The Lemon Tea Chronicles | Reminiscences
Literary Afternoons on Air Force Road
This memorable photo of ten years ago, is testament to a wonderful slice of memory aka “institutional memory”.
Well, there is a specific kind of magic that happens when a lecture ends, but the conversations don’t! 😊
Looking at this memorable photograph - captured for posterity - from over ten years ago, transports me back to those good ol’ storied pasts – when, with such ritualistic vigour, we used to leave the sylvan precincts of MCC campus and make our way to a modest tea shop on Air Force Road.
In fact, the tea shop would then come alive for us all - as an open-air seminar room where the formal literary theories we discussed in class were deconstructed, debated, and reimagined over tea glass tumblers.
For once, the lemon tea wasn’t just a beverage! It was much more than that! It was our “energy tonic.” It had a way of sharpening the mind and soothing the throat long after the lecture classes were over. Whether we were parsing the nuances of a post-structuralist text or simply sharing a laugh about the quirks of campus life, that lemon tea was the cute catalyst.
Added, there was something about the quietness of the road and the ambience of the tea shop that made our literary discussions feel more grounded and vibrant.
And the lovely faces in this photo that hold those lemon-tea glass tumblers, represent a shared era of intellectual pursuit and genuine friendship.
Ten momentous years have passed us by – Dr. Ganesh has since retired, Dr. Abitha is now with Bharathi Women’s, Dr. Sandhya Ravishankar is with UAE, etc. Still, the lovely memories of those sharp, citrusy teas and the brilliant company remains with us as clear as ever.
It reminds us that sometimes, the most profound academic insights don’t happen at a lectern, but standing on a quiet roadside shop, tea in hand, with kindred spirits. 😊
So what is institutional memory?
Well, institutional memory helps in providing a shared sense of identity – from the narratives of the past that serves to connect current faculty and students to those who came before!
Institutional memory then becomes a very important asset for academia.
And what, pray, is institutional history?
Institutional history and institutional memory represent two different ways in which an institution “remembers” its past. One is a formal record, while the other is a living pulse!
Institutional history is the objective, documented account of an institution’s journey. It is what we find in archives, official commemorative volumes, and annual reports, that are “set in stone”.
On the other hand, institutional memory is the collective, informal knowledge held by the people within the institution. They are stories told in the break time, unwritten rules of conduct, and the personal experiences of long-time staff. If a key veteran leaves the institution without passing on their insights, that “memory” is often lost.
Meticulous documentation (either formal or informal) of past events, programmes, departmental activities, class activities, celebration of college events, alumni engagements, curriculum changes, etc., validate institutional history and institutional memory to a great extent.
Especially when there is a transition in administration, leadership change, or a new cohort of students are admitted into the institution, a strong knowledge of institutional memory and institutional history ensure that the ecosystem doesn’t collapse! In such an eventuality, these precious ‘institutional histories and memories’ act as anchors or stabilising rudders of sorts!
John W. Hall and Marius B. Jansen in their very engaging book on the subject of Institutional memory, titled, Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan, argue that, the concept of institutional memory acts as a critical force that provided stability and continuity during Japan’s transition from a fragmented feudal society to a centralised modern state.
The book highlights the role of ‘custom’ as the true governor of the land. Meaning that, in Tokugawa Japan, it was not necessarily the individual power of the Emperor or the Shogun that maintained order, but rather “custom”. This deep-seated institutional memory acted as a self-regulating mechanism that governed social and political life more effectively than top-down decrees.
The book foregrounds the role of documentation as a product that helps in recovering institutional memory.
As eminent Political Scientist Hugh Heclo, so beautifully puts it -
Institutional memory is not just a collection of documents; it is the lived experience and shared wisdom of those who have navigated the institution before us.
Heclo’s book titled, A Government of Strangers: Executive Politics in Washington (1977) discusses the concept of institutional memory. In this book, Heclo examines the tension between political appointees (whom he calls “strangers”) and career civil servants.
Political appointees (Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries) arrive in Washington with a mandate for change but often have no history with the department they are leading. They are “birds of passage” who stay for only 2-3 years.
Without institutional memory, these leaders are prone to making the same mistakes as their predecessors, he avers, and notes that this memory is not just about files or archives. It is embodied in the relationships and informal networks of the career staff – the “institutional soul”.
How true!
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