Brief Reconnect - Part II

This is in continuation of my last post.

All the invited ex faculty members from outside, retired as well as working, converged at the designated hotel in Ahmedabad on the evening preceding the reunion day.  Great bonhomie was in the air as friends and colleagues met after a long time, hugged and complimented each other on their still-so-youthful looks.  Most of us must have been wondering whether this was more out of love or the result of age induced hypermetropia.  Kamleshbhai who is heading the college, now called Baroda Academy, was there with a few faculty members and greeted the invitees.

A little later the group settled down to a long chatty dinner in the dining hall.  After dinner people broke up in smaller groups for some more chat before retiring to their rooms.  Next morning we all assembled at the college at the appointed time, 9:30 in the morning.  There we had the pleasure of meeting some more colleagues who have settled in Ahmedabad itself or Baroda which is nearby.  One of these was Mr Trivedi who is now 84 years of age and going great.  He maintains that the secret of his longevity lies in 100 blood donations he made over years and the social work that he is doing now.

The day started with a prayer followed by a welcome to and an address by the chief guest of the day.  It was very refreshing to find that the chief guest was Swami Brahm Bihari Das, chief priest at the Akshardham temple at Gandhinagar.  It was very thoughtful of our hosts to have spared us drab shop talk by an executive of the bank.  Swamiji looked rather young.  We were told that he was educated abroad and is a renowned speaker in many international fora.  Swamiji spoke impeccable English though you could detect a very faint touch of Gujarati accent occasionally.  After intros and welcome there was the lamp lighting ceremony and Swamiji started his speech with a prayer and an invocation to Akshar Brahm and Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

Swamiji turned out to be a speaker par excellence, a speaker who can capture and hold your attention with ease and grace.  He emphasized the importance of starting out with being happy rather than slogging your way to it as a distant goal.  And the best way of being happy according to him was to make others happy.  He urged upon the General Manager sharing the dais to ensure that all his employees always stayed happy thereby making the bank not only a great bank but a happy bank.  I wonder if I smiled too widely as this invoked the memory of a Dilbert cartoon.  In the cartoon a manager's boss is scolding him.  The manager has been practicing theory Y.  The boss is pointing a finger towards blissful staff, and is shown scowling and saying, "Look at them!  They are too happy to work!!"  I also recalled a standing joke in the organization which maintained that the HR had a simple task - maximizing staff unhappiness!  May be this too is a way of enhancing happiness.  After all a hard won goal always gives more pleasure than one that comes your way too easily.

Swamiji also underscored the cathartic effects of forgiving and asked those who had any grudges for not getting that promotion or this posting to put it behind them.  I wonder if this touched a raw nerve in some.  Later he presented expensive mementos to each one on behalf of the college.  Also the college has taken a wonderful step of replacing bouquets with books which ware presented alongside the memento.

This was followed by a tea break and then a session where people were invited to share their memories.  There was no list to be followed.  People came forward on their own and it was closing time before everyone could do so.  The first speaker happened to be a trainer who had conducted induction programs for quite a few of the others present there.  He started out with a joke about a patient preferring a banker's heart for a transplant.  The reason was simple - it is never used and hence must be good as new!  And then he marveled at the generous gesture that this ceremony was, far removed from what you would expect from a heartless community relying on cold reason alone.

This speaker talked of near-death experiences in which people claim to experience a panorama of all the events of their life.  Emotions welled up when he said that he was certain that when his time comes this event will surely be there in the forefront with all its magnanimity and its emotive impact. This thought was shared by a couple of other speakers who spoke after him.  It was wonderful listening to people talking of their memories and their current passions.

Ex administrative staff was also present at this meet.  Anandbhai, ex electrician and a very talented and sincere person shared his memories and experiences in a wonderful manner.  So did the ex librarian, Mr. Dave, who was instrumental in implementation of extended library hours.

Last two speakers were SureshKumar and Rakesh Sharma.  Wonderful speakers indeed!  The ease with which they communicated their emotions was superb.  College faculty and principal remained present throughout, listening intently.

This part of the event was concluded at around 4:30 in the evening and thereafter the group broke up to return later for a cultural evening and dinner.

It was a gala musical evening and the performing group had a target of presenting a bouquet of 50 old and new songs: the number matching the age of the academy.  The compere Ranjeet Gautam, who did a terrific job, said that the list had been chosen by Kamleshbhai himself who is a connoisseur of music.  A guru-vandana was also recited and at that time all the existing faculty members came forward and bowed to the ex faculty members:  Another gesture that touched the hearts of the invitees.

The celebrations concluded late in the evening with a sumptuous dinner.  During dinner an old timer proposed a very simple and hilarious career long performance evaluation test.  He said that the best measure of how hard you have worked in your career is the number of tablets that have been prescribed for you post retirement.

There was complete agreement on the crucial role that the unassuming Kamleshbhai must have played to bring about this event.

People said their goodbyes and returned to the hotel.  I was to visit Bank's IT Institute at Gandhinagar next day.  I propose to write about this visit later.

A hilarious contrast to this meeting where there was not a single person who felt a stranger, was provided by hotel El-Dorado where invitees were staying.  It is a nice hotel with very friendly and hospitable staff.  However it chooses to describe itself as a place for strangers.  All its cars bear the inscription - "Receiving Strangers" and so does the reception.  A few photographs below will help you appreciate the "strangeness" of the place.