Talking to Animesh (my friend working for Infy in the US) last night, I just discovered something I had been feeling for quite some time but had never really understood fully. This does not have anything to do with anything concrete but is more of an abstract reflection on the way we tend to react to things. By we, I mean people belonging to distinct geographies, including, for my own point of reference, Indian sub continent, Europe, and the Americas (primarily the States).

We were discussing the IIPM issue in particular and as he laughed it away like probably any other Indian would, unless he/she is personally involved in the issue, he also told me about how serious the issue would have been in sue-happy US where such things would never have been taken lying down. Living in Europe for the last one month, I started reflecting on what the typical European (or at least, the typical French) would have thought about the entire thing. I don't think that they will be as dispassionate about it all like an average Indian but at the same time, they will not be as active about it as an average American will be. They will discuss the issue to no end but in terms of actually doing something about it, they will be far behind their American counterparts.

This, in fact, is also visible in other activities and attributes of the French and the Europeans, at large, who do like to keep their distance from controversy but all the same, do not mind talking quite passionately about the same. Even in the classes, there is hardly any intiative in terms of class participation from the French students (or most of other Europeans) but once the topic is started off (mostly by Indians since other Asians, seem to be, if it is possible, even more shy) and there is a possibility of any sort of argument, they do jump in with enthusiasm.

So while we Indians, owing mostly to our growing proximity to and acceptance of the American way of life have become increasingly confident but cynical at the same time, the Europeans are left with the cynicism alone and the rest of the Asians who do not belong to the Indian sub continent seem to be too unsure of themselves to give voice to their cynicism. One of the main reasons, perhaps, is that they have not really ratified the American thinking in such a big way as India has.

As for the Americans, they still rule the roost but are increasingly getting too bored with the proceedings to offer any voice to their own critical comments. It is not the confidence that they seem to lack but it has more to do with the boredom (due to lack of sufficient competition, perhaps) that is making them do what the rabbit did before the tortoise took over in the race. Amen to India being that tortoise but as has been pointed out recently, we need to take care of another competitor called China, but more on that some other time...

In other news, some great stuff has been happening on campus as the PPOs have started crystallising into job positions and salaries, and all of the ones that have come up so far, have been amazing, to say the least. More information, of course, shall be available once the placement committee receives more updates (which are coming in pretty fast and are expected to keep raining down for quite some time) and makes them public.

The controversy on the mention (expose?) on IIPM in the JAM Mag and subsequent discussions on the Indian blogosphere is the news of the moment with probably more than a fair share of limelight being given to the institute and its supporters and detractors alike. In my opinion (you can not sue me for libel/slander now, can you...well, I don't really care even if you can), the matter may not be as simple and straight forward as it looks. I certainly do not support (in fact, I strongly oppose) what has been done unto the chief protagonists of the story (primarily Rashmi and Gaurav) but the overtly simplistic assumption that all this speaks badly of a particular institute or all of its students is actually taking the matter a little too far.

Perhaps I am getting a little ahead of the story without giving the background. So for all those who are unaware of what has been happening, refer this blog entry for details on the entire episode. By now, you probably know what Rashmi Bansal and her JAM Mag team wrote about IIPM, and how Gaurav Sabnis, an IIM graduate and ex-IBM employee journeyed from linking to Rashmi's blog on the topic to getting a ridiculous legal notice, supposedly from IIPM to finally resigning from IBM in a gutsy and much admired move that reflects his character and strength of conviction.

If you have also gone to the trouble of reading the hundred odd comments on this entry at Rashmi's blog, you also know about the foul language that is being used by some bloggers who have mushroomed in recent past and have been writing good things about IIPM and some really rotten stuff about those who dare to think beyond the IIPM (oops, please excuse the cliche!).

To complete the picture, you would also have gone through the posts (at least, some of them...it is not possible to read through all those who support Rashmi and Gaurav on the blogosphere...btw, I particularly liked one blogger's humorous take on the issue). All the same, you must have read what the supporters of IIPM (those who appear a bit more sane and have not reverted to street talk) have to say about the thing in some of the comments on Rashmi's post. Of course, some people think that IIPM is justified in doing what it does, despite the expose on JAM Mag and thus, there is no moral ground for either the supporters or detractors of IIPM.

So much for what has been happening and it is high time I gave my take on my blog, for whatever it is worth (especially in terms of the mind boggling libel/slander lawsuit amounts)

• First things first, I am proud of my institute, IIM Kozhikode, and believe that the IIMs have given a lot to India and Indians over the ages, and they shall continue to do so for a long time to come.
• I absolutely detest the people who have been commenting on Rashmi's blog, allegedly trying to defend IIPM by personally attacking Rashmi and in the process, actually destroying whatever reputation IIPM has.
• More than them, I detest those who called up IBM, claiming to be from IIPM (which, though not proved, has been assumed to be true because of no one from IIPM refuting the same), and threatened to burn laptops and blah, due to which Gaurav was put in such a difficult situation.
• I really admire Gaurav for what he has done to uphold what he thinks is right and thus, not fall in his own eyes. I know that I have failed myself in a similar situation once and I know just how difficult it is to not fail in standing up to what one preaches and I also know how degrading this failure is.
• I also admire the business (perhaps I have chosen the wrong word but nothing more fitting comes to the mind right now) sense of Rashmi in leaving the comments on her blog open and visible to all and in the process, having the last laugh by professionally letting the impossibly naive commentors defeat their own purpose and die their own death.
• Right from the moment it appeared in JAM Mag and on Rashmi's blog, I have never really agreed to the nature of expose on IIPM carried out by JAM Mag in its entirety primarily because it seems that although there had been efforts (that seemed to have ended in no results) to contact the IIPM administration for clarifications/details, they have not been full-hearted and sufficient journalistic licence has been taken to write rather too assuredly (and bitingly) of something that may have been ascertained in a better manner.
• I am a little wary about the high moral ground taken by the IIM junta and/or most of the Indi bloggers in criticizing IIPM (or Amity or any other non IIM B-school, for that matter) because ultimately, it ends up in the same My-school-best or My-community-most sensible logic that is at the bottom of this entire episode. As far as my understanding goes, while solidarity is appreciable at such a juncture, bloated placement figures or absurd facts and figures are not stigmas attached to merely non-IIM business schools.
• At the same time, I fully understand and support their contention that it is no longer about the IIM vs IIPM thing or about the JAM Mag expose either, but it is about the basic right of expression and its blatant suppression through means as pathetically low and ridiculous as personal attacks to as dangerous as apparent use of money clout to force decisions.
• IIPM is certainly not all that it says it is but that does not mean that it has not played its role, whatever little it has been, in the Indian education sector. There may be reasons for the full page ads or the tall claims, not more than a few of them sensible I admit, but rubbishing the very existence of the institute or its students is taking it a little too far.
• Any personal attack on Arindam Chaudhuri is akin to what the blogosphere is up against at this moment. None of what has taken place so far can be reasonably proved without doubt to have been guided directly or indirectly by Mr. Chaudhuri and the fact that he may not have a degree from some big place does not take anything away from his success as a best selling author or a name known in management society (so what if his self-promotions are too commercial for our tastes)

Although this issue started with the IIPM and might do more harm to the institute's reputation than some of the practitioners of low standard antics would have dreamed of, some implications are going to be even larger. With the fourth estate having been relatively mute amidst the show of strength by bloggers who have come out in the open against the traditional press, accusing them to be under monetary and business considerations other than and contrary to honest reporting, things can only move in one direction for blogs and bloggers from here. Indian blog world seems to be ready to see an awakening of sorts and if I am not wrong, it shall do so sooner, rather than later.