Of all the aids that technology has blessed us with, NONE can replace a TEACHER. It happens many a time that I feel so happy at the end of a lecture that I feel like clapping and applauding the lecturer. The attention that a teacher commands is stupendous.
The power is such that you are riveted to your chair. Not a single movement, it’s like your entire mind, body, heart and soul are focused towards one and only one aim, to seek knowledge, because knowledge is power. All of us want power but few have the courage to learn. In the opinion of one of my friends MBA is a myth, all you have to do is to develop your soft skills and that’s it. If you can talk you can easily walk past through the MBA maze and that is a misconception that many of us have especially when we are new in a management college. But deep down the line the true measure of our worth is our knowledge and the one who imparts it to us. The old adage that a teacher burns him/herself by giving light to others is so very true. Now I realize it when I attend my classes at my college. Those wrinkles on a teacher’s face are not a result of their age but a proof of their knowledge and experience. Unfortunately no one can be told what ‘experience’ is you have to experience it for yourself, which you do while you are in class. If you miss a lecture you desperately try to seek notes from your friends.

In spite of spending 3 years in graduation and then 2 years in completing our MBA we fail to follow the tacit protocols of higher education. The teachers keep us reminding how to learn albeit not directly but we fail to understand. During my graduation days we never asked for the permission to come in when a lecture was in progress, because it was an unsaid rule that either you come on time or you don’t deserve to attend the lecture. If you had the audacity to attend the lecture even after being late, then better not ask for the permission to come in because the answer was most likely to be in the negative. Besides that interrupting in between a lecture was considered an insult because it disturbed the flow of knowledge. And today it is a sorry state of affairs at most management colleges. Of course every institution has its own set of rules and it would not be right to juxtapose my experience at PUMBA. But without accusing anyone in my opinion it’s the fault of the system that includes the students. Are we immature enough to know how to behave in a temple of higher education? Do we need a written protocol? Do we need to be spoon fed by our mentors by basic etiquette, manners and discipline? Is our childish and complacent behavior responsible for us being laggards in education compared to our counterparts in the West or the developed countries?
During my Cell interview one of the coordinators asked me why I have kept my name as futurestudent. I am futurestudent because learning never stops, if you stop learning you stop growing. One of the guest lecturers at PUMBA mentioned that the fastest learners are children, they are most curious and have highest grasping power, second fastest are management students and third fastest are practicing managers. The most important thing you learn during your higher education is HOW to LEARN. Our current HOD Dr. Anil Keskar in his inaugural speech during the Summers’07 said that instead of focusing on improving our soft skills we must focus on increasing our knowledge. But by the time we realize that it is already too late.

This blog is dedicated to our HOD Dr. Anil Keskar, AVM P. Honmode (Retd.), and Mrs Paralkar who I will not see in the corridors of PUMBA from 31^st October onwards, but their voice will echo in my ears for a long time to come. They have left an indelible impression not only in my mind but I am sure in the minds of many PUMBAites. Thank you SIR, for sharing your experience and knowledge with us.

Here's a song to dedicated to all the teachers at PUMBA - To Sir, with Love