“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops” – when I first read this quote by Henry Adams, I admit that I was inspired but it was only after coming here that I understood its essence. I recall the day when I got my admission letter from IIM Bodh Gaya. I was happy not only because I had made it to an IIM but also because afters 3 years of persistent efforts I could proudly say that I have done it. As the initial celebrations died down, I began to realize that it’s going to be an exciting journey ahead. Everything was new, but the thing that I was most excited about was the chance to learn from the best.
The one thing that made IIM Bodh Gaya, the place to be at was the fact that it is mentored by IIM Calcutta. I have to say this, that for me just the idea of getting to sit in a class taught by the professors was unimaginable a few years ago. It’s not that I had a doubt in my abilities to make it to an IIM but I had never met teachers with near perfect resumes. This is what I thought before entering my first class here, but the experiences have made it more than that. The faculties have made such an impression on me that everything else at this point of time seems irrelevant.
If I start talking about the resumes I feel I would do them injustice. But I will take the liberty to do that and proudly say that I have had the opportunity to study with a S.S Bhatnagar award winner, a former Director at RBI, a World Bank Advisor, a former IIM Director and a professor who started some of the first courses on finance in India, a current IIM Director and a brilliant Microeconomist, a giant in Macroeconomics, a former Editor of one the most prolific magazines in India and the best communicator, I have ever met and the list goes on. In fact, it would be hard for me to find appropriate connotations for all of them. The knowledge that the teachers have in their respective fields in simply jaw-dropping.
But the fact that they can translate the most difficult concepts to real life examples is absolutely awesome. Each had their own distinctive style and each added a different dimension to our course. The most amazing part is that they loved what they taught and they never gave their 99%. Every class they took was a 100% from their side, though that may not be true of us. We, and I am saying this as a representative of my class, were tired many a times and the frustration could be easily seen on our faces. But I did not find a single faculty coming to the class without bringing his best and even when they could see our eyes shutting and our faces looking dull and gloomy, they never stopped trying harder.
A teacher is someone who inspires us, shapes us, develops in us an insatiable urge to learn and reminds us that knowledge brings power, but true knowledge brings humility. I have been inspired, shaped, urged and more importantly reminded to value what I have got.
____
About the Author:
After spending four years doing the usual engineering course, I realised that I could be anything in this world but a good engineer. I have taught quantitative aptitude at T.I.M.E for 3 years which really pushed me to sharpen my public speaking skills. Finally, I made it to a couple if IIM’s and finally chose IIM Bodh Gaya. I have to say that it has been a great start up experience here as I got to start the placement cell from scratch. Currently,I am doing my internship at a social enterprise crowdfunding startup called Impact Guru in a Business Development role.
