Jesus Saves !!!

The 3 I cell in GIM was a dark and grumpy place .. The three souls that lived there ( along with a hell lot of lizards and cockroaches) knew only one boss and that was Jesus himself.. The first day of my adventure into the cave like dim lit place snubbed and pooh-poohed my thoughts and beliefs about the make of an industry interaction cell of a reputed B school.. It slapped on my face for having assumed that GIM actually meant it when from a large board that hung outside the cave it proclaimed.....“Industry Institute Interaction Cell”…

Post convocation is a lean season …all the familiar faces passed out , most of them joining their jobs, some of them taking a respite at their homes after having seen no life at GIM for two years.. Some of them joining their own business with an MBA tag.. Some quoting high prices in the marriage market with the tag and yet some jobless, hopeless and clueless in spite of the tag, or rather BECAUSE of the tag… GIM without its kids was a blank place and the immensity of the place added to the barrenness that glowered from classrooms and corners, from the canteen and the car park.. the noise was gone… a college without its students, was like a rose without its fragrance…

The teachers were all heavyhearted not because the kids had all gone but at GIM there was no concept of a vacation like in ordinary places… so even when the two – three months when the teaching shops where empty, the unfortunate teaching society had to languish in the frightening interiors of the huge place…

In a way it is better for the management to leave us on vacation .. said Ram as I came in to the faculty room where all my colleagues still sat.. I spend half my time in the 3 I cell with the lizards and cockroaches- they were far more amiable than the three odd faces that treated me as an alien and whenever I wanted to be normal , I climbed the stairs to reach the faculty office…

Why so? …… asked some one....

The idler we are, the more we gossip and statistics says that idle employees talk 90% about their management only….

And the rest 10 %? .. Anand asked..

Ram laughed and even before he could stop, I blurted out inadvertently.. May be rest 10 , they write letters about how if allowed they will change the system….

Ram didn’t laugh for this but all others did… I but didn’t hear the others; I just saw the power off in Ram’s face… I had a tint of regret but when I saw Anand and his positive reception I guess I quickly changed track…

Anand was still laughing when Dr Joseph came in calling for attention right from the door….

Now I have an announcement for all of you…he said…

Silence fell in the room as if Dr Joseph would have picked up the first guy who spoke and ask him to do a belly dance…

Just then Prof Cherian, the HOD also came in….

If winter comes can spring be far behind?.. mumbled Anand and needless to say, I produced an involuntary snicker…

ED puckered his brows at me, but didn’t venture to initiate a wrangle on that…

There was a representation made to the chairman asking for a vacation of one month for the faculty during the month of May –June.. he announced , for a moment immersed in the paper in hand and the next moment facing the audience, resembling a cow drinking from a bucket kept in its front …

I looked Ram, so did many others, huh…in fact almost every one,,,… he was the regular letter writer after all.. He sat shocked at the atrocious unanimity with which the academics at GIM at a split second decided that if it is a letter, Ram would have written it… …

Now it is decided that a sabbatical of two weeks will be granted for the faculty on rotation basis and at the discretion of the respective heads of the departments… .. ED went on...

It sounded halfhearted and half complete… questions galore and I could hear more of laugh from the ED than answers and his typical laugh with air escapes and giggles in between was more irritating than the idiots at GIM who panicked around him…

I stood up and walked off…this is one thing I hated in my fellow academicians, all through an MBA programme the teacher tells the students to work hard, think of no vacations and stuff and now this scramble..No wonder why teachers never become what they make their students off…

For me it was a fore gone conclusion… the HOD and his oil face lurked in my mind… Cherian would play a foot ball with my request, if ever I made one, I knew….

Why should you ask Cherian..? Said Anand as we retired to my new office at the 3 I cell… Jesus is your boss…

He leads … said Anand with a smile… lead me oh Jesus.. Why don’t you lead me in the middle of the air, and if my wings should fail me, wont you give me another pair?

I laughed at his acting… he was flapping his hands like wings … he was singing like a kinder garden kid….

And you know what, there is an LTC in the offing.. a leave travel concession… GIM at last is waking up to its HR issues…Anand stopped his wing flapping…

I wouldn’t believe it… GIM would be one last place to think of its people as Human resources…if at all people are counted it would come as the last, after brick, mortar, and all the inanimate stuff that modern management considers as of least important in organization building…

My face sulked… more because of the thought of an unfair vacation season where I may have to work and less because I may have to work alone… Did I for a second, hate my decision to pick up quarrels with my HOD and be his enemy?

And hey … that is bad Suk… said Anand with an open smile… just a minute ago you accused THEM of being so naïve and kiddish that they want a vacation.. and now ..?

Anand left it unfinished.. I knew I had to begin from there…

I realised that I was just another one in the annoying crowd….. I wanted to go.. I wanted to break free and attain salvation and who else but Jesus could be the savior and the only route…

Ghost of the past !!!

I was sitting unoccupied at the faculty common area when Jesus called me via Jansi William, the faculty assistant. It would have been the last thing I would have liked to do at that point of time, meeting up with the bosses and listen to their pointless brouhaha… But choice was always a question and at GIM, was never available in abundance.

Enroute to the HQ ,I passed Sri Laxmi’s cabin where she sat, looking into some book but not reading from it…. she was probably posing to work for the benefit of the cameras hung from all the nook and corners…..but then how did I know it ?

… I didn’t know.. I just assumed… I was trying to draw pictures as to what would be going through her mind ….as I walked I saw Prof Mathew Cherian coming opposite to me with a smile which I saw but didn’t acknowledge as Anand and Sri Laxmi ruled my mind….…that was the case ever since I got back from the canteen to the main building of GIM and the comforts, to the centralized AC, the music and the soothing peace that it offered, as compared to the dust and din of a ruthless outside world. I didn’t know how I walked back but I remember the blurred vision with which I did, I know for sure that water drops clogged my eyes refusing to fall down but refusing to be taken back either… I knew that I became weak and the large frame that I had wasn’t balancing with the small and feeble mind that I seemed to possess… Anand was a pleasure and then a pain, and when I was trying to forget him as the past, at that hot summer afternoon he suddenly woke me up and never left me to sleep thereafter…..

Professor Sukesh… Professor Mathew called me and I crash landed….He was standing hazardously close to me…

HQ? .. he asked me ….

Yeah Sir… Dr Jesus has called me… I said dryly…

For what ?.. he asked me with inquisitiveness oozing out of his oily face….

Well… I stood there searching for words… I couldn’t tell him that for Jesus that was a preoccupation that when he gets bored of all the women of his harem, he will invite men… for small talks, tea and biscuits, forced humor and a lot of talk about Jesus(the real one!) and his miracles… Father, Son and the Holy Spirit….

Don’t know sir….I said instead…

I have heard that you are a pet of the bosses.. especially the director…but that is past…he said with a scorn even as my eyes bulged out…hope hereafter at least you will learn to respect hierarchies….

He just walked after vomiting that filth, which God knows originated where… I was least interested in the source and even the content…. I knew one thing…another enemy is here at GIM for me and that too just above me in the hierarchy…. As if the ghosts of the past weren’t enough, this new one from the present just walked past me….

I stood there for a while, wondering whether to proceed to meet Jesus or get back and work as per the HOD’s command…… at GIM the question seemingly had no alternative answers… After so many years of teaching management, if I do not know the difference between the boss and an ass, what the heck was me good for…?

Jesus was surrounded by women, who were laughing in mirth as if he was Mr Bean and a show was going on…

I stood there outside his cabin, seeing the fun gun sprouting across the room through the large glass door…. Jesus gestured me to get in, and I went in to be standing there as all the seats were full with women…… Madam Secretary was still laughing quite animatedly, but when she saw my ugly face popping into the cabin she suddenly stopped, as if she was some heroine and I was the rapist villain…

Jesus understood my predicament when I said…. Should I come back later sir…if you are busy,,,,,

Did I add a bit of sarcasm in that…? Did that sound genuine enough,,,??

No no….. he said… please you sit…. And that was indication enough for the women’s society to push off….

Have you read the monk…. He asked me when finally the cabin was left to us… me and Jesus…

The what…? I exclaimed…

The Monk who sold his Ferrari…or Think and grow rich… said Jesus… by Napoleon hill….

I was wondering at his motive… is this going to be an afternoon session on books that he read and I didn’t, and hence I should… or just a free display of gyan, or another evangelist session…? Or was there something else which for my mortal eyes wasn’t visible…….?

Yeah have read…. I said, looking into his eyes with suspicion that wasn’t easy to hide especially when one faced Jesus the evangelist….but why now?

Before you make assumptions you should think… you tend to hyper react… which is not good… Said the man with a smile… I know you wouldn’t agree now, but if you sit and think you will know…

I was cornered… I couldn’t connect… Jesus was often like women,,,, he saw things which others never did, he heard things which others never did, and he talked things which others never did and never did understood….

Can I know the context sir…. I pleaded as I was genuinely worried…

The oily face of my new HOD from where hatred mixed with jealousy and oil poured out in an interesting mixure,who threatened me unabashedly, suddenly ran amok in my mind ….

It is simple Sukesh.. you are like my brother…. Said Jesus, for a millionth time, which meant nothing to me and to him… I knew that, probably he knew that as well…

I sat straight and alert to hear him… when was the last when I assumed things..? I wanted to know…

This is not fair…. Came a voice first and then shouting and grumbling Prof Ram suddenly and with no warning… He could have knocked at least, I thought…

Jesus didn’t panic as I did… I was taken aback but he had a smile as if he knew the advent of the old war horse…

What sir.. asked Jesus even as he gestured Ram to sit, in a chair next to me…

He threw a piece of paper into the table and said… please read this….

Jesus took it and read for a second and then gave it to me…

Read it Sukesh,please.... I forgot my glasses…. He said…

I took it and glanced through the paper for a minute.. it was a printout from GIM’s official webpage… it read….

We don’t follow the crowd, instead follow a different methodology. Theory, we do teach but not like what others do. GIM believes in practical learning and we….

Jesus gestured me to stop and so did I.…

Now what about that…? Asked Jesus impatiently…

Will you tell your executive director also to read this stuff…? ... demanded Ram with matching impatience…

I sensed danger and wanted to escape… Jesus read my wriggling in uneasiness and allowed me to go…..

Ram and his problems least bothered me…. When I reached back to my cabin, Sri Laxmi was sitting there waiting….

Now what was that..?

Another ghost from the past?

New and Improved !!!

The post exam holidays came to an end so very soon that the kids who came back had the hangover so visibly written over their worried faces. They started coming in one by one and group after group, slowly trickling in to various hostels, some a day in advance and many in the last minute. Notices and instructions appeared at all the notice boards about the does and don’ts that GIM followed as rules and classes got spruced up and all the maintenance work was done. The building just needed its life blood, the kids of GIM to flow in and begin life.

The first day first class fell upon me.. in theory one would get them fresh but after a weeks holiday they were all clearly in no mood for a class- a week was too much for them to get tired and to little to get refreshed…

I had made the lesson plan, the list of readings, the list of assignments and evaluation plan, three days in advance and gave it to the ED( it was mandatory to submit the plan for his approval before the faculty proceeded with it to the first class) who sat over it and analysed it as pig would scan shit…. The ones whom he hated got the bulk of such scrutiny and needless to say Advertising management and sales promotion – my paper took a hell lot of time to get cleared….

Why is this syllabus different from that of this text book? ......He asked me like a police officer, pointing to a relic of a text book on his table…

What is this text book? ......I asked while taking it carefully, and slowly turning its pages afraid of the fact that it was as old as my grand dad and can collapse if I were harsh with it…

It is a classic book, the ideal syllabus and I was surprised that you haven’t included this in your course plan… he said, still the COP like echo added to his questions…

I guess you did study from this at your MBA days… I said with a tint of disdain, which he didn’t get. Instead he beamed and became even more eloquent on why THAT was a reason why I should be teaching from it…

Come on sir… its all gone.. I said with a smile that clearly spilled a can of red paint over his ugly face… your times were different, now it is all changed…

What you mean?..... He asked….

I mean that I have designed the course with my 7 years experience in the industry and with constant up gradation that is done with my corporate connections….....I said and remained silent

Dr Joseph didn’t speak.. Neither did he make any gestures.. I knew I had ill-treated his ego, but he called for it…he was one languorous jackass who never taught a course in the recent past but sat over everyone’s course plan as if he knew every thing of every subject.. Some one some where had to tell him to fuck off and in any case I was not in his good books…

As I left his room, I knew what he will do next … I sat in my cabin expecting a call from the lord of the rings, Dr Jesus, but which never happened…instead called me the King himself in what was literally a jolt…..

The King…? Calling a lesser mortal….?

When I passed through the HQ where the bosses sat in adjacent chambers deciding on the future of management education,Jesus was not there in his cabin… Manohar was there in his but watching some thing in his large LCD TV.. may be some third rate Tamil film which was his passion and probably from where he got inspiration for his funny hair style and his colorful attire, the VC’s chamber was dark- it seemed he didn’t turn up to office that day…and Madam secretary was there, as usual, proud and displaying vanity as if she was the kings wife and not his secretary.

Dr Joy called me… I said with a kind of arrogance and pride which I purposefully and momentarily crafted and oozed out to poke her ego balloon.

She fell for it and stared at me as if it was impossible...... I had a smirk which irritated her even more…

What is it regarding? She asked me….

How would I know,??,, you should ask your boss.. I said with a scorn even as I saw disbelief on her face which bloomed and then erupted… she would never have seen me like that.. why she?… No one had seen this me.. This new me…

In my heart of hearts I thanked just one guy…….who had injected this new found impunity into my blood.. no matter he wasn’t around, I still thought he is seeing me.. and when he is seeing me could I be looking the same old crouching and miserable academic potato?

New and improved Sukesh Menon, walked into the grand doors of the kings chamber mercilessly over a burst balloon which didn’t protest , not even for namesake….

Games people play !

Prof Ram and his letter (If you remember, I had said it…) made no impact at all. At least there was no visible after effect. He was not called for a discussion, as he expected .Nor was he even given a courtesy call from the King’ side saying that he acknowledged the receipt of the 16 page document.

Ram predictably was upset and most of the fire and fury at the ‘nauseating apathy’ of the top fell on me from the neighboring cabin. I couldn’t help but keep praying that I was shifted from my cabin to some corner where no cameras could prey on me, no spies could track me and no neighbour could spur their wrath and rage on a helpless me…

Ram walked up and down the faculty room, wanted to talk to the ED who was but busy dealing with some students who did some grave crime like riding the bike in side the campus ,Schumacher style or making some noise in the hostel room last night, and hence deserving capital punishment and had no time for Ram and his petty issues.

Jansi William the secretary at the faculty office came in to my cabin with slow and cautious steps..

Sir…. Dr Jesus wants to meet you… NOW… she said whisperingly

I had an intercom and yet… I kept wondering…. Well you never know… Jesus and his games…

At the prince’s cabin, where AC was in full blast I felt like I was in the North Pole. Jesus tried to look intellectual with a cool library in his cabin with all the latest management books in display (rarely read though) and with journals from HBR (My kinda stuff) to the International Journal of Management carefully scattered on his central table. Soft music was on the air and Jesus sat in his chair, too large for his short frame but again it gave him a feel, a confidence, a halo that I could almost see as I sat across him, every time.

Guess what!! he seemed to say as he kept on smiling when I sat in a much smaller chair kept for guests.

I had a smile, a faint one which reflected my anxiety at the sudden call

Sri Laxmi is supposed to join us … said Jesus as I sat there in his chilled room where he lived like a polar bear.

Sweat came out, for me at the hint.. I knew what the discussion was going to be…

He is going to ask me about the chemistry thing…

Fuck man ..I said to myself…All said and done ..Reputation was something ( may be the only thing) I had so far in GIM….

We are planning an international Marketing conference…. Said Jesus in a strange baritone cutting across my wandering thoughts…..You and Sri Laxmi will be coordinating it….

He expected me to grin and be grateful at his munificence … if he had, then I am sure he would have got disappointed.. Not that I felt good, I felt delighted that he had chosen me but why me and Sri Laxmi?

Why the bloody hell?

Again had he also seen the chemistry?

Does he also LOVE to see us together?

When Sri Laxmi came in, Jesus beamed like a toddler who got his rare chocolate. That was one thing with Jesus; he loved the company of women.

It’s now official …he declared to her with a wicked smile… I have told Sukesh about OUR plan …

She displayed a sumptuous smirk in return even as I stared at her face for the apparent duplicity that she had shown to me.

Sukesh is experienced and the best organizer we have.. said Jesus as I felt distracted and dejected at a ploy that was unraveling before my eyes….and with your charm this should be a bench mark event…

What is your suggestion? He asked me and I heard it…

Yes sir… true.. very true… words just stooped out without my consent…

I thought I taught at a B school... It looked like I had to change my belief now..

Yes.. you said it … said Jesus even as I kept staring the female…

Who said beauty and brains do not go together?I kept wondering...

A circular later on announced it to the world ..

It said …

Prof Sri Laxmi will be the coordinator for the up coming International conference in “The paradigm shift in Marketing and the altering consumer mind space”.

All are requested to give suggestions to make the program a grand success.

Signed..

Dr Jesus Joy
Director

I was thankful that my name was missing in the piece of paper that floated around from cabin to cabin, causing flutter and I could see many heads fuming, some curious, some taking it in a stride and some too exited to sit back and relax…

I banged my head on to my table, and waited for Sri Laxmi to come.. I knew she will... She had to...

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???

Waiting list !!!

It is an annual fanfare in GIM ,the long admission process...

Dr Jesus and his office takes care of the process from the advertising in all national newspapers about GIM ( with the large campus and the building projected, with Air conditioning and the gardens as the selling point, keeping in mind the publicity rule that " allways your postives should be touted about"....), to the applications that they receive (thousands of them, for all the negatives, GIM had a name of its own partly due to the huge campus that Dr Joy had the common sense to build and partly due to its teachers, again Dr Joy had a good sense in identifying them..) and to conducting the actual admission process....

This year the process began as usual and all the major news papers carried big ads (it need not be big to look best ,but Jesus never knew that ) and inspite of the "heavily loaded" other works that he was doing Jesus was in the helm of affairs........

Every one knew that the father was told by every other person that it was difficult to attract good students with Dr Jesus in charge of the admission process. His haphazard and abrupt decisions made the process go haywire every time and the list of selected would be disappointing at the end of the whole process.. Every year, inspite of the thousands of applications that poured in, a large section of the selected lot wouldn’t fit into a decent B School canvas, which GIM was claiming to be.. Still Jesus was there everywhere,running here and there ,with noises and cracking the whip, as if he was actually running the Jumbo circus !!!

Prof Ram..... called Dr Joseph, the ED coming out of his chamber to the large common area in the faculty room...

He is not here sir... I shouted back from my pigeon hole where I sat as Prof Ram's neighbour... I think he is in the library...
( Prof Ram went to the library many times a day, while most others didnt even know that GIM had one..)

Then you may have to go ... for the Group Discussion first round..the prospective students are waiting...... ED announced to me callously.

My goodness..... lamented a poor me as I cursed myself but managed to blurt out........ I have scheduled a case discussion in my next class, just two hours from now... thought of getting into it a bit more...

Oh that shoudnt be a problem Sukesh...said ED,....this will take only one hour...

But sir... I protested ,faintly though !!!

Well, then tell me what shall I do.. some has gone on leave...most are in class ..only you are sitting here idle...... shall I go and tell the HQ...?

That was the trick and it was done....... I went for the first round of the group discussion , which was the first round of the selection process to get into the coveted MBA from Gods Institute of Management....
Young and anxious faces waited, mulled, discussed and debated, as we, the two professors sat watching the show and as their parents languished outside the building, in the sprawling lawns and gardens with hopes and worries printed all over their faces.....
I didnt see most of them..or hadnt seen it all before, different faces though...
I was burning...
IDLE .... !!!
Did some one say that to my face some time back? IDLE??? and did I protest????
Me and protest !!! Never ......
The actual me protested to the pseudo loyal me,,,, but that was it....

Most of prospects as they debated showed that they have got trained by professional schools as was discernible in their mannerisms and lingua, often artificial and synthetic ,very prominently displayed to the extent of causing irritation to a neutral observer.....
To me yes... it was a fake show- where the result was declared even before the test was conducted....

I will say that number 5 and 6 are the only ones who can go in ..all others can go back home... said my co Prof who chaired the GD session with me,after the melee in which the kids debated over " whether democracy was good or bad for India" was over...

But out of 10 shouldnt we atleast recommend half of them....?..... asked a honest me unable to digest what I just heard....

why should we let all the scum in..? Is it not enough what we already have here?.. pat came the reply...
The RAM tribe was growing , I could see but I didnt respond to that..

Who is a friend ? who is a foe? who is a spy? .....at GIM you never knew it....

Those who made it into the second round went for an interview where VC presided normally and ED was called in and sometimes one of the Directors and the Dean. A typical interview was simple and straight forward and not a messy affair....

Have you bought the Demand Draft drawn in favour of GIM? .....the VC will ask..

No sir... but I didnt know that I will get selected.. so.. If I get I thought I will... will be a typical answer..

Who said you are getting selected... You will be selected only when you have the DD ready in your hand.... flashing a smile, the grand old man will scan the poor guy or gal like a vulture will pore over its distant prey.....

The candidate will sit sad and miserable at the apparent miss between the cup and the sip...

Dont worry....... VC will say in a soothing voice as the ED or who ever is there in the panel will shake his/her head in total agreement....

We will put you in waiting list, you will come with the DD before 4 Pm tomorrow and join or you shall never...but you shall not tell this to any one...
The candidate will smile and then later blush out of joy and relief as for a sick man with death comes peace!!!
The candidate rushes out still in blush and in glee, little knowing that this is what they told everyone and the waitlist in GIM was usually bigger than the actual selected list...

The next candidate will walk in like a thief will do in the middle of the night ....

The king is naked !!!

Manohar and Dr Jesus had one thing in common !!!!

Their passion for the latest gizmos and costly apparels, flashy cars and pens to flaunt, and more importantly... air travel...... Dr Joy seemed to be enjoying the flamboyancy which his son and son in law picked up as the family got richer and richer, year after year with MBA aspirants and their hopeful parents flocking with bags of money...... The father had pride written all over his face when ever some one(rarely though) praised him about his egotic son and his erronous son in law....he knew that they were bad and had a fear in his mind as to what will happen when his days are over...Their quarrels and mutual apathy gave him sleepless nights and peace of mind simply eluded him ,no matter how much money he had in his coffers and how many cars he had in his garrage....It is there he heavily depended on the astuteness of the likes of Subramaniam Iyer the VC, not that he was any less in sneak and craft but he trusted VC's abilities more than his own...

It was such a day when Dr Jesus was away on a trip to Mumbai (Bombay) for rrrrr...well... why and for what, no one knew, for Dr Jesus or nattu as the kids called him was the crown prince and no one dared to ask him where he is flying to... Dr Jesus was away and Prof Ram had made a detailed letter as to how to change and make GIM a respectable place and discussed it with a couple of us in the faculty office... I for sure kept mum inspite of the painful and pricky facts that glared and stared at my consciousness from all across the 16 page document,and felt bad at my insouciance ..... I couldnt help it- the pseudo loyal that I was,,,,

The rebel was ready with his 16 page weapon and called madam secretary from his intercom to fix an appointment with the Director .......

But sir Dr Jesus is not in town.... said the proud lady..... he is not expected to be in for another three four days...

Oh ..where is he then .?...asked Prof Ram...

Ha... a supercilious gasp was the reply... I am sorry sir, I cannot tell that to you...

Prof Ram turned to me and mangled while he banged the receiver back to the cradle...This is a funny place..... the director is out and even that is a secret... I guess I would be metting Dr Joy and giving him the letter which I have written...

Sir there are things which we cant change...it is their place... I said unconvincingly .... either be with them or go away..there is not a third choice...

You are talking like George bush.. shouted Prof Ram... it is not THEIR place... it is OUR place... employees should feel that it is their place, then only organisations would excel... what you told me now is an indication..you feel that it is their place and you have no role in building GIM...

I sat there staring at the old mans face.. for me what the grand old man of GIM was saying was sense( absolute sense) but again from his angle Prof Ram could say it.... others could not...at least I could not..

Call it cowardice ..call it despondency.... I didnt care... well...

Did I? I guess I did but I couldnt help it...

Your job is not just teaching and taking home the salary check which Joy or Jesus signs at the end of every month.. you are in a process of making future managers... in a way making talents... moulding the nation...Prof Ram thundered and the common room and its occupants sat dazed....

And when they treat you like a whore...? joined some one else, presumabily unable to resist the temptation to join....

We teach management... but dont practice it and that is the content of this letter ...said Prof Ram as he threw a bunch of papers into the table...

The ones with grey hairs, stroke them .....some read it again and some smiled as they read the long letter,again and again while I was wriggling in discomfort at the whole episode....

YES...I told my self... I would want GIM to change.... realise that change is an inevitable reality.... and would be happy at such change, but would be happier if I could retain MY JOB....
Wonderful ....said another Prof ,with admiration after reading it....how I hope that they open their eyes....

Prof Ram smiled.... I will tell them... I will tell the king that he is nude and he really looks ugly.... some one will have to tell... when the young refuses to go for war the old have to...

Getting the dig that was a projectile aimed at me and my likes in GIM I stood up......

You can Sir....for me my life is only begining... I cannot simply stand in the street....

You call it life..? at your age you should be at a place where they respect your intellect..... not where they suck your blood and pretend to be ignorant of it...why at your age.. at any age... Prof Ram went on ....

I walked away to my cabin upset of the development and afraid of the news ,that the omnipresent spy racket is going to carry to the HQ, with addition and substraction, with spices added... I was afraid of the whole system..

It was a dubious system by design ..now by default it was getting even more dirtier ....

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...........