I remember reading an article during September 2006, regarding the visit of the Indian Railway Minister, Shri. Lalu Prasad Yadav to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in which it was mentioned that Laluji used the tools of easy language & rustic logic to explain to IIM-A students gathered there about the success of the Indian Railways.

This had only vindicated my stand that Management as a science is deliberately confusing the layman with high sounding concepts & jargon which makes it appear highly specialized & professional, while in reality the simple language & rustic logic of our ancestors has clearly expounded the ways & means to go about becoming a success in life; let alone becoming good Managers.

Jargon which has only vague and abstract meaning is being used to create confusing & complicated theories which has inhibited Management's growth and development as an Art and a Science amongst the grass roots. In this connection I wish to quote the words of Herman Melville, the author of the famous classic 'Moby Dick' who has observed that "a man of true Science uses but few hard words and those only when none others will serve his purpose; whereas the smatterer in Science… thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things".

In today's globalised scenario when India is poised to dominate the world's markets it is imperative that Management as a Science must develop a public language, decontaminated of technical jargon & suited to the discussion of all issues & problems found in our day to day commercial and economic activities so as to reach out to the people at the grass roots and create a million Lalujis ( I know most of you will be groaning, Oh….no, not a million Lalus, but I only meant Lalu the railway Minister and not Lalu the person) who would be capable of resurrecting and turning around any sick or dead enterprise thereby making it into a successful reality. This will make Management principles & practices more accessible to the common man than reservation or quotas ever will.

I hope the faculty & students of the IIMs and the hundreds of private B-Schools flourishing in our country have got the message after the Hon'ble Minister's visit to IIM - A.