Anopheles on Floods, Bombs and Love Stories

Anopheles, my old friend (she is a females mosquito with whom I have intellectual conversations about the world, for those who are new to her) was back, and we started talking about disasters.

I let her know about the deep tragedy caused by floods in three states. And asked for her reaction.

She said, "We'll get some new places to settle in, I hope."

Stunning as it was, it brought home to me the fact that one man's flood could be another man's (OK, mosquito's, in this case) fortune. Shakespeare had also said something linking floods and fortune, I vaguely remembered from my literature class in school.

"Like human beings settle on the banks of rivers, we settle in the remnants of floods" she shrugged. Then she asked me what I do for entertainment these days. I said, "Watch half-witted love stories, Ranjhana being a case in point."

"What's the love-story you mention about?" she wanted to know.

I struggled to explain " Well, it's about a loafer who is in love. The law of Equality, Liberty, Fraternity says that loafers have equal rights to fall in love with anyone they want. And the object of their love has no choice in the matter, if the director so chooses. So she does, but then she plots to get him killed, because he was responsible for getting the guy she really loved, killed. It's an eye for an eye, and that's the end of the loafer who is a lover-boy." I could see a look of disbelief cross her brow, and stay there."

"Let us leave love stories behind, and talk of something else. They are too depressing," I suggested.

Like what?" she asked.
"Bombing of Buddha temples?" I suggested, going from deadly love stories to just deadly live stories.

"Who is Buddha?" she innocently asked.
"He was a great soul who preached non-violence, and the way of enlightenment."
"And this is how you pay him back? By bombing his temple?" she seemed indignant.

I had no sustainable defence. I had to say, I was ashamed there were people who were so lost that they did not know what they were doing any more. Lots of them.

TV Jargon- Debatable?

TV and newspaper jargon is a constant source of mirth (Think I have been watching too many TV debates, thanks to Uttarakhand floods and some new juicy scam). I expect management jargon must be having a similar effect on the non-managers.

Any TV debate has a confused and/or aggressive anchor (think anyone of them, not just Arnab), and six participants, each with a 2-inch square window of opportunity-to-speak. The anchor lights a fire, it snowballs into flames, sometimes roaring flames.

Some guy: This is anti-national, anti- individual freedom, anti- aam admi, blah, blah...

Anchor: Absolutely (he never says relatively)

Another guy: This will negate the impact of what our govt. did in so-and-so year, blah, blah, blah..

Anchor: You have hit the nail on the head (whose head?)

Yet Another gal: You were always anti-poor, pro-America, FDI in Retail was a conspiracy, blah, blah,..

Anchor (turning to Guy 4 whom this barb is aimed at): Can you explain your stand on this important issue, vis-a-vis this charge made by YAG (see above)?

And so, at the end of a fire-and brimstone, noisy half hour, all the world's problems solved, vocal cords massaged, everyone goes home. And the viewer is none-the-wiser about whether his vegetables will cost more or less, due to the Monetary policy, Egypt uprising, or the Uttarakhand floods. And he is vaguely wondering who Snowden is, and if he saw him (snow..) on the weather channel.

All the new applicants for banks...what are they banking on?

Body Parts- In Lyrics

Various ways have been devised by poets/song-writers over centuries to bring in elements of love into their lyrics. One is to describe body parts of the opposite party (object of love) or allude to them in some way. Two of these are Aankhen (or Naina), and Zulfein (eyes and hair respectively). Or Honth (lips). Or the body itself- badan. Some interesting lyrics (usually of duets) that use these words-

Chhedo na meri zulfein, sab log kya kahenge...

Honthon pe aisi baat main dabaake chali aai..

Naino main darpan hai, darpan mein koi dekhoon jise subaho shaam...

Aankhon aankhon mein baat hone do, mujhko apni baahon mein sone do..

Badan pe sitare lapete hue, o jaane tamanna kidhar jaa rahi ho, zara paas aao to chain aa jaye.

In aankhon ki masti ke mastaane hazaro hain...

Jaane chaman, shola badan, pehlu mein aajao..I think it's from Gumnaam, the Manoj Kumar starrer based on Agatha Christie's novel.

One of my favourites in this type, sung by Mahendra Kapoor- Ankhon mein kayamat ke kajal, hothon pe ghazab ki laali hai, banda parwar kahiye kiski taqdeer sawarne wali hai...Biswajeet sings this to his lady love (Babita?) in Kismat.

A Hemant Kumar song that uses a variation- nazarein...from Bees Saal Baad- Zara nazron se kehdo jee, nishaana chook na jaaye.

Can You or Can't You?

The French have invented a can with a suffix. It's known as Cannes. Not a plural, or mis-spelt. It's just 'can' with a suffix. So if you go there and win a Lion, you can. If you don't, you can't. Simple.

'Can' also has a pejorative meaning, like the cooler (jail). If you end up doing illegal things, you can end up in the cooler, sometimes also called the can. So whether you 'can' in this case depends on your ability to go outside the bounds of legality. Can is also a 'slanging' term for the toilet.

I believe there is also a dance form known as the can-can- apparently, French in origin. This dance form was apparently looked down upon by respectable society, when it first appeared, for taking liberties with decency (as defined then-it varies with time, and is almost extinct now).

A cantilever is a paradox. Not sure if it can or can't- give you leverage.

B School Leadership- The Case of the Three Bosses

Leadership of Educational Institutions- Actual Case Studies

These are brief case studies of different leaders that I worked with at different B schools. Not all are great, but they illustrate different ways of working. A given individual must work with his own traits and personality, and try to achieve the organisation’s objectives. If there is a mis-match between a leader’s objectives and that of the organization, it may not lead to success, in my view.

Case Study 1

Very intelligent, articulate and with a credible track record of having taught in a top Indian Business School for several  years. He was an exacting person to work with, and gave faculty a lot of freedom. Spent a lot on learning resources – in those days, these were mostly Harvard Business School cases- online databases were not yet available in India.  He also believed in paying faculty well, and this thought was supported by the management, a well-known industrial group in India.

He was an introvert, and therefore his support staff sometimes had no clue to his thinking process. He shared his conclusions or decisions with the team, but not the intermediate thinking that brought him to these conclusions.

He was good to work with, even though a little reserved at times. But there was one definitive interest of his which brought everybody together. That was cricket. There used to be a cricket ground on the premises of the institution, and we all were able to play matches with our participants (managers who came there for short term training) quite frequently. Sundays were usually reserved for this, and since we all lived on campus, this was easy to do.

Sports or extra-curricular activities can and do help in team-building and boosting morale.

Case Study 2

Again, this person had a credible background, but this time in training managers rather than teaching students. His was a good example of how networking can be used to build institutions. He came from one of India’s premier management development institutions located in Hyderabad. But he ended up leading two institutions in India offering the MBA program as their flagship. Both had an enhanced reputation after he had been there a few years.

He had two major talents. He was able to recruit large number of faculty in a short period, despite occasional criticism that some were below par. The other competing institutions had to battle faculty shortages because they had set the bar too high. The large numbers also helped ramp up the training business which he was able to get due to his previous associations. Both the institutions he led benefited from this talent of his.

Case Study 3

This might be a case study of what not to do, in my view. This was a person leading a major Indian B school. Though he had a credible background as a faculty member and teacher, he had very few leadership skills. His involvement in the institute was very limited and superficial, and he was not an inspiration to do either research, or training or consulting, as he had no track record in these activities. It becomes difficult to inspire your followers if you have not been in the trenches, to use a military analogy. But he had one major achievement to his credit. He pioneered the use of distance learning courses through the use of  technology (with a partner) at his institute while he was heading it. This was later copied by many other institutions, and made management education more accessible to new segments- working executives in particular.

There is an easy way to antagonise faculty, and that is to play politics or favourites. You may have some favourites, but they should not get favoured treatment. Institutional interest must come first.

Amazing Songs - C Ramchandra

There are quite a few amazing songs and artists from the years gone by. One is C. Ramchandra, also known as Chitalker, when he sang. Otherwise, a music director. A quick intro. Statutory warning- You may break out into a dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wAzFY7mQMU

Look at this live version of a classic Shola jo bhadke dil mera dhadke..with a lovely Kavita Krishnamurthy accompanying C. Ramchandra himself.

Then, see the movie version below with Bhagwan dada and Geeta Bali. Albela is the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9WA9e47kbQ

Another classic from C. Ramchandra, namely, Eena Meena Deeka by Kishore Kumar from the movie Asha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxJH9kXo_3o

To top it all, another foot-tapping one sung by Lata and Amirbai Karnataki, Gore gore, o banke chhore,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co42dt6HY8Q

Here and There

First, a joke I read recently.

Why are there no fireworks in the Euro Disney Park in Paris like they have in America?
Because whenever they start the fireworks, the French Army tries to surrender.

Moving on to big-ticket reforms. It beats me why the reforms had to wait until the last few months of the govt. in power. Cricket coaches talk about timing all the time. Can we hire some?

Ranjhana, the film. I found it tedious and pointless after a refreshing first one-third or so. Literally, the director 'lost the plot'. Or else, I am losing it. Both are equally probable. Dhanush has promise, but I am scared for Sonam, lest she become an Abhishek Bachchan.

The rupee is 60, and eligible for senior citizen discounts when it travels abroad. So when can we replace it with something with a spine?

74 B schools closed this year in India. Should have been 700, the way some are going. Clueless in the extreme.

Air Asia to come in by year-end in India. Hope they break the monopoly/cartel/oligopoly of the not-so-low cost carriers.