All of us must have heard the expression ‘a group discussion (GD, from now on) should never be a fish market’. Well, some GDs are much more than that. They make fish markets look like the most decent kind of markets around. Well, I just recently had such an experience.
An institute that incidentally shares its name with one of the greatest examples in detergent marketing in India had conducted its annual Management fest. I decide to participate in it to get a different ‘perspective’. The event was innocently termed ‘War of Words’, and was touted as a debate competition. The first round was an out and out debate round where we were given 5 minutes to talk on a topic, for and against. Thanks to my teammate, we managed to qualify into the final round. It was supposed to be surprise event. And what a surprise it was! The final round was a group discussion. Now that was a gem of an idea. Whoever would have thought of having a group discussion as the final round in a ‘debate’ competition!
The event was a disaster from the moment it started off. We were given 10 minutes to talk, or make ourselves heard, or whatever. The topic had something to do with the movie three idiots and the Indian educational system. But no one seemed to have a clue as to what they were talking about. We had people talking about VVS Laxman and the Kolkata test, (I would have loved to talk on this topic for hours on, but on another forum), some guy talking ‘for the sake of mankind’,(as though he had the task of saving it from this evil world) and we even had a member threatening a walkout ala the Indian parliament). As you might have guessed, yours truly was unable to make any significant contribution, as I was just laughing away at what was happening. I personally had not seen a fish market, being a vegetarian and all that, but my respect for that kind of place grew tenfold after seeing what happened in that room. Rajdeep Sardesai and Karan Thapar are not dead, but if they were, they definitely would be turning in their grave. When the judges finally got tired of all the screaming, they asked everyone to stop and gave a minute each to each group to sum up, individually. This was the only time most of the audience knew what was actually going on!
I have been to many events, but this one ranks as the funniest one that I have attended. Hope to attend more of this kind, but next time as a spectator rather than a participant.
P.S : Our certificates for the event are still pending. Wonder why they are getting delayed. Maybe they are still debating about it.
