My privilliege November 23, 2006

Well, being at IIFM has been a privillige for me. But today was the day full of oppurtunities to meet such wonderful people that I feel even more privilliged.

The First person I happened to meet were General Manager( Project Foundation), FDC, Madhya Pradesh. I happend to meet him because of an assignment again given by another well read faculty. Anyways comming back to Mr. GM, he was an IFS officer sitting in a small cabin painted green ( I should here tell you that the whole Office was painted green even the information boards : truely reprensentative of the forest ) with a computer. The cabin was so small that our team comprising of five members seemed to be crowd for it. However he got sufficient chairs arranged for us and made us feel comfortable. To my surprise he odered chai for all of us. IIFMites as I understand now are seen with high regards at all such places. Before we started he made us feel home by asking our names ,backgrounds or in short parichay as they say. As usual we had little idea about what to ask and then where to start from. But perhaps he sensed it or what because he started on his own and kept on and on….. MY GOD!!! he downloaded so much of info in such a small span of time and that to adding relavant examples ,proverbs whenever relavant. Knowledge is power as some one rightly said. It indeed is , because it gives you strength, a perspective, a vision. He was a balance of professional as well as informal attitude. A civil servant and a common man. For the first time forestry seemed to be a science not of books but of observation as he pointed out. Well it was really a prvillege to meet a person with such a practical mindset.

As We came back to our insti we were supposed to attend a guest lecture by another IFS , author of several books , published so many papers almost four times of our age. Well, we also happen to read his book on forest mensuration. Most of us thought that we are heading for another boring lecture. Many thought of skipping it aswell but whenever there is a guest lecture people make sure to attend it because IIFM’s reputation is at stake. Again a surprise, such an aged person with a voice that can put many of our faculties at shame( because many of them preffer using microphone in a class of 40). Clarity, voice modulation so perfect. He started with a simple tree and I wonder when he ended with management. He was so fluent that I do not remember that he paused for a second. He maintained such a rate that every body was able to comprehend. It was rare to see my batchmates listening with pindrop silence and none of them with eyes shut or a leaning body or a tilted head. It was a session of 40 mins or so but worth attending. Not only me but every body was influenced by his aura. For the first time I realised that silviculture could be so simple and I just fell in love with the subject or may be the man himself.

Well, The next person that we all interacted was Regional Director, of a well known non profit organisation and an IIFM Alumini from the batch of 1990. For the first time was such a session so much of LEARNing and NJOYing. He gave us some gyan about what to do and what not to do. He was not quite young as we are but made us comfortable by cracking jokes. Every body could not help but laugh at the one liners the man had to offer. His gyan dhan was related to good and not so good experinces of his life. He made us realise that no books can make you good manager but simple things can make you an effective manager.  Organised, Networked, orator, charmer, rational, practicle may be the words if I was to define him.

Well lot learnt , lot felt and lot observed. May I continue to meet such charismatic people