First Class (Pun Intended)

“Rebel children, I urge you, fight the turgid slick of conformity with which they seek to smother your glory” – Russell Brand

And in those two hours I had my “glory” re-kindled!

After working for three years in a software firm, the prospect of becoming a student again was alluring, exciting and unnerving. A few sessions of deliberation and persuasion, a few month of hard work, a customary round of GD-PI later I was at NITIE, in company of equally excited and nervous bunch of recently turned students waiting for our first lecture on a life changing Monday morning.

An unassuming personality entered our class and conjured from his satchel a few toys, handed them over to us and almost requested us to play. So far so good!

“Main desi hoon, mujhe zyada angrezi nahi aata…”! His proclamation took us by surprise as he, supposedly, was teacher of Communication and Negotiation Skills. As whole class, still stunned, looked at him yet again, a familiar jingle seemed to play in the background.

“Socho, socho, becho, becho, becho seekho, seekho, becho, socho”

And we recognized the creator of this jingle – T.Prasad aka Dr. Mandi as he is popularly known among student fraternity. As it turned out, he was to teach Principles of Organization Management and he taught and he taught in such a way that no one will forget him, ever.

He dished out nuggets of learning while letting us play, sharing a joke, posing for a photo, having a hearty laugh with us, telling us his story of humble background and sometimes embarrassing us at our thought process. I did not open the notebook and he did not hold the chalk and yet that was the best class I have ever had in terms of learning.

If someone has humorously defined Professor as a provincial mind confined within an academic discipline then Dr. Mandi is an antithesis to this definition. We sang Pink Floyd together and he passed on his philosophy of life. He laughed at the state of education system and we could not agree more. He suggested novel ways of learning and earning and we admired in unison. His ways are quirky and their impression indelible.

We are a generation of smartphones and social media but to what good use they can be put was taught by him who comes from a generation that is considered old-fashioned. This blogpost is manifestation of his spirit, his charm, his endeavor.