Chirping birds provide us soothing music,
Flurring wings,
wings that represent freedom,
Freedom of thought and action
which does not take these birds elsewhere
Freedom of movement
Freedom of thought
Freedom of action
Within the campus
They move organically, at times in tandem,
Understanding and following the path of the leader,
Leader who is free to take them anywhere,
From Ashoka to Lincoln to Gandhi to Kalam to Kapil to Buddhadeb to Medha Patkar,
The freedom of leader,
The wisdom of leader,
The vision of leader
Ultimately where we want to go,
Our direction and efforts.
Chirping birds and their droppings
Decorating with their graffiti on roads and paths
Making us conscious of our way
Providing an odor to the nose
Graffiti to the eyes
Chirping to the ears
Droppings to the head.
Droppings are all through our way
It is how we get away with it
Without a foot on the fresh one
And without an umbrella in our hand
We should not need an umbrella to obstruct our interactions
With the chirping birds.
The risk of getting hit by the droppings is good enough
To be taken for an open environment
It would caution us to not to walk freely but with caution.
Chirping birds are also in the lounge through the fragrance
Of their droppings.
Interdependence,
Our survival depend on their survival
Their survival depends on our survival.
Where do they have better ecosystem to survive
Without harming them and
Without loosing their music of chirping and
Without the fear of carrying an umbrella
Even in the absence of rain and sun
Change requires to study them and to relate
Michael Porter to Hamel to Prahalad to Robin sharma
To be in the peace with the birds of development.
Development that provides us chirping
Development would have droppings
And the droppings would have smell and filth
So can we call off development?
Let us give it a thought for the cause of sustainable development goal.
Development that is sustained through economic reforms
Development that is sustained through better financial decision making
Development that is sustained through organizational redesign for public management
Development that is sustained through WTO
Development that is sustained through managing conflict
Development that is sustained through managing projects
Development that is sustained through learning & developing leadership excellence
Development that is sustained through protecting environment
Development that is sustained through studying strategies
Development that is sustained through understanding financial statements
Development that is sustained through learning how can we change
Development that is sustained through learning accountability, transparency, responsiveness, sustainability & efficiency for governance
Development that is sustained through better information networks in our villages
Development that is sustained through managing costs and projects.
It is all to put us Ek kadam aagey (one step ahead).
Step ahead of the main land
From a corner of Manipur to the height of Sikkim,
From the width of Arunanchal to the pocket of Tripura,
From the wetness of Meghalaya to the warmth of Mizoram,
After all the convergence at Brahamputra.
It is not at all that shady as projected by biased media,
It is not at all that gruesome as defended by our political guards.
We make a beginning or
We continue our efforts tirelessly
To project that we have the potential & energy
That we know that the bird droppings have pluses and minuses
That we share friendliness and brotherhood
Amongst ourselves and
We have wide open heart to adapt to change.
I hope we have learnt
How to manage this change.
Let us continue to change, make friends and
Add better value to our social capital.
vk shrotryia,
tata Hall, IIM Calcutta, 11th Jan 2007, 3 pm
