Saturday, August 11, 2007

On Cultural Differences



I think every good B-School has its own cultural trademarks. These traits are the ones with which people can associate themselves, years after they have left their alma mater. One of these ‘culturally differentiating trademarks’ at ISB is that of ‘dunking’. Since pictures speak more than words, I have put two photographs of the first ‘Day time Dunking’ of our section. And if you are confused what a suited- booted Paah Ji is doing in a swimming pool, then that’s dunking or rather having been dunked.

Normally the Birthday kid and his/ her study group members are the first ones to be dunked; until the madness rises when most people end up getting dunked. But what drove the Section to break the tradition of Dunking at Mid-night was the fear of Corporate Finance Mid-term exam. So the dunking seems to be appropriate in the sense that people are washing the (bad) memories of the just concluded paper.

Preparations are also on at ISB for the Independence Day celebration. The best thing about the events planned for this 15th August is the visit of a number of school kids along with some NGOs. People here are planning games, music, arts and what not for the kids. And I know being in the reception committee for welcoming the kids is a much needed change than being escorted to the stage set up for district celebrations in the Collectorate. After all the responsibility to organize a successful show is the responsibility of the ADM General.

It also reminds me of the events I had planned for the Independence Day celebration at the District Headquarter in one of my postings. Amongst all the other things, I was most impressed was the performance of a flute player who played almost divine music. After a few days I had called for him only to discover an untrained rustic villager who was out of earnings, job, shows and a group to perform with. His previous group having dumped him for all the attention he used to draw.

Ranjan had brought with him a lot of certificates along with newspaper cuttings showing his kuchha hut and stories from his village where he works as a day labourer in others’ fields. All I could arrange was to tie him with a professional group with the help of District Information Officer. Now Ranjan is staging shows again and has been to some foreign countries as well. At times if my mobile buzzes and someone cries for a few minutes before speaking a word, I know it must be ‘Babu Moshay’. After all, places have their unique cultural trademark.

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