jesus has instructed me to convey this to you and now you can go....Clarified Madam secretary...
Leeladhar walked out cursing his stars and the moments when he felt that it is ok and even exciting to be caressed and cuddled by a girl,and that too in the darkness of a Management class room with chilling AC creeping in and when a boring portfolio management session was in full swing and when got caught, his body couldn’t come back to react and say a sorry and finish it there.... He still had a smile which the Prof took as an act of defiance and shamelessness which landed him in the mess that he was in.......
What will I tell my father... and how will I come out of this quandary..? Was the question that bothered him.
No one bothered.. the offender was a culprit and the ones seen with him, would be equally considered guilty.. Friends vanished and so did onlookers… It was surprising how life could be so cruel,,, but then when your life is more important why put it in peril for the sake of some one else…
Inside the HQ the celebrations had begun... the AICTE had almost cleared the proposal of a seat increase... Yes an inspection team would come, but then GIM has ' seen' many inspection teams in the past....
What is the big deal...? exclaimed Dr Joseph, the ED of the
B School, as he broke the news in the faculty room...
He looked beaming , the loyalist that he was to the King, even more than the King himself !!!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
In God we trust!!
God's institute of Management is a fully residential quality oriented management and business school where, the students are imparted training by professionally qualified and continually motivated managers, who also focus in research and......
Holly crap.. thundered Professor Ram, to whom the Vice chairman Prof Shanmugham Iyer had given a piece of literature to read.... I wonder who writes such stuff... looks so very monotonous.... and far away from truth....Others who sat in the common sitting room having tea, laughed at the astounding ways of Prof Ram... he always did it .....he said it out ,what he meant in a typical lingua, often forgetting that he had left the industry and is now with the GIM....and is a Professor..
It is a contemporary expression of a colossal..... Said another prof, no prizes for guessing, he taught English in the afternoons to classes, who where only half receptive, the other half being asleep......
I sat there blank, unable to take sides( let me admit it here, I was "loyal" to the GIM management, not that I was happy to be so, but that I was wanting a choice !!) and feigned that I was reading The Business line...
Why dont you tell the VC (Prof Shanmugham Iyer- the vice chairman was often referred to as ) that it is utter nonsense? .... inquired Prof Anandalakshmi , sipping her tea and reading from a Finance text book as well...
Now that I have done it in your presence, will I have to take the pains to go and tell him too ?..... quipped Prof Ram in a tit for tat and the place reverberated with laughter at the joke...I saw her face burning in disbelief at the statement..
Ram had ignited a fire , and all of us could see it....he had just opened a Pandora’s box by talking out something which others always felt to be true but wouldn’t dare enough to talk out.
Anandalakshmi was a Tamil Brahmin and so was the VC and together (with some others) they formed the heart of the Tambrahm (Read Tamil Brahmin) clique which made GIM a very funny place....I was more than aware of the fact that she was a SPY ,as GIM circles called an informer and believe me we had them in plenty.....
Everywhere, lurking like blood thirsty vampires, dying for information which they will gather, analyse, add, multiply, subtract, divide, garnish with spices make it hot and take it to the bosses at the HQ.... You in this B School will never know who is a friend and who is a foe... the guy who sat with you and bad mouthed the Bosses, may be the one who will ditch you behind your ass..
I have with wonder and often with amazement seen her smart ways of rising in the ladder in spite the poor feedback that she so skillfully 'managed’ to get semester after semester....laughter persisted and she walked out of the common room and barged into her cabin, ostensibly unable to defend the group assault and the fact that no one, not even her fans ..her associates in the clique, did dare to support her in a hour of need...
*******************************************************
I was late to the class that day and the kids were up in their peak of disorder.... some came out of the amphitheatre where the class was scheduled and stood in the quadrangle facing the sea.... it was a beautiful sight there to see the distant sea from the quadrangle of GIM... a truly beautiful sight.....But not as per Dr Jesus.... The chairman's only son, the Director of GIM, US educated soft-spoken administrator but at times flaring up like a forest fire which made him behave like a crown prince ( which he was) and earning him the sobriquet from the North Indian students who studied there- Samrat Natvardhan or in short nattu .....He was also an evangelist( by profession or passion you may say, for Jesus was confused which one was true) which some accuse as the families another trick for making money...the family- if one closely observed could see - how they were into the two most happening businesses -Education and God....
Why are those people standing there? ......shouted Jesus calling out Jansi william , the secretary in the faculty office.
The poor lady trembled, muttered and murmured for want of words and things to say.... It was no way in connection with her job but again neither she, nor the authorities in GIM knew what her job was.. she came.. sat in the faculty room at the centre table.....did all the work the faculty gave her, often dumped on her without grace and with impudence, ran to the head office when some one called her asking her this and that, often things far outside her knowledge and area of expertise and got abuses and statements which made her eyes wet the whole day..... and very often get kicked ( not literally ) by the frustrated students who saw her as a safe place to vent out.....
I am asking you...Thundered Jesus.....
I don’t know sir... she shivered as she said...whose class is this now ?
It is Prof Sukesh..sir....
Ask him to meet me before he goes to the class.... and tell the class representative that he is suspended for the next one week...Jesus walked into his Plush cabin and Jansi ran to the faculty room, half relieved that her life ,for the moment is saved and half trembling as to what will happen next.......
Holly crap.. thundered Professor Ram, to whom the Vice chairman Prof Shanmugham Iyer had given a piece of literature to read.... I wonder who writes such stuff... looks so very monotonous.... and far away from truth....Others who sat in the common sitting room having tea, laughed at the astounding ways of Prof Ram... he always did it .....he said it out ,what he meant in a typical lingua, often forgetting that he had left the industry and is now with the GIM....and is a Professor..
It is a contemporary expression of a colossal..... Said another prof, no prizes for guessing, he taught English in the afternoons to classes, who where only half receptive, the other half being asleep......
I sat there blank, unable to take sides( let me admit it here, I was "loyal" to the GIM management, not that I was happy to be so, but that I was wanting a choice !!) and feigned that I was reading The Business line...
Why dont you tell the VC (Prof Shanmugham Iyer- the vice chairman was often referred to as ) that it is utter nonsense? .... inquired Prof Anandalakshmi , sipping her tea and reading from a Finance text book as well...
Now that I have done it in your presence, will I have to take the pains to go and tell him too ?..... quipped Prof Ram in a tit for tat and the place reverberated with laughter at the joke...I saw her face burning in disbelief at the statement..
Ram had ignited a fire , and all of us could see it....he had just opened a Pandora’s box by talking out something which others always felt to be true but wouldn’t dare enough to talk out.
Anandalakshmi was a Tamil Brahmin and so was the VC and together (with some others) they formed the heart of the Tambrahm (Read Tamil Brahmin) clique which made GIM a very funny place....I was more than aware of the fact that she was a SPY ,as GIM circles called an informer and believe me we had them in plenty.....
Everywhere, lurking like blood thirsty vampires, dying for information which they will gather, analyse, add, multiply, subtract, divide, garnish with spices make it hot and take it to the bosses at the HQ.... You in this B School will never know who is a friend and who is a foe... the guy who sat with you and bad mouthed the Bosses, may be the one who will ditch you behind your ass..
I have with wonder and often with amazement seen her smart ways of rising in the ladder in spite the poor feedback that she so skillfully 'managed’ to get semester after semester....laughter persisted and she walked out of the common room and barged into her cabin, ostensibly unable to defend the group assault and the fact that no one, not even her fans ..her associates in the clique, did dare to support her in a hour of need...
*******************************************************
I was late to the class that day and the kids were up in their peak of disorder.... some came out of the amphitheatre where the class was scheduled and stood in the quadrangle facing the sea.... it was a beautiful sight there to see the distant sea from the quadrangle of GIM... a truly beautiful sight.....But not as per Dr Jesus.... The chairman's only son, the Director of GIM, US educated soft-spoken administrator but at times flaring up like a forest fire which made him behave like a crown prince ( which he was) and earning him the sobriquet from the North Indian students who studied there- Samrat Natvardhan or in short nattu .....He was also an evangelist( by profession or passion you may say, for Jesus was confused which one was true) which some accuse as the families another trick for making money...the family- if one closely observed could see - how they were into the two most happening businesses -Education and God....
Why are those people standing there? ......shouted Jesus calling out Jansi william , the secretary in the faculty office.
The poor lady trembled, muttered and murmured for want of words and things to say.... It was no way in connection with her job but again neither she, nor the authorities in GIM knew what her job was.. she came.. sat in the faculty room at the centre table.....did all the work the faculty gave her, often dumped on her without grace and with impudence, ran to the head office when some one called her asking her this and that, often things far outside her knowledge and area of expertise and got abuses and statements which made her eyes wet the whole day..... and very often get kicked ( not literally ) by the frustrated students who saw her as a safe place to vent out.....
I am asking you...Thundered Jesus.....
I don’t know sir... she shivered as she said...whose class is this now ?
It is Prof Sukesh..sir....
Ask him to meet me before he goes to the class.... and tell the class representative that he is suspended for the next one week...Jesus walked into his Plush cabin and Jansi ran to the faculty room, half relieved that her life ,for the moment is saved and half trembling as to what will happen next.......
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The prologue !
India has some 1000 plus B Schools and the plus is more than 250,mind you..And the future here definitely is not lying in the bottom of the pyramid .I passed out 11 years back from a university, which was ranked fairly well, but then the influx of private B Schools hadn’t happened then. It was not all about merit, though it was not all about money either..
It was a win win for all parties and that was better .Today out of the thousand plus, that we are discussing only a handful are delivering what they are expected to deliver..they can satisfy only a small part of the demand, and when the economy is in its fifth gear race, the rest of them too are expected to contribute.I have an MBA from an Indian university and another post graduation from one located abroad and I know the difference to an extent.
What makes the difference ?
Why is it that for some it is about quality, merit and performance.. about better instructor quality( pay peanuts, you get monkeys), industry interaction and intellectual capital development and for the bulk of others its only about money and to the max ..cosmetics?
Why is it that the Govt bodies like AICTE, NAAC and NBA, who should be owning up the onus of responsibility, isnt no where in picture and the bulk of the best B Schools are those who has nothing to do with this regulatory bodies?What are the reasons? who are the culprits? and what can we do?
My blog is not an answer to all these.. it is no one stop shop for the queries and no solution provider for the young lads who want to know what you get where in a B school..
It is no B school directory, neither does it have any ranking of B schools( and in any case most of the ranking is a farce as you will know if you keep reading this blog )or how to catch the CAT stuff...
It however will tell you one thing- Business school education in India today misses the crux and that is what I am searching here... I don’t use statistics because I am no drunkard to use it for support more and illumination less !!!
And the name. Strategic management and the chicken curry... It , for me is a one sentence definition of the current state of affairs in this domain...
Read along . I am sure you will be wanting more !!!
It was a win win for all parties and that was better .Today out of the thousand plus, that we are discussing only a handful are delivering what they are expected to deliver..they can satisfy only a small part of the demand, and when the economy is in its fifth gear race, the rest of them too are expected to contribute.I have an MBA from an Indian university and another post graduation from one located abroad and I know the difference to an extent.
What makes the difference ?
Why is it that for some it is about quality, merit and performance.. about better instructor quality( pay peanuts, you get monkeys), industry interaction and intellectual capital development and for the bulk of others its only about money and to the max ..cosmetics?
Why is it that the Govt bodies like AICTE, NAAC and NBA, who should be owning up the onus of responsibility, isnt no where in picture and the bulk of the best B Schools are those who has nothing to do with this regulatory bodies?What are the reasons? who are the culprits? and what can we do?
My blog is not an answer to all these.. it is no one stop shop for the queries and no solution provider for the young lads who want to know what you get where in a B school..
It is no B school directory, neither does it have any ranking of B schools( and in any case most of the ranking is a farce as you will know if you keep reading this blog )or how to catch the CAT stuff...
It however will tell you one thing- Business school education in India today misses the crux and that is what I am searching here... I don’t use statistics because I am no drunkard to use it for support more and illumination less !!!
And the name. Strategic management and the chicken curry... It , for me is a one sentence definition of the current state of affairs in this domain...
Read along . I am sure you will be wanting more !!!
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