Sleep deprivation, exams, and the feeling that is "IIM Joka" - 1

The entities enlisted in the title led to this piece yesternight.

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Why Amitava Bose Rocks

Very often, when one comes across a brilliant piece of art/music/poetry, one is compelled to ask oneself, just what it is that lends said piece its characteristic excellence. In many of these cases, one is left with a wonderful sense of emptiness within, borne out of the seeming intractability of the asked question. However, there are those times, maybe rare, maybe not so, when one chances on one or two “critical success factors” that have contributed to the magic.

Such an incidence is what this piece relates to.

Stepping into the hallowed portals of IIMC, it doesn’t take one long to find one’s reasons to love/loathe this place. While some never seem to get over the raining crow shit, some get perpetually immersed in the depths of the lakes. Fortunately for me, it’s been one mushy little tale thus far, with one muse after the other enchanting my very being. Thus, what began with midnight journeys across campus, soon led to conversations with the unassuming bystanders all around, solar observations at dawn, and even arose more earthly passions such as footer. However, perhaps the greatest sense of joy and grateful satisfaction I have derived is from the incessantly awesome people I have had the privilege to interact with here. For it is my sincere belief, that people must form the core driving engine of my existence, be it my inclination to HR/BS, or experiences such as these, or anything else that speaks quintessentially of me.

And it is here, innocent passerby, where this long and winding road brings us to the door step of a certain Prof. Amitava Bose, among others, though for now we shall pause right here.

It is indeed rare, that one comes across a person of such immaculate completeness of being (at least in my mortal, unknowing eyes), that his every word and deed seems part of a larger scheme of uncountable equations, variables and dimensions. Perhaps the only other such person I have met to date is Ust. Fahimuddin Dagar, a dhrupad artiste, representing the 19^th unbroken generation of musicians in his family. It is not surprising then, that this Economics professor at IIMC, has crossed many a sea in his academic career, and has even been approached to be the RBI Governor on multiple occasions.

While the above stated factoids serve only to build the hype around the great man, they do just about enough to ensure one’s ears are pointed straight in his first class. From then on of course, each man must earn his slice of bread, irrespective of the history that may embellish his esteemed self. And did he earn it!

Waxing eloquent on the nuances of unemployment and inflation, each word he spoke shone brightly in that intricately woven fabric of inexorable logic, meaning and purpose. One oscillated between scrambling to capture every single pearl he chose to reveal, and just sitting and basking in the pure and unadulterated sunshine that he so effortlessly pulled out of his little kitty.

From that point on, one knew that this was the stuff that formed the best part of the brilliance that institutes of excellence prided themselves on. The value of human capital to any organization, educational in particular, was never this evident.

In my thinking, what makes Amitava Bose the phenomenon that he is, is the manner in which his genius tends to blend with the wonders all around him. Put another way, the way his thoughts seem to honestly radiate from the impression of his self generated in one’s mind. This sense of truthfulness ensures that his knowledge appears not as a spike in the manhattans of one’s consciousness, but more as an integral part of the entire ecosystem, seated in its rightful place in the scheme. This sense of observed oneness may be likened to what Tagore says in his introduction to “Creative Unity”:

This One in me is creative. Its creations are a pastime, through which it gives expression to an ideal of unity in its endless show of variety. Such are its pictures, poems, music, in which it finds joy only because they reveal the perfect forms of an inherent unity.

I believe one must have truly immersed oneself in one’s art to have attained a voice that resonates with the truth that the art tries to convey. Prof. Bose falls under that category for me. His lectures impart that all welcoming yet infinitely intense sensitivity previously restricted to the domain of bibles such as Resnick – Halliday, Boyd – Morrison, et al.

In conclusion, I feel blessed to be a part of IIM Calcutta owing to the many wonders that shine all around me. Along with the crows silhouetting the setting sun sky, the night lights gaining volumes of meaning in their misty lake reflections, and the innocent joys of sitting seemingly aimlessly at the jetty, Amitava Bose and his ilk do their bit in making IIM Calcutta what it truly is.

May that always thrive.

May Jokaland always find its light.

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PS: What is it that makes exam time the most suited for creative explorations and the like?!