Management Musings

I watched the movie - The Great Debaters (released in 2007), directed by and starring Denzel Washington. In my opinion, he is one of the best actors in the world at the moment. The movie is inspired by  a true story that took place in the year 1935 when a small school in Marshall, Texas broke new ground in debating against the top white colleges of the time and won. Like most Denzel Washington movies, the movie was excellent. The actors and the depiction of the time - 1935, is supreme. In the movie, the character Melvin Tolson  narrates a story about the origin of the word "lynching". He says, " Anybody know who Willie Lynch was? Anybody? Raise your hand. No one? He was a vicious slave owner in the West Indies. The slave-masters in the colony of Virginia were having trouble controlling their slaves, so they sent for Mr. Lynch to teach them his methods. The word "lynching" came from his last name. His methods were very simple, but they were diabolical.  Keep ...

I am on my way to a sacred place. My parents tell me that the trip will be enjoyable. I am excited about the drive - they tell me that we will pass through a forest full of animals like the tiger, deer, bears and leopards. I hope we can sight a few of them along the way. We drive through the forest during the day time. It is hot and all we see are more cars coming down the road. The forest looks deserted and dry, very dry. The disappointment apart, we finally reach our destination - this holy place. We alight and are immediately hit with the confusion and the mass of people! There are people every where milling around on the roads. I am submerged in this sea of humanity. I am a little scared but make sure that I am always around my family. Going away for even a second would mean being lost in this sea where every turn looks the same as the one before. It is lunch time but since I have eaten during the drive, I am content. Father finds an opening the crowd and leads us to the place w...