The Begining

It's a dull and dreary Tuesday morning. It's still raining outside. Has been that way ever since we got here. By here I mean NITIE. It's the second day of college and I find myself sitting in the classroom at 9 am looking forward to another class. The timetable tells me it's supposed to be two hours of Communication and Negotiation Skills. I'm sure  you can forgive me for not being overly excited. I was just making the same point to the person sitting besides me when, as if right on cue, an elderly professor walks into the room. He looked to be one of those stereotypical teachers, the kind who walk into the the classroom and as soon as they are through the door start reciting notes for you to take down and leave as soon as they are done. But what followed surprised us all!

The professor walked to the front of the class and sat down cross legged on the stage.. Surprise, surprise! The next thing he does is to call everyone to the front and sit on the floor (Hum desi hain aur desi ki tarah hee parhate hain. Kursion par baithna toh firango ka tareeka hai). The entire class, shocked as we were, followed the request and cleared enough space to sit down.

As soon as everyone settled down he informs us that the Communications professor was on leave and he was filling in for him. His name was Dr. T. Prasad and he would be teaching us the Principles of Organization and Management. With this small introduction he draws close his bag, reaches into it and starts pulling out.. TOYS! He starts throwing stress balls into the crowd, following which he distributes a couple of what appear to be pink plastic butterflies and in the end pulls out a Newton's Cradle.

With this he started explaining the use of simple toys in education- how the poor could learn and play using inexpensive educational toys. The Newton's cradle he used to prove that even though the class was full of engineers from varied streams, few if any understood the practical application of the theories they had studied. It was eye-opening, the experience.

The rest of the lecture was him encouraging each and everyone to ask questions- related to anything. It was during this exchange that I found out about his nickname- Dr. Mandi, the brain behind Mandi- A unique annual event in which NITIE students take to the streets of Mumbai to help every student understand and discover management wisdom for himself. Mandi integrates the theoretical principles of statistics, managerial economics, marketing and basic market research with their practical application.

Through the example of Mandi he explained a concept he called "earning while learning". He made everyone realize the true cost they were paying for an MBA. He then shared his vision of making earning not just the end-product of learning, rather, making it a part and parcel of it.

The second part of this vision includes making management education available to one and all for free through the use of technology. This, I'll admit is the reason for me writing this blog- a blog I'll continue to update with each class, sharing my experiences and learnings along the way.

With this I'll stop my long-winded monologue and invite you share your thoughts in the comments below.

Onwards and Upwards!