Lakhoni, IAS
An aspiring scriptwriter, a civil servant, a spiritual guru and an art curator — what do they have in common? All are IITians, who’ve defied norms to pursue unusual careers and in their own unique way inspiring others to follow their dream.
It’s less than two weeks since Lakhoni took over as the MD of Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board but he’s already busy overseeing the design of underground water supply and sewerage systems in the city. Hailing from a middle-class family, this IAS officer joined IIT-Delhi to fulfil his father’s dream of making his son an engineer.
“I specialised in communication and radar engineering,” he says. “The
advantage of IIT is that there are people from various sections of the society with different aspirations. So, there is a great deal of exchange of ideas.”
When Lakhoni was in his final year, he wrote the civil services exam. “I need to do challenging things constantly and would get bored doing the same thing continuously. So, I chose to take up civil services. If getting into IIT was prestigious, so was writing the civil services exam,” he explains.
Lakhoni believed it was an ideal platform to learn new things and also for interacting with different people. “It was the pre-globalisation era. Reform was the buzzword among students. A lot of IITians took up civil services in the early ’90s to improve the nation through administration.” Around 15 of his batch-mates opted for civil services.
But why shift to civil services? “I could have definitely done very well if I had been in the communication field today. But I feel that with civil services, you can really make a great impact.” He wants to continue to work towards developing the city.
The PanIIT 2010 Conclave will be held in Greater Noida, NCR Delhi, from October 29 to 31. Organised by the PanIIT Global Alumni, the steering committee is led by Arun Seth from IIT-Kanpur and Vijay Thadani from IIT-Delhi. Over 5,000 people are expected to attend this event. One of the leading technology summits for business leaders, this year’s event, titled Sustainable Transformation — Our New India, addresses the imperatives of an emerging new India. The USP of the conclave is to connect the dots on growth and transformation and also discuss different methods of ensuring sustainable and equitable use of human and natural resources in India. Eminent speakers like Sam Pitroda, Farooq Abdullah, Nandan Nilekeni, Kapil Sibal, Pradeep Khosla, Sheila Dixit, Thomas Friedman and Edward Jung and panellists from industry, academia and the government, including alumni of IITs, will address the many challenges and opportunities facing India in the areas of education, energy and climate change, public health and digital infrastructure. Participants can tap into the experience of globally recognised leaders, learn from peers and to analyse their perspectives with eminent panellists and speakers. Several informal entertainment events will also take place. It’s also an excellent opportunity to network.
Swami Mukundananda (49), Godman Yup, that’s right!
An alumnus of IIT-Delhi and IIM-Calcutta is now a godman, travelling all over the world and helping devotees find the ‘truth’. “The IIT and the IIM I went to failed to answer some of my questions on life, like who I was and what was my role in the creation of the world,” he says. “Though IIT exposed me to technical and scientific education, it only explained the laws of science that controlled the world, but nothing about the lawmaker.”
Since childhood, Mukundananda was interested in spiritual activities. In Class 8 he began meditating after reading a book. He tilted further towards spiritualism during his IIM-C days. “My MBA programme had papers in humanities including sociology, economics and psychology that helped me understand the world around me,” he says.
Mukundananda was impressed with the Vedic philosophy and it helped him develop his conviction to find the absolute truth. Even after finding a job in the US in 1984, he was still wandering around the world. “In Bombay, a sanyasi was talking about life. After listening to him, I became a sanyasi.”
Mukundananda feels an education that helps students find what success means in life is ideal. “Students should be able to differentiate material and spiritual life,” he adds. The godman fondly remembers the poems he read in school, which he thinks has definitely shaped his thoughts.
“I became spiritual and started going around with a jebamala in public. My friends thought I was crazy,” he chuckles but is quick to add they understood him later. “Life came a full circle when I addressed the alumni of IIM last December. My friends are now interested to know what I teach my people.” He believes in the Vedas and says, “There is one god but it can take as many forms as it wishes”.
Puja Gupta (39), Art curator
Puja Gupta, one of the toppers in mechanical engineering at IIT-D has completely crossed over to the creative side and now runs the art gallery Art Experience in Gurgaon. “I simply followed my heart,” smiles Gupta, who also has a portal, www.indianartexperience.com.
Why did she join IIT? “Because my sister joined IIT after Class 12,” pat comes the reply. “That was the trend those days. You study well and eventually join an IIT.” After BTech in mechanical engineering in 1992, she joined the University of Pittsburgh, USA, to pursue MS in industrial engineering. “After that, I joined the marketing section of Discovery Channel and worked in the research and analysis department initially,” she says.
After returning to India in December 1995, she continued to work for Discovery. Gupta soon got bored with her job. “It was the period when the Internet was booming across the world. So, I started a portal www.totaldelhi.com and later ww.footforward.com, a portal for women,” she says.
A brief hiatus from work ensued from 2000 to 2005 and then she was back with another start-up idea.
Gupta realised there were a lot of upcoming artists who have talent and were looking for a platform to launch their careers. “I’ve always had an interest in art. Though I don’t paint, I appreciate art and attend exhibitions often. Since I had developed some contacts with artists, I coordinated with them and staged my first exhibition in early 2007. The response was immense,” she recalls.
Only after this success, Gupta decided to get into art full-time. “I observed that there were many like-minded people in Gurgaon who also felt the need to have an art gallery in the city,” she adds. In the last four years, Gupta has organised over 15 art expos. “NRIs are interested in buying Indian art especially by new artists. So I launched the online gallery in 2009.”
Gupta also organises art appreciation classes for children during the weekends. “In fact, the colleges in India should have art appreciation classes to generate interest,” she suggests. “In the US, even school students are taken on field trips to art museums.”
Gupta is happy with her career. “I was surprised when an astrologer told me that I will spend time with art in the later part of my life,” she adds. She’ll soon include sculpture in her business.
Saumil Shrivastava (27), Writer
A mechanical engineer from IIT-Bombay, Shrivastava realised that his forte was scriptwriting. The passion set in when he was at IIT, as a part of a team writing scripts for a theatre event.
“The best part about IIT is that it gives you the confidence to pursue what you’re interested in,” says Shrivastava. After graduation, he decided to take the beaten path and began working for a business research company in Gurgaon for a year. In 2007, he started an education portal for students called Race. “Students could upload information related to education and also network with other students. But we operated only for nine to 10 months when recession hit,” says the Delhi-based writer.
It was a time for introspection and Shrivastava decided to hang up his tech gloves and take up the pen. “I decided to revive my passion for script writing. When I approached a script writer, he said I would have to move to Mumbai to make a career. So I decided to write the book, A Roller Coaster Ride — When An IITian Met A BITSian Girl,” says Shrivastava.
It honed his writing skills and he’s now working on his second book. So, who was his inspiration? “My first book was based on the people I met after my IIT days and at work,” he says. Despite being a published writer, he’s also working for www.learnhub.com, an education portal where one can take mock tests of various competitive exams, apply to foreign universities and also get some career guidance. “Someday, I wish to move to Mumbai and become a scriptwriter. This will happen after I complete my second book in 2011”.
My first book is based on the people I met after my IIT days and at work. Someday, I wish to move to Mumbai and become a scriptwriter. This will happen after I complete my second book in 2011.
—dennis@expressbuzz.com
—janani@expressbuzz.com
