The political psychology

Saturday being an off from office normally starts late for me. But today I had to get up at 4 am to catch a train for Aligarh for an official visit. The pleasant Lucknow Shatabdi (the best among all Shatabdis) provided me with a copy of Indian Express. With sinking eyes wishing to close and relax I took the copy from the attendant more as a courtsey than an interest to read. As I moved to slide the newspaper in the back side pocket of the front seat, my eyes caught a news line - "TATA's open letter to Bengal". Since, the recent news were full of Nano, TATA, Buddhadeb, Singur, Mamta, etc. etc. I thought of investing few minutes to read this news before slipping to the sleep.

Mr. Ratan Tata's message through the letter to the youth of Bengal was both hard and soft but in no way looked politically motivated as claimed by the Mamta camp, though Mr. Rata mentioned in his letter that Mr. Buddhadeb has made real efforts in bringing the investors back to the oldest industrial state of the country. Tomorrow if somebody from Mamta camp reads this blog of mine, he will certainly label me as a Buddhadeb supporter. That's the political psychology!

Calcutta is the oldest - probably the first - metro of the country and a city wherefrom the industrialization of the country started. Calcutta, and for that matter West Bengal, is also probably the only place in the country which sank to its darkest depths of industrial failure because of political motives. Why and how it all happened? One compelling reason is the omnipresent "politics of Vote Bank". Having industries made the State employ lacs of workers in various industries. This working class was in huge numbers and was the major target group of all political parties. Every party tried to woo this section of the society in the State in trying to gain their vote bank. The national parties were moderate in their approach whereas parties which sprang from within the state were very rigid and aggressive in their agenda. Parties like Congress and BJP were found to be in a conciliatory mode, trying to get benefits for the working class even as supporting the pro-business policies. This was purely to balance their political interests in other parts of the country where working class was minimal and industrial development was required with the support of business houses. However, parties like Trinamool Congress and even CPM with the regional interests started focusing entirely on working class with a motive of pushing the business houses to the wall to squeez out everything for working class. These parties have been looked upon as saviors of working class. With an overwhelming support from the working class these parties were almost always able to hammer the industries on various issues. So when a paisa is increased on any amenity to improve the facilities or simply to meet the increased cost, a strike is always on the card. But as somebody said that "business of business is business", industries started shifting their bases from WB or closing down their units as they found themselves more in strikes than in business. In the process lacs of workers either lost their jobs or settled for a petty, less paying, small time work. No denying then that the Saviors played the role of Destructors!

Mr. Ratan in his open letter to Bengal asked a very simple yet thoughtful question - “Would they like to support the present Government of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to build a prosperous state or would they like to see the state consumed by the destructive political environment of confrontation, agitation, violence and lawlessness? Do they want education and jobs in the industrial and high-tech sectors or does the future generation see its future prosperity achieved on a ‘stay as we are’ basis?”

But Trinamool Congress wasted no time to dismiss the letter as politically motivated and written in consultation with CPM. How on earth people can cheat themselves!!!

Even if the letter is politically motivated I dont see a problem because for the prosperity of the state and looking into the future the CPM is changing its ideology slowly and gradually to bring back industries. The Nano factory was a silver lining and could have served as the best example of industrial return to the state. But alas, the vested interest killed a once in a hundred year opportunity to give back to the people of the state what they were first to develop and own - the industrialization.

I dont squarely blame the Trinamool Congress either. Politics is like business - Give people what they need the most and you will sell a lot. That's how the political agendas are made. In WB its the interest of working class, in J&K its the interest of Kashmiri people, in UP its the interest of Ram Janm Bhoomi / Babri Masjid, in Rajsthan its the reservation for a section of society, in Maharastra it is the Marathi interest, and the list goes on. The problem is not with the interests. The problem is when all energies are diverted in achieving these interests at the cost of real and important issues of education, poverty, development, human rights, healthcare, etc. I do appreciate that there are strong emotions attached with all the specific interests listed above but we must also understand that satiating emotional thirst is not going to fill our bellies.

If people of the country come out of their emotional state and look at issues more objectively then even the political parties will have to change their agendas from petty politics to real development issues. The psychology of politics starts from people and ends with people. Unless people change their mindset we cannot expect our political leaders change their as they also form part of the very society we all live in.

So to change the political psychology let's change our psychology first... May God give us strength.

Visit to ISB Interview Venue

Today started the ISB interview rounds at Delhi Venue. Since my office is adjacent to the commercial building where ISB has planned to have interviews, I wasted no time to pay visit to the venue and get some information from the students getting interviewed today. When I reached the venue I made myself comfortably sit in the reception. There are different panels to manage the interivew of good number of candidates in shortest possible time. One such panel was interviewing candidates in a room on the right hand side of the reception. I was able to see through the room since there was a glass wall with only thin opaque strips. The first candidate was looking very confident, so much so that he kept his stylish sunglasses on the table and in front of the panel and leaned back on the chair. God knows what was discussed with him? When he came out of the room I made my way behind him and introduced myself to him when he was waiting for the lift. Curiosity was on my face, and little nervousness on his. This nervousness may be due the panel's asking him to share a joke that he remembers. He obviously was under tremendous pressure, which he was trying to hide with his confidence during the interview, and requested the panel to let it go... I am now mugging some jokes;)

Similarly there were two more candidates whom i could spk to. The gist of the interview round is here:

1) There is an essay writing. But all the three candidates were not able to explain what exactly was the essay all about... They were all nervous.
2) All the questions were concentrated around the application. So be prepared to be asked anything on your application.
3) The interview was very cool. The panel was very friendly. People came out nervous simply because the interview was of ISB.
4) The panel finally asks if the candidate has some question to ask? Be ready with a good question as this may also impress the panel. Dont ask a question like "How ISB can help me attain my career goal?" becuase that would mean that you have not done your research on the institute properly.
Will share with you my own experience once I am done on 16th Oct.
All the best to all prospective ISBians.

ISB Interview Call

Dear Masroor,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been short listed for an interview by the ISB Admissions Committee.
The schedule is outlined below:
Date: 16-Oct-2008
Time: 15:20 Hours
Duration: 30 minutes approximately
Panel No: 1
City: New Delhi
Venue: Regus Level 4, Rectangle 1,Commercial complex D4, Saket, Newdelhi, Tel: 11 4051 4051
As part of the application process announced earlier, please forward soft copies (in pdf format) of your mark sheets/transcripts from your class X onwards to (There was a link which i have deleted for reasons of security)
latest by Monday, October 7, 2008.
You need to report 15 minutes before the scheduled interview time for another assessment, which precedes the interview.To confirm your attendance for the interview, please click here.
Note: If your mail client does not support hyper link execution, please copy and execute below url from browser. (There was a link which i have deleted for reasons of security)
We look forward to meeting you at the interview.
Office of Admissions & Financial Aid
Indian School of Business
Gachibowli
Hyderabad 500 032
Ph: +91 40 2318 7474
Fax: +91 40 2300 7099
www.isb.edu/pgp
This is for the first time that I am not having butterflies in my stomach given the importance of this interview. And I dont know why? But as the days pass I am sure the pressure of performance will mount on me... God save me from those last minute pangs and keep me cool, please. Amen. Summa Amen.
Yesterday I attended one of the mock interviews at Princeton. In their view my profile is very strong. . . I just need to manage some of my body language which at one point signalled my uncomfort with one of the questions. Coming from HR background I know that "how you speak" is equally important, or sometimes more important, than "what you speak". As one of the current students wrote to me, ISB has already made up their mind about me and they would just be validating that perception during the interview. It is my responsibility to reinforce that perception. And if the perception is otherwise then interview is an opportunity to change that perception. In a way a hard selling is required (We are first a salesman then any other professional as we always try to sell ourselves to our customers - doctors to patients, newspapers to readers, , candidates to interviewees, and the infinite list goes on)
Well, time to prepare and say GOOD BYE... Will inform about the interveiw once done. Till then keep visiting this page ;)