Let Me Introduce Myself...

Once in a while you get to do things you’ve never done before. That’s when you use the clichéd phrase, ‘There’s always a first time.’ A few days back, I was invited by my friend to give a one-class talk at a B-School he teaches in. Needless to say, a first for me. While he called it a ‘guest-lecture’, I myself wasn’t so sure. I wasn’t so sure because I have a tendency to get stage frights and I’m quite used to not thinking twice before I speak. Even as I was debating over it, a free lunch thrown in with a free tour of the beautiful campus became the clincher. Preparing myself for the worst (such as what if I lost my voice midway or what if I had to flee the lecture hall from an audience of man-eating monsters) I set off. Just so that things are set in perspective, I haven’t done this kind of thing before (ever) or at least never before such a high-level audience who can use names such as Einstein and Ozzy Osbourne in one sentence and can still make it sound sensible.

Well, the day started off smoothly. I arrived at the B-School without a hitch. It was just before the talk that things began to look a bit down. To start with, I get introduced to this bunch of handpicked ‘hotshot’ students who were the brightest of the lot in the class. Pleasantries exchanged, as we got down to the topic of the talk, I found that these students were expecting a presentation that would be more or less an equivalent of the keynote Steve Jobs delivers whenever he launches a new Apple product. Honestly, they might have been the best, but for me that’s a very tall order to beat. Even before I could recover, another particularly bright student said, ‘I’ve gone through your profile online and I could write a case study about you’, or something to that effect. Errrr… Considering that my presence of mind is not as sharp as I would want it to be, I put on a dumb smile and mumbled something that sounded like ‘scary’ while the students went on to explain how online searches these days could retrieve information about people. I listened to all this with amazement. Not because I didn’t know about Google and what its sophisticated search engine could retrieve but because I didn’t understand the curiosity factor I had created. Secondly, I’m not scared of being a case study myself. That is because for modern day B-School students, life revolves around case studies and for them every tiny feature of this planet and the rest of the universe post Big-Bang can be encompassed into a management case study that will make you think ‘Oh, I didn’t think of that.’

So, I’d be disappointed if I was not a case study already. But what bothered me was the fact that people had read up about me even before I entered the class. All this meant that expectations were already building up. There was also this small point that I wasn’t sure of the fact that whatever they had read about me was good. And last but not the least, I didn’t know a thing about the class I was going to talk to whereas it should have been the other way round. At least, just to get the right results.

Thankfully, a quick mental recap helped me remember that my online LinkedIn and Twitter accounts are two different entities which I haven’t yet linked to my other not so nice pages. By which I could safely assume that most of the info would be the goody goody part. Which meant that they didn’t know that I flunked a Math test in high school, or a gourmet meal for me means a foot-long Veggie Delite at Subway’s, or that I never break the speed limit when I drive. But then I could never be sure. In these days of Google, when 1+1 = google, people can actually search on my name and get stuff which I’d not want them to see. Say for example, this blog. If not the dark side, the blog would definitely reveal the bore I really am.

Whatever be the case, I walked into the hall introduced myself despite knowing that half the class already knew more about me than I did myself and then I talked, listened, talked some more, listened some more and yea, you get the drift. After a two hour session, I did feel that I had done my bit and hoped there was some takeaway for the class. I don’t know how the students felt, but I returned much wiser and much sobered. It was one of those days when the stars had sided with me (barely, so to say). In short, everything went almost well. And the lunch was well-worth all the trouble taken.

The main takeaway for me was that I am now more aware of how the information I post about me can be easily used to intimidate me. Moral of the story: Be very, very careful when posting something on your profile. Its always gonna come back to get you when you least suspect it. In short it’s best to keep some information to yourself so that you can use it to surprise people rather than make them feel that they know everything about you even before they meet you.

4th August - A Journey Begins

August 4th. It's a date I'll remember for a long time to come. Maybe forever. It was on this day few years back that I first set foot on a foreign soil. The United States. Alone and totally scared. Thus began a journey of overcoming fears, false perceptions and apprehensions. It was almost like my first day at school. It was an education that I would never ever receive in any University, School or College. I learned lessons about life, love, despair, failure, more failure and finally some hope followed by success. Since then, my perception about people, cultures and the world in general has changed for the better (I hope). In the process, I made some new friends and some 'unfriends' as well. And then there were some who were ready to help total strangers despite the limitations they had. Well, I don't know if those people I came across will remember me but I will not forget them. Thanks guys. And ladies, Thank you as well. Out of all these people, a man who would stand out would be Calvin Gross. He was one of the first Americans in the US I came in contact with. An Indophile, Calvin would go out of his way to help international students who were down and out financially and morally. Calvin used to be in-charge of the University's library and he made sure that any Grad who was having a hard time could be fitted in at least as a part-timer in the library. I wouldn't be exaggerating in saying that countless international Grad students who came in without proper financial aid will be thankful to Calvin and his library for years to come. His enthusiasm to help and his affection can well be seen from the fact that every Christmas, he would invite all the Indian Grad students he knew and also the employees of the University library to his house and treat them to superb Indian food which he himself would painstakingly cook the whole day long. For all of us he was a good friend and confidante we badly needed in a new country. As a friend he wouldn't hesitate to dip into his own life savings to help students pay their tuition. And as a confidante, he would always be willing to listen to your hard luck stories with patience and give support through kind words. And I am sure that he still continues to do so. Last heard, Calvin was suffering from rare a genetic disease that ran in his family that would eventually make him lose his vision. But I don't think that it will stop him from being a beacon for students like me for years to come. Indeed an unsung hero with a big heart. Looking back, I know for sure that I couldn't have done the same things as he did for strangers who came fresh off the boat without thinking twice. And he was not alone. There are so many such people I came across that I could write a book. And then follow it with a sequel. But let's leave it for some other day. When I look back now, I realize that I wouldn't have met these wonderful people across the world if I had not taken up a journey that started on an early morning flight to Atlanta on August 4th. More importantly, I wouldn’t have appreciated the difference such people make in others’ lives. Indeed a life-changing day.