NDA can help groom IIM students

There was a time not long ago when blue-blooded MNCs recruited only candidates whose upbringing and grooming were impeccable. In fact, some foreign banks made it a point to assess the sartorial tastes and table manners of its prospective managers by hosting an elaborate "high tea" where senior managers would be deployed to spot cultural deficiencies with a hawk eye.

Products of Doon School and Mayo College enjoyed an unfair advantage in this selection process thanks to their elitist backgrounds. Now the wheel seems to have come a full circle when these "old school ties" have ceased to matter as MNCs beat their paths to the new cathedrals of Indian education ie IITs and IIMs, whose products are typically peerless in academics but often fall short in the personality quotient.This is symptomatic of a debatable selection process, which is obsessive about academic prowess while disregarding all the classical leadership qualities of being a powerful public speaker, an enthusiastic sportsperson and a resourceful organiser.

The armed forces have not let up on the personality front despite the democratisation of career opportunities in India.Candidates who are aspirants for the National Defence Academy (NDA) can still be eliminated at the personality assessment stage (Services Selection Board) even if they have scored heavily in the written examination.

Feedback from global recruiters must have forced IIM (A) to consider incorporating grooming sessions in their curriculum to bring some of their awkwardly disposed students on board a truly globally accepted cultural platform. I have a better idea. IIM (A) would do better to send their students for a seven-day orientation programme to NDA where they will observe first hand what it takes to be both an officer and a gentleman.

AAI’s DIRTY TRICKS If the unruly protests by the surly AAI staff outside the major airports were not bad enough for the air traveller, worse was to come for those enplaning and deplaning at Kolkata airport.Some close friends, who happened to be caught in the thick of the AAI staff protests in Kolkata last week, were appalled to see some of the protesters brining refuse from outside the airport premises and dumping them in the lounges to make the experience even worse for passengers.

The series of "sms" polls conducted by television channels has clearly signalled that the average Indian has just no sympathy for the 21,000 odd employees of AAI who are holding the whole country to ransom. The prevailing mood among Indians, a half of whom are below 25 years of age, is a total thumbs down to obscurantist politics, the type espoused by the "divorced from reality" Leftists.Now it remains to be seen if the youth of West Bengal continue to vote enthusiastically for distribution of poverty rather than wealth in the upcoming state elections.

DELL GOES NORTH Computer maker’s decision to expand its BPO operations in Gurgaon is not easy to fathom. Haryana is considering a legislation to ban women working at night. Almost a half of BPO workers are women. Does the senior management of Dell realise the implications of this legislation?

But then Dell’s Bangalore operations have always been a subject of debate within the vendor community with stories of "favoured" vendors, whether in recruiting, training or screening still doing the rounds of the city. Besides, the company is also known for the constant churn in its HR and administration functions. Maybe Gurgaon will bring more stability to the company?