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Service as Joy:
In Tribute to Dean Vandana Kohli
When I entered higher education full time as a professor from the PK12 world of leadership, I tapped into my love of international research, having conducted my dissertation work in the Soviet Union during the collapse in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Walking through Red Square amidst swirling snow at midnight for the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States on December 31, 1991, I had clarity of what it meant to stand at the crossroads of history.
My first, major international study as a professor focused on the leadership of India’s “Silicon Valley” multinationals in Bengaluru and their perspectives on leading in the 21st century. Interviewing the Indian leaders of corporations that were changing the face of globalization in the 21st century left me curious to learn more about the women who were some of these major players.
I became fascinated about the progress, successes, and challenges facing women leaders of all races and ethnicities throughout the world. That investigation arguably served as the foundation for the series of studies I have engaged in globally ever since that examine women in leadership.
I had learned from my work in the Soviet Union that the most deeply held beliefs of the people could be unlocked through study of the arts, literature, and philosophy. To prepare for the study in India, then, I began to read broadly and deeply—Indian philosophers, writers, political scientists, economists, and others—for I wanted to frame my understanding as much as possible through the lens of Indian culture.
The Indian Institute of Management remains India’s most prestigious institution for those seeking MBAs and PhDs in management, and shortly after my arrival, I had the privilege of lecturing on leadership.
Dr. Narendra Agarwal began the introduction to my lecture with all of us standing, hands folded under chin as if in prayer, and about two minutes of silence. I did not know if we were praying, meditating, or engaging in some other activity. Later, he shared that he was demonstrating a sign of respect to his students, as they were to him and to each other.
Many of the issues Indian leaders face are like those in the West; some are unique to India. One is the idea of heterodoxy, the ability to embrace a variety of perspectives. India, as reflected most quintessentially in the 8th century work, the Isa Upanisad, truly is a paradox, a riddle, a conundrum, a contradiction.
It stirs and it stirs not; it is far, and likewise near; it is inside of all this and it is outside of all this.
The ability of Indians to hold seemingly antithetical states simultaneously astonishes me. In the early days of initiating my research, recurring notions, possible themes began to emerge, and one was this uncanny ability for individuals to be and/or simultaneously. Is this recognition of khela, of change coupled with an underlying and unchanging harmony in nature and in us, one key to acceptance, and ultimately to loving the other in our midst?
Change and unchanging harmony.
Acceptance.
These themes resonated when January 2024 arrived and I learned that my colleague, Dean Vandana Kohli, had chosen to retire. Not at the end of the academic year. Not at some distant future. At the end of the first month of the new year. With her imminent departure came an invitation to make remarks at her retirement party, Chai and Bye. Clever, no?
What was I to do without this brilliant, Indian-born woman leader as my coach and colleague? While that remains unknown, I did write a tribute to Dean Vandana Kohli to honor and celebrate her countless contributions to education.
In his book, The Argumentative Indian, Nobel prize winning economist, Amartya Sen, writes,
Prolixity is not alien to us in India. We are able to talk at some length. Krishna Menon’s record of the longest speech ever delivered at the United Nations—nine hours non-stop—has not been equaled by anyone from anywhere. We do like to speak.
Citing ancient Indian epic narratives such as the Mahabharata, Sen explains that they present “tales engagingly full of dialogues, dilemmas, and alternate perspectives…and we encounter masses of arguments and counterarguments spread over incessant debates and disputations.”
Much of the Mahabharata is laden with contrary moral perspectives—“Krishna’s emphasis on doing one’s duty on one side, and Arjuna’s focus on avoiding bad consequences (and generating good ones), on the other.”
To know Dr. Vandana Kohli, to truly know her, is to appreciate her love of the substantive argument and of dialogue. It is to recognize her profound commitment to the project of education—even at the risk of Arjunian bad consequences—because through the debate, we can, as a community, come to find the most elegant path forward. That is not to discount the consequences, however, and in typical Kohlian fashion, I can hear Vandana present convincing evidence for avoidance of the less-than-ideal consequences.
To know Vandana, to truly appreciate her, is to be willing to live on a spectrum of ambiguity and allow the argument to continue unabated.
In my short time of knowing Vandana, I have come to appreciate more deeply the ancient culture from which she hails, and the gift that the Indian argumentative style affords us leaders. I will miss my nearly daily debates on every matter ranging from the best breakfast in Camarillo to the moral imperative of education, from bemusing discussions over decanal attire to the nuances of our relationships with our adult children. She has been my confidant. She has been my friend.
Philosopher Rabindranath Tagore wrote,
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted, and behold, service was joy.
Please raise your glasses—or your cups—to a leader who has engaged in a long and noteworthy career of service with joy in a profession that changes lives.
Vandana, I will miss you as my colleague, but I know I need not miss you as my friend, for we shall continue the next part of the journey as friends.
To Vandana!
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Reflecting on my lecture at IIM and now on Vandana’s departure, perhaps the standing, the hands folded, the quietude, and the humble honoring of another individual can serve a both metaphor and action in our own lives not only when class begins, but when we choose to turn out the lights, say farewell, and continue on a new path.
Yours for Service,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth C. Orozco Reilly
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