Hallmarks of a memorable, meaningful get-together
Having spent 39 years in the army, including the time spent at the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy, one has attended umpteen get-togethers. In NDA, the term coined for these mundane yet popular gatherings were ‘social’. The term, ‘social’ is preceded by the category to which it belongs. For example, PPS (Punjab Public School, Nabha) social, Tambi social (South Indians), Bong social (West Bengal), Jat social (Haryana), Sainik School social, Bihar social, et al. You name the social and you will find that group huddled up in corners of the academy cafeteria every Saturday evening.
The objectives of such socials are to interact with people over a drink (of course not in the academy), enjoy good food, make merry and buzz off. Some have also coined an undiplomatic term for it. They call it, ‘KPK’ that stands for ‘khao, pio, khisko (eat, drink, slip away)’. After a few days, if you happen to bump into someone present at the get-together, one will not be able to place him due to the superficiality of the interaction at such get-togethers.
Recently, I came across a meaningful and memorable get-together of my battalion, 15 Punjab, organised with a difference. It was conceptualised by the stalwart of our unit, Maj Gen Shivdev Singh. Firstly, he gave a month’s notice through a WhatsApp message and personally mailed the invite to all officers, who were even remotely associated with the battalion. Exactly one week before, the list of the officers who had confirmed was circulated to everyone to enable them to know, who is attending.
Just when the ball started rolling, all attendees were requested to interact with each other as couples and not divide themselves on the basis of gender, the way you see at a normal Indian party. The mic was placed where each couple was expected to walk up and introduce themselves. It was not only the officer who was supposed to speak but even his better-half was requested to introduce herself and of course, the couple mentioning a few words about their children, too. This simple exercise led everyone to get to know each other in a short time.
After the introduction, the couples interacted with each other as couples and not in a standalone manner, throughout the party. Even the group photograph was taken of all attendees, standing as couples, to facilitate easy recognition later. A copy was given to all on the spot. The entire proceedings were well-timed. I have seen several get-togethers that have continued endlessly with poor ladies waiting for their husbands hanging around the bar.
There were a certain number of officers who could not attend since they were stationed at a far-off place and few of them were operationally deployed in the valley. That did not deter the organisers. They had meticulously organised their video messages through live streaming on the giant screen. It was the first time that I didn’t witness any gender discrimination about signing the visitor’s book. It was not only for the officers or husbands but even the ladies were requested to sign and endorse their remarks. We can keep such simple things in our mind which make the party, a productive and meaningful exercise rather than following the ‘KPK’ model.
HE GAVE A MONTH’S NOTICE THROUGH A WHATSAPP MESSAGE AND PERSONALLY MAILED THE INVITE TO ALL OFFICERS, WHO WERE EVEN REMOTELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE BATTALION. A WEEK BEFORE, THE LIST OF THE OFFICERS WHO HAD CONFIRMED PARTICIPATION WAS CIRCULATED