Lagaan Vasooli

India loves 'superfluous stirring of emotions'

I woke up to this news headline yesterday on a Hindi news channel 'Lagaan Vasooli', and no, it was not about Income tax department. The channel was covering the story of Indian cricket team's flickering victory in the 20-20 World cup series against England. Given that 'lagaan' was a term used during the British reign in India for taxes, I felt the usage of term was very conspicuous and egregious.

Not the first time though, that something like this is being done, such incitement can be very often observed in the speeches of the species called Indian politicians, who incite religious and cultural sentiments over rational and economical issues to muster strength for personal reasons and vested interests. Consider for example the latest 'Setusamudram project', which for all non-issue based reasons has drawn attention at the hoo-ha of some protesters and the eventually admitted mistake of government officials. Papers have the drama that followed.

So long as we live in the past, its shame and glory, guess we have a little future to envision.

How about learning from movies?

Seems like employees can learn to work better by watching movies...

If you thought movies were just entertainment and a reason to feel good, corporate trainers want you to rethink! What’s common to Forrest Gump,Saving Private Ryan, and Cinderella Man, apart from being Academy award winners? Aren’t they all awe-inspiring and extremely motivating? Capitalising on these qualities of movies, trainers and management consultancies are increasingly finding use of movies as an effective tool for learning in corporate India. Other than the ones mentioned above, My Fair Lady, Bridge on the River Kwai, Executive Decision, and Scent of a Woman are others, which are used for various training modules.

Movies are no more pure indulgence as what sectarians might say... they are finding a place in the toolkit of various HR trainers to be used for imparting learning effectively. They are no more all about big biz and bigger bucks for directors and producers alone! A spokesperson for Genesis Events India, which conducts such workshops, says, “In the workshop, participants view snippets from popular Hollywood films, examine, discuss, and then evaluate the learning that they gather, and then assess the possible application of that learning to the everyday problems that they face at work.” Well, the methodology of these training sessions might be poles apart from conventional ones, but the point is the learning from these sessions is retained well. And so, the concept seems to be working well; after all, who does not want to have loads of learning entertainment?

Wait, what about desi movies? Lagaan has already found widespread use for training in businesses and B-schools as an exemplary leadership model. Then, there’s Munnabhai MBBS that is being ‘viewed’ for training on motivation. Similarly, Iqbal is being used for personal development, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla for negotiation skills... and the list goes on. Says an executive, “It’s like we’re back in school, learning lessons out of stories.”

So, next time you happen to watch some exciting movie, be sure that you get the moral of the story: It may be a corporate lesson!