Mgmt vs Courtesy

For every MBA entrance exam, one stage of screening is the Group Discussion session. This involves a group of 10 – 15 people given a certain topic, issue or case study to discuss within a specified time limit. The performance of each person in the group is noticed, along with group dynamics which come into play. Based on these and other parameters, people are selected.

Now, how is one supposed to act, behave or contribute in the GD so as to make sure of his/her selection? Many people tell you about many things which should be done to ensure the same. The most obvious of these are read enough so that you have content to make valuable contribution, improve upon command over language & similar others. But there is one which says that you should act in an appropriate manner so as not to make a “fish-market” out of the GD.

Now to achieve the last mentioned, its important that everyone lets others, who wish to contribute something, speak. But because of the time crunch, and the fact that only few will be selected puts a pressure on all… so everybody is trying to speak… cutoff someone else in the middle of a sentence… not really listen to anybody but yourself, and many a times not even yourself… so in all this we forget, or are forced to forget, the basic courtesies… in an attempt to state our points, we tend to be rude while cutting people off in mid-sentence… we start yelling and continue talking irrespective of whether we are being heard or not… we might even bring irrelevance to the GD just in order to grab some sound bites & attention, jeopardizing everyone else as well along with ourselves…

So exactly what are we being tested for during a GD…? Whether we can be convincing or not…? Whether we can turn the tide in our favor..? whether we can make the group with in line with us...? whether we can make ourselves function in a group situation, analyze the agenda at hand and reach a conclusion..? and I am assuming many more things which I am not even aware of…

But in order to do all this, why do I have to forget or let go of the basic courtesies..? Why should I not be courteous enough to listen to others and form an informed decision..? Why should I not politely tell someone that they are wasting time by being irrelevant..? Why does the other person not be courteous enough to understand the same and atleast listen to what I think is relevant and help the GD..? Agreed in practicality, Managers may have to deal with a number of such and/or other difficult people to handle… but why am I as a Manager expected to get harsh with such people when they don’t back off…? Why aren’t people courteous enough to back off themselves…?

Why don’t Indians value courtesy as much as they should..? as much as is deserved..? the most…

Reading Signals…?

Its time for me to get going again… I have a 6 am flight to catch… I somehow manage to sleep by midnight the previous night & wake up at 3:25 am the next morning… after sleeping for 3.5 hours… I get ready & call the Airline to check for the flight status… the flight is on time…
I leave home at 4:30 am with Pa… needless to say there was no traffic… and then at 4:45 am suddenly there’s load of it at a certain point… I say Shit… but within 10 minutes we manage to get through… I reach the Airport at 5:15 am… bang on my target… I go in & there’s completely no waiting – for the first time… next comes the check in… though there is a long queue as always, but there’s a separate one for females which is real short at this hour, so once again I manage to get through fast & smooth… at 5:15 am I am done with all formalities & ready to board…
The boarding starts at 5:20 am sharp… deposit the hand luggage in the overhead cabin, and I am all settled in by 5:35 am… the flight takes off sharp at 6 am… hasn’t happened in a long time and my memory isn’t failing me this time… so I am kinda pleasantly surprised… I am on aisle seat, with no one next to me… a chap on the window seat, who seems to be travelling for the first time… I had picked up ET from the Airport, which I start reading as soon as I settle in… and I am surprised again, as I can understand it…! The chap also happens to be a Financial Analyst n he starts up a conversation… I talk for a few moments but then sleep just takes over…
I land in Mumbai at 8:10 am… exactly as expected… by 8: 35 am I am on my way home & decide to take the Powai route… we find all signals on our way green… no stop anywhere… Powai is practically devoid of traffic, well at least compared to its own standards… so I finally reach home at 9:45 am… a every smooth ride back home…
Now if someone believed in life being about signals… the way I’d read it is… Mumbai city doesn’t want me to leave… it created problems in terms of delays on my way out of it… it showed me its caring & considerate nature to lure me back… On my way back to this city, it welcomed me with open arms… cleared all hurdles from my path… made me feel at home…
Someone can also read it as a chain of coincidences… or say that the troubles on my way out are all the more a reason for me to move out… but guess the I am reading them the way I want or hope them to sound…
Nevertheless, as soon as I was on my way home from the airport,I was suddenly hit by a sense of being an adult, of being independent & on my own… I realized that when at home with folks I get back into I-am-still-a-kid mode… of course, their endless love & affection just reaffirms the same…
I guess I like being on my own… but as is said, excess of everything is bad… so I am looking for the perfect balance…

Experience with Mumbai Autoricks…

5th March, 2008
I am on my way to Delhi again…
Get a message at 11pm that my GoAir flight to Delhi at 20:20 hrs has been cancelled… I spend an hour or so trying to arrange an alternative… finally I am booked for a 17:25 flight on the same day…. So now I have to leave office even earlier than expected… ofcourse just as I am about to leave office, I am told that my flight has been delayed to 18:15 hrs…
realized in the morning that I’ve misplaced my ATM debit card… strain my brain & remember that I left it at CrossWord Book Store on Sunday… spent some uncomfortable hours in the morning trying to not worry about it much & get through to them… store is supposed to open at 11 am… I get through at 11:30… they do have my card, kept safely with them… So now I have to pick it up also on my way to the airport.
I leave office at 1400 hrs… make arrangements for Arti, finalise my packing, lock up & leave at 1500 hrs... 1st stop is a change of Rick at Mulund Check Post… one driver started running with my arriving rick, anticipating that I need to go to the Airport by giving one glance to my relatively large amount of luggage… the driver of the rick I was in saw my reluctance & annoyance & hence offered to drop me a little further up ahead… I am grateful as every step taken with luggage is an extra effort…
I take a 2nd Rick to go the Book Store… along with ours, another Rick is driving parallel… at the 1st signal, both the drivers glance at each other, exchange knowing smiles… as soon as the signal turns green, the other rick driver gives race and signals the start… from there on it’s a neck-to-neck… for those who are unaware of what I am talking about… it’s a race between 2 rick drivers… the race ends inconclusively when I reach my destination first…
It’s a shopping mall & I am entering it armed with 2 huge travel bags in my hands & a laptop bag all packed up as well… security wonders what in the world am I doing… the same can be seen in the eyes of those who happen to glance in my direction… I am trying to manage a decent pace so as to keep up with my time management… I reach the shop, pick up my card, Thank the people there profusely & leave… again the walk back with luggage till the road…
I come out & just cant carry the weight any longer… just drop my luggage in a rick & ask him to take me to the Airport… as soon as we are on the roll, the driver asks me ”Ma’am, how much time do you have ?”… I am a little surprised by this question… came from an unexpected quarter… I tell him I have just about sufficient time… he clarifies saying there’s a huge jam up ahead at IIT, Powai, stretching both ways… so he suggests that we take another route which will be less congested… when we reach the point of diversion for the new route, I ask him again that the new route will surely be better… he says till definitely will be & in case its not, he knows another route… I am impressed…
We reach the point of diversion and my goodness the traffic is scary & standing still … we take the diversion & I feel glad I took his rick… a little further ahead, at a signal he tells me that all the traffic is going in 1 direction… our direction… so it’ll be crowded as well now… so he asks me… “Should we follow the crowd & take the expected right turn or should we continue ahead ?”… I tell him I just want to reach Airport on time so he should take the route accordingly & he replies… “Ma’am the straight route is longer so the meter reading will be high, then you might say that I took you from the longer route, so I need to clarify with you…”… I ask him how much could it possibly be & he gives me an idea.. I had anticipated a higher sum, so I am relieved… we go straight ahead… it’s a route I’ve never been on before… but I am not worried about it…
Its 1640 hrs by now… I want to be at the Airport max by 1715 hrs for my flight as I have luggage to check in this time… I ask him how much more time & he says 15 mins or so… I reach airport at 1700 hrs… the meter reading is 5 bucks less than what had been quoted by him… I am again impressed & grateful… I Thank him and make my way in…
What just happened is a small thing… but it made my day… the Book Store keeping my card in safekeeping and the considerate nature of the both the drivers… this is what customer service should be all about… of course, apart from this, my already delayed flight was further delayed by another 20 minutes or so, but I guess by now I have come to expect it… even the initial delay was expected… guess I would’ve been surprised had that not happened ! but then I cant really blame them for bad customer service coz its infrastructure issue… though to their credit, I would give them the smooth rebooking as a result of their flight cancellation… agreed I was annoyed when the flight got cancelled, but the smooth manner of rebooking didn’t leave any scope for a bitter after taste… so, at their end, they did provide good customer service as well… guess things aren’t always that bad…

Do I know them…?

It’s amazing how wedding changes people… people you’ve known suddenly seem so different… u might not even recognize them for a split second if they passed u by…! They just seem like someone else… without any resemblance to the person u knew… guess it’s all the more unacceptable if u don’t know the person too well but are just an acquaintance… it just seems weird to see them with an identity u aren’t familiar with… to just suddenly see their pics & find a whole new & grand thing… maybe if u were tuned into the person’s life n had been with them thru the entire process, it might not be this weird…
Or it just might be more… to see a childhood friend, cousin whom you’ve been with since time began for u… to see them married… then u lose touch & then one fine day u bump into them & they tell u that they are expecting a child! Of course u r enormously happy & overjoyed for them… but it still doesn’t make it believable… just doesn’t seem real… everyone knows it’s the cycle of life & this is how things happen… but the knowledge still doesn’t prepare one for it or make it real…!
And what’s even more unimaginable… u being in their position one day…!! Again, it’s expected & maybe even desired to an extent… but it still doesn’t make it believable or real…

Unexpected meetings…

U know that feeling when u meet someone for the first time… esp. when completely unexpected…
On my flight to Delhi this time, the flight was running 2 hours late from Mumbai… it was late in the evening & I was really tired after a hectic day… so by the time I boarded the plane & settled into my seat, I had a headache. I had an aisle seat… in the adjoining aisle seat was some chap I glanced over at once… guess he had glanced over in my direction as well coz soon enough he asked me if I had a headache… on confirmation, he offered a tablet which I denied as I thought just taking a nap would be sufficient…
The flight still hadn’t taken off yet & I couldn’t sleep, so he started talking in general… within the 1st minute itself we realized that we both work in the same company in Mumbai, but in different offices… and then we just started talking…
Its amazing how in a span of barely 2 hours we touched on various & varied topics… starting from the respective reason for this journey of ours, work in our respective offices, people we knew in each other’s offices, ILP memories to education, family backgrounds, books, music, college, friends, habits, hobbies, traveling experiences, politics, love, friendship, marriage, relationships, kids, photography, weekends, Pune, movies, pub-hopping, drinks, food, cultures across the world… the conversation just kept changing directions every few minutes… one thing somehow just led to another thing… some flirting from the other end was expected & enjoyed…
At then end of the journey, exchanging phone numbers was the obvious thing to do after such a pleasant flight which I began with a frown & headache but ended with a huge smile & a good feeling…
During my stay in Delhi, he did get in touch once…
And out of nowhere called me up suddenly today… a pleasant surprise reminding of another one in recent past…

My 1st Mumbai rain…

It started suddenly towards the end of a really sunny & hot day… and start with a bang it did… the thunderous roar could easily make one jump out of their skin! and it just starts pouring cats and dogs… the highway visible from my window is now hidden behind a screen… apart from the sudden nip in the air, the signs of temperature drop include the tap water being colder now… it’s such a joy to splash it on my face…
Few people are soaking themselves inside out… I message a friend with whom I had been speaking with just a few moments before the downpour… a little while later and the rains have reached his doorsteps as well… I try calling another pal ‘coz the 1st rain reminded me of something he had said a few months ago… but sadly I am not able to reach him.
Of course how could I not have a cuppa in a scenario like this… so that’s exactly what follows… the rain has found its way inside the house from where ever possible… it continues to pour for a while… then the clouds seem to relent… the highway becomes visible again… its barely a drizzle now being blown in every possible direction by the wind…
As expected, I am on my terrace now to absorb the after effects… and I have never seen lightning like this ever before… it literally starts from one end of the horizon and spreads till the other… lights up everything in its wake… in the distance dark clouds are still very visibly lingering over the hill top… one can safely assume it’s still raining heavily there… The amazing part is, though the lightning is still very prevalent, its thunderous roar is lost now… every time there’s a flash, the entire nerve-mesh of the sky becomes visible… from the other side of the hill, only a glow at intervals is visible… and out of nowhere appears an inbound airplane… I say a small prayer for all those up there… I might’ve been afraid if I was up there right now…
So many impulsive changes to note… I come down from the terrace, start penning down and the electricity goes kaput! Now the practical aspects are kicking in as I finish this in candle light and wonder when the fan’s gonna start rotating so that I can sleep comfortably…

My Moon...

I had never seen the moon the way I see it here… I am on terrace (8th floor) at 11pm… its about 5 days to full moon… the entire terrace is washed by the moon light… the stars are scattered all across the sky along with frequent flights in and out of Mumbai… the clouds find themselves completely helpless as they are drawn towards the mountain range in the view… its slightly breezy and I am taking a walk… completely convinced that the Moon right over head is there just to watch over me and me alone… its serene light is meant to calm my being alone and prolong my piece alone… nobody else can lay a claim on it but just me, reveling in its presence…
I come down from the terrace to transcend to the dream world… I lie down on the bed and find the Moon right outside my window… stating its uncontested claim on me… the inappropriateness of the artificial light is glaring… it is corrected at once… and the night progresses, with only music allowed the pleasure of the company of me and my Moon…