Status Message: Asking for Trouble

Mohan Ramamoorthy

mohan.ramamoorthy@thebanyan.org

At Banyan, the IT that rattles everyone is not the income tax variety. It is the Information Technology kind that people keep grumbling about… (at one point, Syed was the most sought after male in TBC…)

Suddenly, Microsoft was thrown out, and with it went the outlook mail… (mails in many accounts were never rehabilitated…!) and in came google apps and the professional initiation by none other than the irrepressible Vaishnavi…

Lotsa things happened – many of them embarassing unmentionables which cannot be recorded for posterity in this blog…

But never-say-die in-house IT guru sent this mail (with some great insights into human behaviour – see point 4)…

“Please follow these practices henceforth

1. Always remain signed into chat

2. Whether free (green) or busy (red), pls indicate in status message which centre you are in and whether you are in a meeting etc – this helps avoid unnecessary queries / phone calls as to where a person is etc

3. ….

4. If a file is not of use to all and is just for one-time reading pls embed copy into email instead of sending attachments – people postpone opening things – human tendency

5. Label your mails – they are more dynamic than folders and Inbox becomes more organised – work is easier to follow up on

6. Indicate your schedule in advance on your Calendar – scheduling a meeting is taking too much time otherwise and too many phonecalls”

(Her mail incidentally has this disclaimer

“This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed….”etc. But this time I hope she will waive it in the public

interest…!

Also, she is the only one in The Banyan I know who will dutifully activate the out of office autoreply – rarely even when you can spot her at TBC)

I dont know about the other diktats, but Banyanites took the first suggestion seriously and suddenly, despite a character restriction, some great poetic, philosophical, confessional, existential, inane, cryptic status messages began to appear…

Here’s my pick:

B’day girl on Sept 12: older but not wiser

Another one from Vaishnavi with (Bob) Dylanesque flavor: blown’inwind
Damsel in distress Vanitha Venkat: Dont know where I’m

Creative communicator Ranjitha: In transit

(which reportedly got Vaishnavi’s Wow)

Forever on the move Ashok Sir: On ECR

CMHP big boss Porkodi: In Psych OP

Another gem, though cant remember the identity: “Poori’s old cabin”

Mine, the inane one.. “At Home” (with bosses asking Why??)

(Pssst… Some always have the busy sign on – making poor me very envious of them…)

Please send your favourites to Ranjitha or if tech savvy post it directly on this blog….

How about giving a prize for the best one…? Please vote…

Wah! Banyan!

Mohan Ramamoorthy

mohan.ramamoorthy@thebanyan.org

The recent South Asia Fund Raising Group’s workshop in Agra, like other events, was an opportunity to network…

But I am not good at networking, relationship management… that doesn’t mean I am an anti-social… I can somewhat manage. Can talk about Banyan – taking liberally from Banyan Coords wonderful presentations…

Along the way, they invariably ask: “How long have you been with Banyan?” Now, I have two stock answers and use them depending on the need and occasion…

a) “Oh, I have been with The Banyan for the past three-four months only…”

b) “I have known Banyan and its founder trustees since mid-Nineties….”
 

Banyan, the Growing Up Pangs
There I saw this particularly striking and impressive youngster. Confident and impressive with loads of attitude. Seemed dedicated and passionate, a result-oriented bundle of energy. Deliberately careless and casual in cool chic jeans and tees.

In a split second, it struck old me… this youngster (gender, I will not tell you) is the personification of The Banyan, in the prime of adolescence.

Youthful Banyan. Raring to go and conquer the world. Impulsive actions and intuitive thinking. Emotions guiding the mind. Strategies born in action and out of genuine concerns. Method in madness and action in chaos. Heart in the right place. Constant tension between “activist” types and “professional” types that Banyan manages to take into its fold. Ask Chaitali!!

Grew incredibly fast, evoking admiration in friends and envy in critics/enemies. Fire in the belly of women in hurry (“So much to do and achieve for social good”, VG, paranoid about dipping energies, administering a dose of inspiration, said “Pausing is death”). But there’s no denying – Banyan has got it right and made the most of its adolescence..

Sadly, you can’t forever be an adolescent. Sadly again, you need to grow up, baby.

Banyan is at a critical juncture… How Banyan can professionalise itself without losing its unique creative chaos… (Is creative chaos too an integral part of the “Mor(e)” celebrated Banyan DNA?!)…

The challenge is to mature, while retaining the youthful exuberance of adolescence. Methinks, there is a struggle in The Banyan to maintain that fine, delicate balance. Each time there is a move to streamline something, there is concern (more often said than unsaid) if it would kill some unique aspect of The Banyan.

I dont know which path the youngster (I saw in Agra) would take – be a conscientious corporate executive or a radical activist. Either ways, s/he is born to make a world of difference. And, that is all that matters at the end of the day.

What next, Banyan? You will have to wait. One day, like the milestone Nimhans study, some H(arvard)BR prof. or someone will capture it for you!!