Bees Saal Bad : the 10th and 11th of April 2009 There were those who came from far; there were those who came from near; (not to be confused with those who nearly came). They came in singles and multiples, by air and land; for a few hours and for a few days. It was the 89 batch from IIMB coming back to the campus after 20 years. The kickoff meeting was in the Management Development Centre (called the Prabandh Vikas Kendra in the rashtra-bhasha). The meeting was with the current Diro in a class-room kind of venue. The room was air-conditioned, had excellent (dimmable) lighting and was wired up with excellent AV equipments. Overheard: "If we had classrooms like we might have attended more classes". The Diro expounded on issues like variety; autonomy; curriculum; incubating business; revenue split between consultancy and fees etc etc. There were polite questions about how the alumni can help, how to increase the brand equity of IIMB in South East Asia, the need (or the lack of it) for new IIMs etc. It was interesting, but in a staid sort of way, if one may say so. Things were more or less on conventional lines, till some thing happened – that something being Gads. Gads as in the past was sitting in the front row. He watched the proceedings with a bored eye for some time, and then decided to take charge. He started off with a few arm looseners. The hushed back benchers whispered among themselves that Gadhalay's questions have become shorter and more comprehensible – age has mellowed him. But it soon became clear that Gads was just warming up – he had but been probing in a playful manner. Soon he slipped into his usual attacking style. The backbenchers cheered. And the poor Diro bore the brunt of it. The onslaught of questions was continuous - before he could dispatch one, another was upon him; before he understood what was being asked there was a followup; he was left searching for purpose and meaning behind the questions, little knowing that neither was intended. Gads was merciless. But he was also swift. In a matter of a few minutes it all ended, with Gads throwing in the last unbeatable one: Why are you not in South America? And while a dazed Diro was still trying to figure out whether Gadhalay meant IIMB or the Diro himself, (and the onlookers wondered why either of the two should be in South America) helpful hands led him out. And the backbenchers sighed, hoping fervently that the quivering mass of confusion that the Diro has been reduced to will, with the passage of time revert to his confident self – after all there is a proposal to meet again on the 25th anniversary in 2014. Gads' questions served one purpose for sure – they teleported the batch of 89 back in time to when they were all students. And so the 2 minute introductions became more uninhibited and lively. They were accompanied by 40 second enforced reading out from the Iimpressions. They were a diverse lot and time had dealt with them differently – there were those who had aged well, and those who had, well, aged. There were some who looked younger – topping the list being Venky the tanky and Debonair Debi. There were those who looked the same – like Indu, Sharad, Laddoo, Anjan & Sadhu (but then the last one started off as an old man). The main victims of fashion over the 20 years seem to be moustaches as an appendage – there were many faces without them. They were a diverse lot and came in all sorts of shapes and sizes – not just the members of the batch of 89 themselves but also the 2 minutes introductions. There was Jayashanker who finished his in 15.67 seconds flat; there was Gopal who was quizzed by his son; there was Vinod who gave perplexing reasons for restricting his family size; there was Gato who focused only on the personal; there was Harishanker who confessed that he had somehow managed to keep his family far from the far from flattering descriptions in Iimpressions; there was Sharad who ruminated over the existential aspects of selling pottys; there was Chops who started off, " I need no introductions"; there was Soma whose career had followed Koshy's career with a temporal lag; Neelu who is as agile as ever with the foot-in-the-mouth game; there was Ram who held everyone enthralled by showing off the talented team members of his ad agency (one understands that the gender ratio in the advertising industry of Vietnam is inverse to that found in IIMB); there was Anju who talked about Abhijeet and Zen and Abhijeet who talked only about Anju; there was Kanoongo San who (as deserved the classroom atmosphere) took down notes due to force of habit, but this time via a video cam; Shireesh Mukund Joshi who displayed his ability to go native with his self-introduction, "myself, Shireesh Mukund Joshi, this side"; Madhu talked about his entry into mango-farming via pharma sales in Russia and western Europe; Debonair Debi talked about not being able to see summer because of his alternating life between the US and Australia. Vedula was much appreciated (as were the T shirts sponsored courtesy Nokia). Anjan (or rather his video) stood apart (as does this para on him). He held forth on the need for sustainable development and the key role of technology in cleaning water. His passion for entrepreneurship, dedication to a good cause and unerring eye in capturing the latest technology has taken a physical manifestation in the form of HyCa. The video was interesting, instructive and inspiring. (the last paragraph was written by our chief sponsor - HyCa). Guru happened after the 2 minute intros. Aided by liquid lubrication the batch bonded with a vengeance. Puneet Anand and Bajpeyi joined in. And as the evening aged two things stood out very clearly – · The past 20 years has added a lot of weight to the batch : weight that went beyond the weighing scale. Some of the weight was due to their professions – the confidence born of experience & the knowledge which went beyond the bookish. Some of it was seen in their views & beliefs – the flotsam and jetsam of opinion that every active mind possesses. But the most amount of incremental weight was in the personal sphere – the families that they had built up. The kids and the wives were a treat. The way they blended in among themselves was also surprising. In a major way the families represented the true distance that the group had traveled since their 1989. · And the second point? Beneath the patina of age there is still a lot of the old personalities intact. Somethings have not changed – the walk of Chops, Gadhalay's passion, Anjan's smile, Sampy's wit, Gato's earthy observations, Vinod's detailed answers, Koshy's arguments, Venky's one-liners, Abhijit's guffaw, Soma's giggle, Laddoo's height, Anju's height, Sharad's brevity, Luxie's meticulousness; Arvind's constantly-in-motion-body, Indu's sportiveness, Ram's silences (which he breaks periodically to remind you to contribute to Desperation), Vedula Suresh's Wodehousian sense of humour, PJ's singing, Shireesh's guitar playing, Piyush and his music, Kanoongo's seriousness (and his shoes), Mridul taking his forty winks in class, Gundans rolling gait, Anish's accent, Akash's grin, … Dinner followed. Followed by the cultural program in the lawns accompanied with a parallel- track entertainment in Room no 220. There were those who alternated between the two – slaking their thirst for entertainment along with their thirst. The entertainment program consisted of PJ singing, Piyush playing and Shireesh doing both. It was a great hit – actually several hits : there was much slapping around due to the mosquitoes who wanted to bond with the batch. Hillu kept the entertainment going with cryptic questions. Venky chipped in with his one-liners. And so the night aged on. The night became darker and darker. And the lights winked out one by one (sounds poetic, but Insty regulations actually). The group from the lawns decided to merge with the one at Room no 220. And so the night aged on. Much was the thirst that was quenched in Room no 220. There were the drinkers; and there were the non drinkers. The latter were divided into those who said they wont drink and did and those who said they wont drink and didn't. The drinkers didn't pay any attention to either of the two – they were too busy drinking. Neelu and Koshy sauntered in declaring they had put Anand Pai to sleep by getting him drunk – the drinkers looked at them with renewed respect : they had never thought of eliminating competition through this strategic route. But the respect evaporated when Anand Pai himself sauntered in declaring himself being refreshed from the power nap and could he have a drink, please. And so the night aged on. Much were the bumps which were given to Luxie, for playing the role of a host. And what a host he had been (and for that matter he was to continue to be the next day). He chose himself as a host and a better choice there could not have been. He was meticulous, unobtrusive, did the slogwork, kept the weirdos (which meant essentially the entire batch) engaged and managed to push things along with a gentle nudge here and a sharp kick there. Well done, Luxie! Keep it up. We need you – after all you are easy to give bumps to : imagine if we had Soma as the chief organizer. And so the night aged on. And slowly the gang in Room 220 dispersed - people left for their rooms, with yawns, with dragging feet and the occasional bottle of single malt tucked under the armpit in case one was overcome with thirst on the way to one's room… The 11th of April dawned dauntingly. At 6.30 am Gadhalay went around pressing alarm bells exhorting people to rise and shine. Gato gave vent to profanity; Koshy tried to argue logically; but mostly people just joined in. It was to be a search for morning coffee. But it turned out to be a nostalgia trip. People recognised sites of historic importance and spoke reverentially in whispers – · "Here's where Laddoo jumped from the first floor…" · "Here's where Gato (was he pushed or did he jump?) broke his arm…" · "Here's where we played baddy badly…" · "Here's where you know who did you know what to you know whom…" But the campus had changed – there were more hostel blocks & more rooms, more facilities (did you see the washing machines in the bathrooms ? such nicely tiled floors too…), new sports grounds, a new gym, and greenery – wherever one looked there was greenery. Indeed as the batch of 89 has aged the campus seemed to have become younger. The greenery was everywhere – lush, thick, velvety grass, huge hunky trees, thick vines spreading their tentacles everywhere, manicured lawns… And flowers – it being April spring had really sprung a surprise package – there were flowers on trees, in pots, in hedges…And the architecture – still the same grey stone finish on walls with kota stone staircase and brown floors. But the constructed area has considerably increased – and at an interval of every 100 feet one came across surprise elements : split levels, new perspectives, breaks in the wall to give a dekko at the lush lawns outside, play of light and shade… IIMB has become 20 years younger in as many years. Twenty years younger it may have become - but one thing the campus does not have is morning coffee. So off we went to Adigas – as befitted our middle aged status – in airconditioned cars. Post coffee saw more visits to the hostels. Unfortunates were woken up and informed that they should be thankful that they are now staying at the same place as the waker-up. More exploration happened, there is a bookshop, a spanking new computer centre and bigger and better library – the Café Coffee day was a restful oasis in the middle of all the wandering around. The pilgrimage concluded at the imposing Water Tank. The intrepid climbed up all the way, took photos and generally loafed around. The alacrity with which people climbed up was not matched with the speed of descent. In fact people were reluctant to come down. Given a choice they would not have come down. Ever. But then they had to go back. The Bees Saal Bad had been wonderful. Too bad it had to end…
Sanjay Gadhalay " -I hear and I Forget I see and I Remember , I DO and I understand " Confucius Have a nice day! N0 71 Sector A AWHO Colony Secunderabad AP India -91 9849454569
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