Oodles of doodles

The speaker moves his arms. Wavy gestures and air filled lungs pump enough volume to reach the far corners of the room. Examples are cited. The future is invoked. Questions are posed. Frameworks are discussed.

There is a training program that’s on.

The participants are all there. Physically at least. Their bodies too large to disappear into thin air. They are all there. Their thoughts are a different realm though. Nobody can say for sure where thoughts are. Like a cyclone that’s much hyped but didn’t turn up.

Their hands are at work though. Heads almost hemmed to their notepads. Perhaps serving as the biggest of ‘motivators’ to the trainers and lecturers ! Construed as note taking, and such other activity of importance that adds to the self importance of the speaker.

In practice, doodles emerge.



Of cows. Huts. Planes. Ships. Faces. And the like. The cows could look like sheep whose harmone therapy went awry. And hut designs that could make a Pygmy cry. And that could be particularly ironic if the program was on something like ‘Getting it Right the first time” or something to that effect !

Perhaps not as ironic as having arrows and spears doodled all over, in a workshop while the junta is talking ‘Partnership’ !


At other times there are lines & shadings. Precise shading of intersections and empty spaces. Preciseness to the nano millimeter. That hitherto seemed capabilities that rested with American missiles that were launched from ships, traversing two seas and many mountain ranges to hit the hidden commode of secret toilets of Osama Bin Laden and gang.

Such impeccable designs. Sketched with such intensity and effort.

Have you wondered why ? Something seems to be at work here. A natural by product of sitting in a lecture or a training program.

Perhaps its about camouflage. Of pretense. Pretending to be attending, but actually away !

But why would students & participants take all the effort to draw such impeccable cows ( with hormonal treatment going awry ) and arrows & straight lines that could be used to teach geometry to infants.

There must be some research done on this.

Perhaps its all about the mind. Perhaps it helps shade a few shapes. And shape a few shades. Or maybe its to sharpen whats faded. Or fade whats sharpened. Contrasts. Colours. And the like. .

Which perhaps is what one can get out of a training ! Whatsay ?

Doodles seem to be here to stay !


18 thoughts on “Oodles of doodles

  1. Lou says:

    Very funny! That is what happens in our meetings too. Sometimes even a quick nap can be indulged;)

  2. Kevin says:

    Oh so familiar…. There are always the doodles … always oodles of them.

  3. G says:

    Lol! You should see my notepad. Which I unfailingly take along at all meetings. Cant do without a pen and a paper. 😀

  4. Aparna says:

    I keep drawing eyes. All over the page. Now that I do not go to corporate meetings anymore, there are no stationery or notepads with the hotel logo. But there are my children’s notebooks. And newspapers. Even my sacred diary. They all have eyes drawn all over them, some are open, some are closed. Wonder what Freud would have thought…

  5. Neha says:

    hahaha, I guess most of us become an artist during training…apart from drawing such objects, we even used to mimic the trainer; behind his back obviously..miss those sessions now…

    nice write up…just curious – which one is ur notepad among these? if none, then can you please display your art work too?

    If any 🙂

  6. cyber gipsy says:

    The only way to stop these ‘maal’ practices during training and capture audience attention , is to make them interactive.

    Let them make Mallika Shewarat, their chief trainer, make her deliver ‘soft’ skills training program, full of ‘ interactive’ games, with ‘ hands-on’ approach , where, the audience will immerse themselves in the swimming pool of ‘ experiential ‘ learning . Throw a bit of ‘ Leg Work’ as energizers, and Presto ! You have a Bimbo – bombarding her audience with her brimming brilliance !
    (I think my brilliant ideas are a bit too ahead of their times, to digest ! )

  7. Sajan says:

    LOL. Brilliant. Especially funny caricatures of our clients.:-)

  8. D.A says:

    secret toilets of Osama Bin Laden and gang!!!
    lol!! funny post. Long live doddling! 😛

  9. Someone researched this. The results may surprise. On second thoughts they may not. At all 🙂

    “Doodling is a way of passing the time when bored by a lecture or telephone call. Does it improve or hinder attention to the primary task? To answer this question, 40 participants monitored a monotonous mock telephone message for the names of people coming to a party. Half of the group was randomly assigned to a doodling condition where they shaded printed shapes while listening to the telephone call. The doodling group performed better on the monitoring task and recalled 29% more information on a surprise memory test. Unlike many dual task situations, doodling while working can be beneficial. Future research could test whether doodling aids cognitive performance by reducing daydreaming. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.”

    Appeared in Applied Cognitive Psychology , this year in Feb ….

    Doodle on, folks !

  10. Suma says:

    nothing escapes the eye of kavi 🙂

    did you doodle too?

  11. nsiyer says:

    That’s what we do when you send us for training. You give us feedback forms and we start thinking about the training. Again we doodle by tick marks or shade the boxes.

  12. Rush says:

    Sleepy weepy timepass…is that ur piece of art on display??

  13. Pearl says:

    Doodles: the polite (or prudent!) man’s way of pretending that you are NOT boring him to death…

    Pearl

    p.s. You asked me about “thrift stores”. They are also called “secondhand stores”, and in the US, the way the economy is, they are doing big business! Truth be told, I get the majority of my clothes there. 🙂

  14. sujata says:

    i did this a lot during the school and college days, but not anymore, There was nothing particular I doodled, just lines and checks or some leaves..are the ones on display here by you? they remind me of my weekend crossword!!

  15. Would it be a doubly heinous crime if the doodler fell asleep while doodling?

    And I can also identify with the agony over what flab to keep, and what to chuck away while spring-cleaning the home.

  16. Jeevan says:

    I also use to doodle when i get a pen and paper. In school days I do such things on question paper. While doodle, we’re becoming a creator, but only few take it series get approve.

  17. Kavi says:

    Lou : 🙂 I guess its an universal phenomenon ! 🙂

    Kevin : Wonder if it was yours ! 🙂

    G : yes. Same here. Cant do without pen and paper. Indeed !

    aparna : Eyes ! Lets not talk Freud ! sometimes i get the jitters thinking about what that gent would have thought ! 🙂

    Neha : well.. the first one ! 🙂
    And mimicking the trainer ! Thats so universal i guess !! 🙂

    Cyber Gypsy : I take a bow. I take a bow. Again ! 🙂

    Sajan : Funny caricatures !! LOL ! wonder how you resist from sharing it with them ! Especially if they act too pricey ! 🙂

    DA: Welcome here ! And thank you indeed ! 🙂

    ugich Konitari : Now it is officially proven. That this aids. Fantastic ! Wonder how i am going to thank you for this ! 🙂

    Suma : 🙂

    Ofcourse ! First one ! 🙂

    nS Iyer : no sir ! I dont send you !!! 🙂

    Feedback forms as doodle is a new perspective that i must bear in mind !

    Rush : hmm hmm … yes ! 🙂

    Pearl : indeed. Polite. And prudent too ! 🙂

    Sujata : Well, well, sometimes people like me stay in school ! 🙂 Never grow up types !

    yes. The first one is mine ! So ! 🙂

    Sucharita : Falling asleep is in another realm. Completely different realm ! 🙂

    Jeevan : QPaper doodling was my favourite too. I couldnt do it on the answer sheet !

    🙂

  18. Nu says:

    ditto my state when at meetings.. 🙂 I mean yes there are times when these meetings are real boring and doodles are the best way to handle them 🙂

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