I haven't been able to bring myself to pen any further since Dr Shrikant's funeral. Probably it matters not any more as I can no longer wrestle with him nor seek his commendation. Yet I thought i must point out something to the people at the institute.
Dr Shrikant I remember would dislike any activity or process that is hinged upon an individual and shares his or her idiosyncrasy. Yet the quest for a process to be institutionalised shorn of all personality was often a guise for wanting to refuse to be hostage to the whims of the individual. But creativity cannot be institutionalised and those activities that can be institutionalised don’t hold the centre for too long- quite like Mullah Nasruddin’s lost key. When i think of the institution he has built I think it betrays this schizophrenia. There is this assumption that the institution is being independently animated by its processes that have been institutionalised, with its flaws, But yet it is unmistakably in thrall of his ghostly presence. It is not just that Dr Shrikant died, something deep within the heart of the institution also dies with him and we grieve not just his loss but that which is not nameable. There are those who would point out that he was anyway (un)graciously eased out more than a year ago and that the continuity of the institute it its imitated voices is testimony to its enduring character. Besides it is not that some of us are unaware of his extremely complicated personality warts and all and in good measure have even been victims of his disquiet. Many (almost all) of his initiatives will continue in their variegated vigour or enervation and few can tell the difference, and some will say that such emulation is his best honour, which time will reveal.
In the months that have intervened I am sure many of us have remembered him and grieved his absence. We institute his memories in ways that would continue to cherish values that he espoused, however implicit. Yet when i hold this commemorative edition of the SPJIMR News I believe it is an incomplete activity and unable to bring closure or even honour his contribution. It was not even meant as tribute but as memory, it collates but does not assess his contribution nor does honour his thought and ideals. Our memories and anecdotes seem superficial at best and sentimental at worst regardless of their personal significance to us. I do not blame the publication which i think for its limited brief does a good job. Just that this isn’t enough. I hope this deficit will be bridged. If there are things in the pipeline that i am unaware of, I must be forgiven for my ignorance. I am even glad that there is no flurry of exaggerated compensation of a raft of initiatives. But probably i would urge a considered set of activity that would study his work and thought and encourage others do the same. Despite the difference in scale, starting points and resources controlled Dr Shrikant’s trajectory was not less stellar than that of Ravi Mathai the legendary head of IIM A. Let not our tribute and memory fail him in such a stellar way either.
For those who have not read the commemorative edition of the News here is the link that the institute thoughtfully uploaded.
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