How did you enter this profession of teaching and training?
My association with Jai Hind College started as a student where I did my B.Sc. and then M.Sc. with Chemistry as my major subject in the year 1962. In those days, it was a practice of the University of Mumbai, that the results of M.Sc. used to be declared on June 19th and the colleges would start the academic year on June 20th. My Head of the Department, Prof. N.G. Kotwani, informed me that there was a vacancy in the Department, to the post of a Demonstrator, which he was willing to offer me. He further advised me to take up the post till I get to somewhere perhaps in a suitable industry, if I so desired. It was indeed very exciting that one day I get my results and the very next day I could get the job. I accepted the offer, to start with a salary of Rs.125/- per month.I was a thin and skinny looking boy and that made me scared, whether I would be able to face and handle the students and whether I would be able to do justice to the job. However, all my apprehensions vanished on the very first day of my job, when I realized that I was accepted by the students very well. The affection and warmth I received from the students touched my heart and gave me ample confidence to feel that perhaps this was the profession I would like to be in. Ever since then, I have never looked back but continued my association not only with this profession but with Jai Hind College and its students of great calibre. It was a treat to teach them, deal with them and interact with them.

As you mentioned earlier that from a Teacher to a Principal and now to a Director, how has been your career graph over the years and change in role at different levels?
As already mentioned, I started as a demonstrator in 1962 and it was only 10 years later, that I got my promotion to the post of a Lecturer, in 1972, when a vacancy was created to the post. My lecture classes were absolutely packed and in the process, I gained tremendous job satisfaction, developing great rapport with the students. Monetary considerations never lured me. By 1989, I had become a Senior Lecturer and at this time I rose through the ranks to be given the post of Professor In-charge of Junior Section of the College, superseding many of my seniors. I was very actively involved in various extra-curricular activities of the college, besides of course teaching. Little did I realize that within 1 year, i.e. in 1990 I would be entrusted with the responsibility of the whole college, Junior & Senior, to become the de-facto Principal of the College. Apprehensions about my administrative capabilities were aroused again in my mind, in that I would be on the other side of my students, my colleagues and all the non-teaching staff of the college, with whom I had very pleasant relations. I knew that the administration was a different ball game from teaching & that my teaching would be limited and my interaction with my students and my colleagues will almost disappear. I had no choice but to accept the responsibility and the challenge to be in the post of a Principal. With the grace of God and with the love and affection of my students, I completed 14 years of Principalship of the college. I superannuated in 2004 and retired from the post of a Principal but the Management of the College did not release me and gave me the post of a Director to the Institution and also the Secretary to the Managing Board. Today besides the dual responsibilities, I still love to teach and do take some lectures of the degree classes. In that sense I hardly find any difference between now and then, between the Principal or the Director. Work keeps me busy and that’s where I find my happiness, my satisfaction of life.

And now as a Director how are the responsibilities different from that of a Principal?
As a Director I do oversee some of the affairs, activities and day to day problems, if any, of the college, but I do not handle the routine work, which of course is ably managed by our Principal, Dr. (Mrs.) Kirti Narain. As a Secretary to the Managing Board I handle all the affairs of the association including finance, new projects, infrastructure and un-aided courses, namely BMS, BMM, BBI, Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Computer Science, etc.

Which are the other colleges affiliated to the same association?
Jai Hind College is a minority institution, run by a Charitable Trust called the 'Sind Educationists' Association'. People often mix up our association with Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board (HSNC Board), which runs many educational institutions like K.C., H.R., National, etc, to name a few. Jai Hind is one by itself and has its own identity, although we have always maintained HSNC Board to be a sister organization.

What are your future plans for the college?
My vertical growth has come to an end. But that has not stopped my future plans and ambitions for the college. I am a dreamer. I keep dreaming and imagining the changes that we should bring about in Jai Hind, academically as well as infrastructurally. Our greatest concern is the space constraints in Jai Hind, which we want to eliminate and erect a 'State - Of the Art' building. Today I can see my dream transforming into reality of a seven storey building in place of our Annexe building, a three storey building. Thanks to the noble and generous hearted, one time student of mine, Mr. Sandeep Raheja, of K. Raheja Constructions, who has taken the responsibility of constructing this building at his cost.

What are the new projects for the new building?
In the new building, in addition to the existing courses, we plan to add a number of dynamic courses such as Post Graduate Management course (M.B.A. / M.M.S.), an Animation Centre, an Editing Laboratory, few vertical financial courses, Test Prep Courses such as SAT, GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, etc for the students planning to go abroad for higher studies and so on.

Tell us something about the college. You conduct degree courses in Arts, Commerce and Science. What are the add-ons subjects?
It has been since the year 1999, that the University of Mumbai have started introducing many dynamic courses such as B.M.S. (Bachelor of Management Studies), B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media), B.B.I. (Bachelor of Banking & Insurance), B.A.F. (Bachelor of Accounts & Finance), Biotechnology, etc. These courses have become extremely popular against the conventional courses of B.A., B.Sc. and B.Com., which as per my opinion have now become outdated. In these newly introduced courses there is a flexibility of learning and teaching, there is direction, a challenge, room for excellence, a diversity of learning, all these resulting in a great motivation amongst the students, for their all round development. The graduating students from these disciplines of study, do not have to chase for their placement, it is the placement that chases them, in their Campus Recruitment by many upfront companies and organizations.

What are the extra curricular activities in your college?
Our students are not only academically oriented but have been participating in various extra curricular, co-curricular and sports activities, both at intra - college and inter-collegiate levels. Our BMS class, ever since its inception in 1999 has been organizing annually an inter-collegiate National Festival “ TALAASH “. This year this festival was organized for a period of 7 days with numerous competitions. The students of Jai Hind College themselves don't participate in Talaash for obvious reasons but it gives them an opportunity to develop their organizational skills. Another popular event of the college is 'Mr & Miss Jai Hind' Personality Contest, judged by a panel of 8 judges who are celebrities drawn from different sections of the society. This year it was the 28th year of this contest. Besides this we celebrate our Annual Day “Achievers' Nite “ and the Annual Sports Day in addition to Monsoon Marathon.

Tell us something about the college festivals and your students' performances?
As far as the performance of our students is concerned our students have excelled in many of these activities. At the Inter-Collegiate National festival, “ MALHAR “ organized by St. Xaviers' College, Jai Hind has been the winner for the last 2 consecutive years, which otherwise has all along been the prerogative of St. Xaviers. At “Kaleidoscope” of Sophia College, Jai Hind was the runner up. At “cutting chai” festival of National College, Jai Hind was the winner. At Piljani National Sports festival, Jai Hind stood overall third amongst the 78 teams that participated. Our Girls Football team have been the district winners and selected to play at the State level. Our girls Lawn Tennis team has reached at the national level. With all this, I think we have every right to say that our students are all- rounders.

You have decades of teaching experience . How has the mindset of the students changed over the years in respect of their career and their values of discipline and culture?
As for my teaching experience is concerned, I have absolutely no regrets. I have enjoyed every bit of my time spent in teaching. I have received tremendous response from my students. My students have been my strength . Discipline and hard work have been my best friends, my assets. To us at Jai Hind, discipline is the first chapter of learning and to inculcate the values of discipline and culture amongst the students should be the ultimate education of life. This has always been our endeavour and I am proud to say that our students have gelled in these values. Over the years, we do notice a change in the students' attitude. They have been self centered in their activities, no doubt career conscious.

What according to you are the attributes of a good teacher?
Essential attributes of a teacher should be, devotion, commitment, hard work and most importantly concern for the future of the students. Besides the teacher should have the flair to teach so that he can do justice to the profession as well as project the image of the institution. I must mention here that the teaching profession has become the monopoly of women as their number in any college is much more than that of the male teachers, because the women find this profession comfortable and convenient. Men hardly want to join this profession, for obvious reasons. There are so many things happening in the education system because of corruption, character assassination and lack of devotion to the profession. This does put the teachers in a bad light. So good teachers should be above these trends and be committed, fair and above all, always concerned with the welfare of the students.

You have a lot of students from your college who have become celebrities like many Miss Indias, Industrialists, Film Stars, Sport persons, etc. Name a few and tell us how they contribute or give back to the college?
I have already mentioned one of them -Sandeep Raheja who is erecting a building of seven crores for us. To name a few other outstanding personalities: one such is Dr. A.R Mashelkar, the Chief scientist in our country, and a scientific advisor to the Prime Minister. The other person is Kishore Mandyan, the chief in the U.N.O. at Croatia and now he is in Iraq. Then the State Finance Minister Shri. Jayant Patil, Shri. Ashwin Dani , Asian Paint Chief. Late Union Minister of Youth & Sports, Shri. Sunil Dutt was also from this college, so are Aishwarya Rai and Neeta Lulla.

To mention a few industrialists, we have Ajay Piramal of Nicholas Piramal Ltd., Nitin Kasliwal, of Reid and Taylor, Varij Kasliwal of S. Kumars, Suneel Advani of Blue Star, Nikhil Chaturvedi of Provogue, Prakash Modi of Uni-Chem, Shailaja Merchant of Lucid Group and many more. Identifying a few more from tinsel town, there are stars like Preeti Janghiani, John Abraham, Hitesh Tejwani, Isha Koppikar, Malaika Arora, Hussein, Ramesh Sippy, Shaan, Atul Kasbekar, Priyanka Chopra, is what I can remember. Sois Natasha Suri, Miss India 2006.Then there are builders like G.L. Raheja, Chandru Raheja, Suresh Raheja, Vijay Raheja, Sandeep Raheja, Hiranandanis and not to forget Hafiz Contractor. Almost 50% of Bombay's doctors are from Jai Hind. Jai Hind in those days was considered as doctor producing machinery. To name a few prominent doctors from Jai Hind are Dr. Ashok Kripalani, Dr. Farad Taraporewala, Dr. Hemant Thakker, Dr. Duru Shah, Dr. Mahesh Lalwani, Dr. Arun Mullaji, Dr. Anjali Mukerji and Dr. Surendra Soneji.Our Annual Alumni functions are held at N.C.P.A. where the function is followed by cocktail and dinner. It is our alumni who bear all the expenses involved, besides they have periodically been contributing towards the needs and requirements of the college.

Tell us about your family
My wife always says my first love is Jai Hind College because I spend most of my time in the college and sometimes threatens to throw my bed out of the house. My family includes my wife who is a practicing doctor and my two daughters. My eldest daughter, Kaajal, is at present in The London Business School - she is doing her M.B.A She has done her undergraduate from Colgate University in New York. My youngest daughter, Tarana, is in Yale University, USA. She is in her last year of under-graduate studies, doing Liberal Arts.

And as a person what is your mission, long-term objective or goal?
I have spent 45 years in Jai Hind. Jai Hind was established in the year 1948 by the elders of our displaced Sindhi community, after the partition of the country in 1947. The college was started with a very humble beginning . Today in the course of these 60 years, Jai Hind has grown into a mighty oak tree and considered as one of the premier educational institutions of the city. We cannot sit complacement with the place we have carved for ourselves in the field of education. Sky is the limit. Our mission is to take Jai Hind to newer heights of excellence and recognition. Our long term objectives and goal is to make our education system more meaningful. Today our education system is totally examination oriented, as a result the true potential of the student is not tapped because what is excelling in our educational system, is the memory power of our student and not his intelligence or potential. Continuous participation of a student in the class and his evaluation is the answer, and not one or two examinations. The aim of our education should be to teach a child to think and not what to think. College education must not only provide degrees but also provide an opportunity to a student to broaden his intellectual horizons and his communication skills. Our college motto “ I Will & I Can “ will certainly inspire us to achieve this goal.

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