Academic Life and Its Perks

 I had a colleague, Madhu Karmakar, who neatly divided his life into two parts- academic and non-academic.. while being a prof. But what I am talking of is a life in academia versus in any other profession, particularly the corporate life.

Pluses of Academic Life

You can read a lot. It's part of your job too.

You are your own boss-in the class if you are teaching. Outside the class too, when you are ideating, writing a case, or a research paper. After writing, if you want to publish, there are some hurdles..

You can travel, if your institution supports this, for conferences, or faculty development programs, etc.. I have been fortunate.

You meet more intelligent people - students in higher ed. particularly, colleagues, and so on, many of whom are smarter than you. So you learn a lot.

In some countries, there's no retirement age.. even otherwise, part-time activity can continue for a long time..

You can have a social life, if you wish..

Negatives

The Publish or Perish menace is all-pervasive. 

So is documentation, with all sorts of accreditations up for grabs. AMBA, AACSB, EQUIS, NBA, what have you..

Teaching loads are high in institutions which are not in the top few, autonomous variety. Also in many private colleges and B schools. 

Some institutions treat faculty shabbily, with workplaces that are like corporate cubicles, or worse.

Catching Up

 There's no end to catching up with old friends, but one must persist and try to catch up. So it was that I caught up with two old friends- an ex-colleague, and a student I never taught, both from IMT Nagpur. This was in Delhi..

Abha Kulkarni, and Harsh Halve, both from IMT Nagpur at one time, student and Prof.- a colleague I worked with.

My Youtube Foray - Chat Masala

 Trying out something new, thanks to persuasion from Sheetal Garg, a friend, and Prarthana, my daughter no. 1. A series of 10-15 minute videos on a variety of topics. Some guest episodes and some my own. Three have been published so far, and one guest episode too, with Bhagyalakshmi Venkatesh, covering her views on Happiness. Mine are related to Hindi films, actors and domestic travel. More will follow. Shot and edited by Prarthana, with help from Pooja, daughter no. 2.

The links to existing episodes, in case you want to watch them.. a playlist.

https://youtu.be/1Ey5BlUQI7k

https://youtu.be/x4drlX8nQh8

https://youtu.be/wNwMxUqIW9M  - the guest episode

https://youtu.be/qQLyLUyzllw

Games People Play

 What are the games I have played? Well, I was in the cricket team at my school, Hyderabad Public School. I also swam in a relay race once in Osmania University College of Engineering.

I have also tried Hockey, Volleyball, Basketball and Tennis, apart from Tennis.  We played a lot of Bridge when I was growing up. And a lot of Badminton. 

Now, I play Golf when I get a partner to play with. The last time was at Kodaikanal with Vijayakumar and Dhanapal. I also like to train unsuspecting people- students, faculty, friends, relatives- in the basics of Golf. Sohni Roy, a colleague in Prestige University, and some faculty at NMIMS Bangalore (Tanmeet, Alisha, Prerona) were my victims, along with lots of students, and some alumni. Also my international friend, Veronica, who visited Prestige Indore to teach a course, along with Snehal Singh, visiting faculty. And Natasha, a visiting friend.

Sohni Roy above, and Snehal Singh, top.

My brother in the U.S. learnt and then taught Hapkido, a Korean martial art. We all were inspired by Bruce Lee and Kung Fu at one time! I have also watched live some Kalaripayattu performances in Kerala when I worked at IIM Kozhikode. And American Football at Clemson University while studying there. 

We invented the game of Frisbee Footer- where you pass a Frisbee and score goals- at IIMB out of necessity, because we had no facilities yet for any other games. And had a Frisbee!

 

Why Academic Types Are Boring

Why are we academic types so boring? And I am not talking of in-class boring or droning on.. just regular boring. 

Many of us don't have hobbies. We rarely socialise. We only travel to go to conferences- if our institution funds them. 

We don't have a favourite author. If we do, we rarely talk about that author. 

If we write, it's a research paper, most of the time. 

We are not big on social media-though that is changing. 

We rarely have an interesting perspective to share on anything other than the routine office politics, or the weather, or our commute.

Is there a cure for being boring? No idea, I am too bored to find out. 

What Plays Can Teach Us

 Why is Shakespeare famous? Due to his plays. And why are plays important, especially today where everything seems screen-based- so much that you sometimes wonder if you are really alive, and pinch yourself to be sure.

I would think that plays are a unique art form. Film of course is easier to do and store, and distribute. And it has an important role to play in entertainment and education. But there is an immediate connect with the characters in a well-enacted play, that is magnetic, and irreplaceable. 

Pic above- a wonderful play I saw at Pune recently, called The Greatest Show on Earth. 

Last three or four years, I saw many plays. In Bangalore, I was lucky to have watched Naseeruddin Shah in two (he was mesmerising), and Vinay Pathak in one (funnily, called The Last Lear, after Shakespeare's King Lear). In Pune, I saw a few Marathi plays, with some good actors and directors- both male and female. 

Some classic Marathi plays were remade into films as well. I liked Natasamrat with Nana Patekar in it, and Katyar Kaaljaat Ghusli with Shankar Mahadevan and Sachin playing the major roles. 

I think the subject comes through more forcefully in a play than in a film. I would strongly recommend that you try them out, if you haven't. You won't regret it.

Leadership Types With a Twist

 Actually, it's different types of leaders. They get glorified unnecessarily, sometimes. But instead of a positive typology, let's look at some negatives or negative types among leaders, for a change. The following are the major ones-

1. Spineless 

2. Heartless

3. Witless

4. Bureaucratic

5. Consultant-driven

I shall elaborate. The first has no spine. He/ She will not back up subordinates, blame someone for all wrongs, and take credit for things he/she did not do/initiate

The second may be good at getting things done, at a great human cost. He/she does not recognise that humans are working for them (though it could be robots soon). No thoughts for feelings, or other unnecessary things that hamper work.  Sometimes, ethics also go out of the window.

The third are entertaining at best, and completely useless for the tasks on hand. 

The fourth act as if the organisation is a government office with file pushers- not doers. Nothing ever gets done, and subordinates get exhausted with procedure.

These guys come up with a new flavour-of-the month fad every month, usually suggested by BCG or McKinsey or a home-grown consultant. Everyone tries to do Design Thinking, or IoT, or Benchmarking for 4 weeks approximately, until a new word catches his/her attention.. and then, you know the rest. 

RCB Wins IPL- Lessons for Us

 Who cares who wins the IPL? It's a commercial enterprise, unlike the matches between cricketing nations- particularly the Test Matches that test (literally) endurance and many other skills.

Well, that's true, but IPL seems to have a cult following - maybe for lack of anything better to do! So let's try and learn something from the phenomenon. 

1. A challenger can't be a winner. It takes time to convert! 17-18 years, to be precise. May be shorter than the waiting period for a Green card,- look on the positive side.

2. A liquor brand will eventually displace Cement.

3. Kings can lose their crown. History is replete with examples. Queens too, but IPL has none- gender bias? Could be. Though there are some behind the scenes. I saw Preity Zinta once in a match at Hyderabad.,,

4. Akshay Kumar could make a film about this.. possible title? Virat ki Jai ho!

On the Importance of Golf

 In school, we read essays about the Importance of something or the other. Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest. So I thought I should write about the importance of Golf.

It is important to play a sport, if you want to get health benefits. Golf is also one you could try, especially if you think you have the potential to be a CEO.. no, just kidding. You can always be the CEO of your own brand! It helps if you play Golf, in either case!'

Like MBA jargon, Golf jargon is also impressive. Birdies and Bogies, Hole-in-one, Sand bunkers, Putters and Drivers, and Caddies and Golf Carts make up the world of Golf, among other things. A tee shot is not after consuming tea, but after placing the ball on a tee- a privilege you have for the first shot on each hole. A Hole-in-one, of course, is like a Lifetime Achievement Award in any other field. It may happen, or it may not.

What Golf teaches you, cannot be measured with ordinary metrics. You have to experience the game to learn what it has to teach you.

Latch on to a friend who is a member, is my advice. Getting a membership is a dream in most cases, but the point is, you don't need one to start playing. Pay as you play, as a guest who accompanies a member.