Mandi Sir (01:55.297)
It’s my privilege and I’m really thankful for the audience and also for Swamiji.
Q1
Swami (02:02.254)
Professor Prasad, can you talk to us about what was the inspiration behind your background that has helped you shape the way you teach and the way you inspire students?
Mandi Sir (02:33.474)
Thank you very much for the audience and yes, my background, my brother, the path that I walked, that gave me an idea and that helped me to create a method of learning which we call it as pedagogy to andragogy to hetagogy. I request the audience to look at hetagogy, which is basically Swaraja, swatantra, swayattha, swayam, basically taking oneself, becoming the centre and be able to drive one’s life. Actually, this was my path. If you look at around 30 crore souls, around five crores graduate students, around 20-25 crores, the school going students. If you look at 30 crore students, they don’t have any work in the name of education. And they are basically said that, abjure your work. If you are getting educated, you are not supposed to work. So that is the whole, now change to my contrarian thinking saying that. Actually, the ills of education came from that particular instance. How come 30 crore people can’t work for 20 years? Hi, what is this? And the whole education came out of it.
Today the kind of attention deficiency which we are suffering. So this particular method of learning came out of my personal experience. But when I looked at the unemployment, I looked at the placement, when I looked at this value creation, when I looked at the technology explosion, I can’t stop myself. And the whole problem of higher education is this.
Swami (06:54.402)
Mm.
Swami (09:02.776)
Mmm.
Swami (09:12.462)
But do you believe this is the problem with all Ivy League education not just in India but even in the US and Europe and in fact you talk about the European model which is actually having a certain kind of an apprentice model which you believe works very well. So can you talk to us a little bit about the European model?
Who are coming to Ivy League? They all the best, wealthy people. come there. But this 1 %-2 % is not this thing. This Ivy League model can help for top 1%, 5 % they are happy, they are all good. Question is not about what happened to this top 1 % this thing. What is happening to the 99 % is a bigger issue. So we require a contrarian thinking.
Q2
Swami (11:38.574)
So how does Europe build this model and what are the tenets that you have picked up in how you now teach and how you make students learn in higher education?
Mandi Sir (11:51.084)
Most of the people talk about apprentices, internships, talk about it. I don’t like basically. Even apprentices I criticize basically. Please understand, even European countries are facing today problem.
50 years back, apprentice was a great thing. Today, apprentice internship cannot serve the purpose. We require entrepreneurial methods like that.
Swami (12:29.175)
Okay.
Mandi Sir (12:31.411)
And there are amazing kind of writing coming up, but academics are completely they’re close, they’re closing their eyes. Please understand with the placements, with the kind of internships which they are talking about, they’re ruining, they are harming the generation actually.
So education to all is not happening, number one. Number two, even the best educated are uselessly used. Very low level usage is going to be there. That’s a big kind of thing. Today the whole corporate problems came because of this particular bad use.
So I even don’t subscribe to… the European model, US model, but we have our own Indian model actually. Basically, please understand, work-based education is a very simplest thing. This doesn’t mean that vocational education, lot of people think that vocational education, no it’s not. Actually, an ITI engineer when they do,
Swami (13:32.333)
Hmm.
Mandi Sir (13:43.06)
A Karakpur student, example, a mechanical engineering electrical student who breaks this, not the tube light on the railway tracks. I’ve seen one video where, you know, one student was breaking his tube light on the street saying that what useless thing this particular, you know.
Swami (13:56.803)
more.
Mandi Sir (14:01.357)
This is the whole issue. How come in a IT student says that electrical engineering, mechanical engineering is useless and the professor says that you will have a use after 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. No. Can I get used today? One rupee demonstrate one rupee. can make it two rupees demonstrate one rupee. I can make five rupees.
Swami (14:39.394)
Yeah.
Swami (14:50.595)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandi Sir (14:56.449)
So opportunities are there. We require to be radically think differently. But most important thing is that nonviolently, inexpensive way, not expensive way. say, contrarian is always inexpensive, not expensive. It is not wasteful. It is very productive. That’s contrarian. Contrarian is never it’s ever wasteful, actually. So when you say radical, it should be fruitful, it should be nonviolent. And my point is that whether directors of this university, vice-chancellors, directors of IITs, IMs, whether they do it or not, students are going to do. There is no need for signals coming from vice-chancellors, directors. Today’s generation don’t wait for signals.
Q3
Swami (16:17.07)
So Professor, one of the things that I wanted to understand is therefore how did you apply this maha mandi and what is the whole mandi thinking and how does it help students learn better because you talk about self, think and learn. So therefore talk to me about the contrarian thinking that you then started applying and tell us how it works.
Mandi Sir (16:40.493)
So the issue is that conceptual to application to value creation. Application is basically can be looked at in a productive, working, value-generating style. The name is, the tag is selling. Selling is not exploitation. I mean, marketing people can understand this far better than anybody else.
There is a need which you are fulfilling. are soliciting whether you can fulfill the need. In return, there is going to be benefit. It is a mutualism. It’s like a marriage. It’s like a relationship.
Learning is not listening, learning is
Swami (18:32.405)
Okay.
Swami (18:48.898)
Mmm. Mmm.
Mandi Sir (18:57.559)
telling and also listening from the customer actually. And learning is not avoiding failures, fearing failures. The contrary in thinking is inviting failures. Only thing is medicated, meditated, planned, experimented kind of thing so that it’s not suicidal.
Swami (19:00.782)
you
Swami (19:19.638)
So how do you do it? How do you do it, professor? So, yeah, can you talk to me about one prop that you pick up and talk about how you do that? Yeah, nice. Okay.
Mandi Sir (19:21.9)
Undersleep.
Mandi Sir (19:32.671)
Now if you look at Bombay, is a very common kind of a Diwali candle. This is Diwali candle. But this is being sold by uneducated people for IIT professors and IIT professors never sees it as an educational product.
Swami (19:51.48)
Okay.
Mandi Sir (19:53.754)
Actually, there is an amazing kind of engineering in it. See the kind of pattern, how beautifully it came out of it like that. Look at the kind of thing. So, the simple question which I ask my students is how many pieces are there in it. This is an amazing kind of question like that. There is a fixed number of pieces in it involved in that. Actually, if you look at the pieces, they are nothing but…
Swami (19:56.631)
Okay.
Swami (20:11.598)
Hmm.
Mandi Sir (20:26.667)
same pieces only colors got changed. This is basically rhombus, rhombite rhombus actually. So, there are 30 rhombites which has got it 60 equilateral triangles came out and came out with a particular kind of a shape.
Swami (20:43.203)
you
Mandi Sir (20:45.165)
No, my students should understand immediately saying that if I put 30 rhombuses together, it covers the sphere of the particular globe. The more important thing, it is not about practice, the whole question is that you go out, sell this as a mathematical product, come back, then you talk about it, is the whole issue.
This is the whole idea.
Mandi Sir (22:26.421)
I give this particular toy to my engineering college students, my engineering students who come from an MBA and say you want to do a customer relationship, you want to create value, you want to satisfy this thing, you go sell this as engineering product. This is no sir, it engineering product, it is a biology product. I said nothing doing, it is engineering product.
So what is engineering in it?
Swami (22:43.598)
Okay.
Okay.
Mandi Sir (22:53.407)
I give this to the biology students and that you should sell it as an engineering product. So a boy and a girl, an engineer and also a doctor, both together go there and they will be able to change their reverse roles and they will be doing the exercise so well that they might start a company tomorrow.
Swami (22:58.659)
Simple question I will ask you. Do you have this in your home?
Swami (23:36.322)
Mm.
Mandi Sir (23:40.718)
I can say 99 % of say that we don’t have this particular toy in our house. I say that all useless things are there in your home. Why don’t we have a useful thing so that your body pain will not be there?
For example, this is a simple.
Mandi Sir (24:16.461)
This is sold for 800 rupees. You come out of the airport of this particular, you know, international airport, I bought one and I copied it actually. Simple product. Why you require 800 rupees for it? Because a physics professor is useless. That is the reason why it became 800 rupees. If physics professor should be able to sell every day 100 toys, 1000 toys.
Swami (24:18.542)
Mmm.
Swami (24:24.888)
Mmm.
Swami (24:39.085)
Yeah.
Mandi Sir (24:45.867)
then he will be automatically teaching with a thousand toys to the physics to the people. The question is that if I throw it, it should come back. If I am spending, I should get back my money.
Contrarian thinking is when you spend today, get after 10 years is not a contrarian thinking. Contrarian thinking is I will spend from this packet, I will get from that packet.
Swami (24:54.552)
Mm.
Mandi Sir (25:15.789)
The urgency to retrieve the value is the most important thing in business. The business logic is not to spread 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 50 years after I get a value. Instantaneously.
No, some people say that no, it’s not possible to do it like that. Think contrarian. Is it possible or not? Design it like that. Today we are talking about, you know, samples with a 10 ml. We talking about, I was really got, I was putting my hair, you this oil. It’s got a two rupees pocket. I was looking at a coffee, a small sachet, no, two rupees.
So you can retrieve the money quickly more important rather than getting after 10 years to find out.
Swami (26:13.102)
So what you do is that you send these students to the market and they actually start selling this. So therefore for example they start thinking about value proposition. Ok, what is this?
Mandi Sir (26:24.973)
Absolutely. Tell me how many math students have got a this try in their toilet. Toilet. Newton will be there in the toilet.
I ask these students if I put two of these things what happens? Most of the people cannot tell it because they never played it. There is a difference in terms of one and two.
Swami (26:59.854)
Hmm.
Mandi Sir (27:11.725)
Simple thing it is. It’s such an idiotic thing.
You don’t require to. I got imported 3000 rupees for this toy. This is a pathetic thing of this particular country. Make in India. Import India is the whole thing like that. I tell the students saying that, if you are a physics student, you should be able to sell 1000 toys, 10,000 toys.
and this is kind of thing. So please, I mean, will understand physics very well if it is played with this particular toy like this. So one of my students, yeah.
Mandi Sir (28:00.27)
Yeah, this boy, you know, this boy Ravi Jalan and also his wife Disha Katrani and Disha is from ISB Hyderabad. Sir, IIM students also love ISB girls. It’s not that no only ISB boys will love IIM girls actually. It’s not that. I don’t mind for it.
Why should I bother about it? Okay, Ravi Jalan and also Disha, they started this company. They just came for, shark tank very recently is my student. He sold these toys and he exports toys internationally today. He’s there on short rank and he says, sir, there is a huge market for toys and he sold these toys in Bombay streets as an assignment. If you don’t sell it, you don’t get marks.
Swami (28:35.007)
Okay.
Mandi Sir (28:50.859)
This is the whole idea.
Q4
Swami (28:59.598)
So tell me, so therefore now when I go to the market, when I start actually getting to understand this, then I come back to the class, how do you now tell them that okay, positioning means this, culture means this, leadership means this, pricing means this, so how do you now convert this into the classroom and how do you then bring it for them to learn?
Mandi Sir (29:26.549)
Yeah, actually before they go, actually they are already bombarded with marketing classes, communication classes, economics classes, they got bored of it. The moment they got into the market, customer, they understood the whole kind of thing saying that, this is the whole world, positioning, pricing, targeting, customer pain point.
Actually, we are just releasing them to the market, Mandi, Bazaar, Sant, Angadi. They come back with amazing kind of insights and they are made to write assignments. If they don’t write an assignment, you don’t get marks. Go to my Mandi Sir website and you can see thousands of students videos on it like that. know, graduate students, undergraduate students.
Actually, they start thinking about actually market is basically imagination more than just I mean reading from the book. We can also talk like a Kotler. They start understanding saying that they look at competitors, they look at other people.
They look at simplest people and say that how differently they are doing it. So multiple subjects, communication, economic strategy, operations, pricing, every subject will be able to give them assignments and they will be creating these assignments. And I have something basically saying that I loved your word basically, necklace of assignments that we will talk more on that as you ask me for that.
Swami (30:55.202)
Hmm.
Swami (31:16.334)
I really want to get there professor because I heard you say that I think the whole education system is built on fragmented assignments, right? Because I do economics, I do some assignments, I do biology, you know there is an assignment, there is a chemistry, there is an assignment, I do entrepreneurship, there is an assignment. But I think you made a very interesting point saying that if you want students to learn better, actually assignments need to be connected. So explain that and that actually amplifies learning is what you said. So tell me a little bit about that.
Mandi Sir (31:53.962)
Absolutely.
Yeah, you go any college. is that, no, we have so many assignments,
so many serious ones, we do it like that.
And you have to submit it in so and so time. All is fine. It’s very nice. And they do it very, I mean, do it like that. the insistence, insisting by the faculties, extreme kind of thing. Actually faculty take…as if that’s a prestige for them to make their students assignment. This is the good thing which they do it like that.
But the problem is after assignment, what they do. The problem with economics professor with the marketing is that they have a tug of war. No, I am bigger than you. They don’t talk to each other actually. Have you seen any time economics and marketing professor coming to the class? Rarely.
Swami (32:48.75)
Yeah.
Mandi Sir (32:52.257)
rarely. The student will get confused.
So the problem is that the connecting, the collaborating, assembling, aligning is missing. I feel ashamed when I looked at the number of assignments which go to Rathiwala’s including IIMs. PhD thesis.
Swami (32:59.886)
Mmm.
Mandi Sir (33:20.269)
I put out my thesis actually. So this is a hard effort like that. No, no, no, don’t say every thesis cannot be done. Who said every thesis should be well? You do one thesis out of hundred. You make it like that. The question is that. So we make the students to come out with each of the assignment is a jewel, a diamond, a good stone of it, but only thing is if you put all of them into one particular basket and automatically it comes out into a kind of a flower bouquet.
Swami (33:57.42)
So do you really do that in your institute for example?
Mandi Sir (34:00.398)
So this is a company, LoL Tech, this is an assignment and this comes out different assignments being done by economic, communication, strategy kind of thing. So this is one my assignment for entrepreneurship. Complete thing he will write it like that.
Actually the student will see the relationship of one subject to the next subject to the next subject to the next subject. Actually what faculty cannot see, he will fill the gaps.
A faculty can never see it. Economics professor, why will they see a strategy? Why strategy professor will say marketing? Why marketing professor will say entrepreneurship? No, no, no, no, it’s my not subject. It’s your subject they say that. But the whole kichdi making should be done by this particular student.
He understands the taste of the Kichdi. He understands the value of the Kichdi. One of the biggest issues, this particular thing is teachers have got rivalries. They got a competition. I published more, you published less or you published more, I published less.
This is the including top. Everybody has got this thing. They never bothered to bring these assignments together. One request from your contrarian thinking is to the vice chancellors and directors please ensure to see that A to Z assignments bring together make a quilt Padikka. Tamil they call it as Padikka. Hindi they call it as Razai.
Grandmas do all wasteful things bring together and create an amazing kind of a this thing. Please this note my this thing there is one Saras Saraswati I request you to put up this part of this particular this thing. She talks about effectuation principles one of the principles she talks about. Saras is from Tamil an amazing lady she contributed amazingly the methodology of the way of learning entrepreneurship she completely changed she said that it is not that only rich people, children can make it. It’s basically you don’t require resources. Whatever resources you have based upon that you can do, a contrarian thinking. I wish you should invite Saras for a presentation on it.
Mandi Sir (36:33.869)
The problem, this particular responsibility is on the student how he will combine this particular 207 bones. If your 207 assignments are there, if you combine them, it becomes a skeleton.
Swami (36:50.232)
Beautiful.
Mandi Sir (36:52.757)
No, no, he is putting head here and leg here. He will understand that legs will come here only, not here.
Swami (37:00.43)
It’s almost like saying that the orthopedician must talk to the gynaecologist, the gynaecologist should talk to the cardiologist and if all of them work together, only the human being can be actually made to live. Similarly, what you saying is, assignments need to be built like a connected piece across a student’s course and that is critical and you are really emphasizing the fact that when they go to the market,
Mandi Sir (37:14.539)
Business.
Swami (37:27.426)
The problems are not subjects, but they actually are a common problem and there is an economic problem, there is a marketing problem, there is a… And all these need to be brought together and therefore bring the assignments together.
Mandi Sir (37:34.445)
The psychological problem.
Mandi Sir (37:41.14)
And please understand the pain is not taken on the teacher, pain is taken by the student. Please when delivery is done by the particular girl Doctor is not taking pain, the pain is taken by this thing. The student will take it and they enjoy it… please they enjoy it because they know that the more they have a pain of the fate they are benefited they are getting value out of it.
Swami (38:49.71)
Beautiful.
Q5
Swami (38:56.526)
So Professor Prasad, one question that I have is, you are one, I would say, teacher who really I heard you say exam marks are not the best markers for learning, right? So why do you say exam markers are not the best markers for learning?
Mandi Sir (39:21.805)
Yeah, no, this was good 50 years back, 100 years back, they were good. But today it’s not. Actually, you know, they’re not, every student, 10 people are observing, he should not copy, he’s not important, he’s not important. That’s the whole problem. And he’s anyhow doing it. So exams have lost their relevance in the new context.
For example, I mean, the answers which they can give it is can be very different like that. So from information to suchana to action, application, creation of value is a new exam.
We are not… lot of people say that no, no, no, they have to come to the class. They have to come to the class. I’m not saying that they’re not coming to the class. We are just saying that the assignments are seen to be looking together so that value is created.
If they’re spending 20 lakh rupees, can they make one lakh, two lakh, three lakh out of these 20 lakh rupees? It’s not a bad idea. No, no, you’re money minded. are only, you are only Lakshmi conscious. You are not looking at a Saraswati. No utility of this thing cannot be measured. Actually utility can be contrarian thinking. what the whole program is that. grandfather has not Our grandson will think contrarian today. Whole idea is that. So it can be done this way.
Swami (40:46.872)
Mmm.
Mandi Sir (40:55.231)
COLD OPENING – CONTENT IS IN THIS ENTIRE ANSWER MARKED IN BLUE
So we make the students to start the startup in the day one saying that everybody has to register a company. If you don’t register a company, you don’t get marks. Once the company is created, the people put all their assignments to be part of it like that.
Swami (41:10.828)
Very nice. Okay. So you are forcing people to really start a company.
Mandi Sir (41:12.299)
So be proud.
Mandi Sir (41:16.557)
Thank
Mandi Sir (41:20.545)
They don’t come close.
Swami (41:24.896)
Okay.
Mandi Sir (41:26.763)
these are companies.
Mandi Sir (41:30.925)
And if you don’t start a company, don’t learn. No, no, sir, I’m not coming here to start a company. Whether you want to start, whether you want to continue company or not, you cannot learn about company unless you do company. It’s only a short term, two years assignment for you. Once two years over, you dissolve the company. Actually, you dissolve the company, there is also an assignment. Do you that dissolving a company is the biggest issue?
Swami (41:57.358)
Good.
Mandi Sir (41:59.906)
Taking divorce is much difficult compared to getting married. Men should understand.
Swami (42:03.393)
Yeah
Swami (42:07.258)
So literally you actually get them to register a company and then you then all assignments for that company on strategy, what is the product, what is the distribution, what is the pricing, everything is then linked back to that one thing and therefore then I started learning about business and that’s how the MBA comes to life is what you are saying.
Mandi Sir (42:26.765)
Yes, the spirit, the spirit is being put into it like that. Please understand, we have to put the spirit into it like that. And it is his company. It’s not my company, it’s his company. So 400 students come out with a, you know, 100 companies, where two, three students come together. One more important thing, usually two, three students when they come together, it is double and triple the assignments like, 30 assignments become 60, 60 becomes 90.
It’s an amazing thing. They fight. They ditch. These signals? No, no, no, they also… I said, what? This is a life, man. No, no, he ditched me, went off. This is what is going to happen after five years for you. You should get ready for it. You write an assignment and give me how he ditched you.
Swami (43:01.454)
Thanks.
Swami (43:20.662)
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Mandi Sir (43:22.273)
What are the principles you have to take into consideration somebody ditching you?
Swami (43:26.85)
So basically you saying that if there is a co-founder fight, you should know how to handle it. Or if you have a fight with your leadership, then how do you handle it? So you are saying all this gets embedded in the way you actually build this mandi and then the mandi becomes the learning and therefore the company and therefore you connect everything. How are other professors reacting to your idea and do they cooperate to ensure that
Mandi Sir (43:32.557)
Absolutely.
Mandi Sir (43:45.323)
Skyco.
Mandi Sir (43:53.901)
Good evening.
Swami (43:55.896)
something like this happens.
Mandi Sir (43:57.91)
Yeah, thanks to my colleagues for the last 20-25 years. Some of them are really good at, which they cooperated. And I thank my colleagues and it could happen. But of course, there are deviants. They say they don’t want to be. It’s OK. No problem with that. But once students get an idea that it’s to happen, that’s where we want to drive it like. You can imagine four or five faculty are more than enough for me to make a beginning like that. Student understands, the patient understands whether the other doctors are doing or not is very least important for me. And I got a fund from the Department of Science and Technology. I’m running NITI Center for Student Startups. And I got a unicorns came out of the process. And when they put together, they understand better and teachers acceptance doesn’t matter today actually that’s what I feel it but there are people there are people most of the people they say that what you are doing good work but please I said okay it’s no problem for that doesn’t matter
Q6
Swami (45:08.226)
you also talk about a very I would say controversial point that you make which is to say intelligent students become employees. So I think what do you and what is the long term impact of that?
Mandi Sir (45:20.973)
Hahaha
Mandi Sir (45:26.573)
It’s most damaging like that. Please idiotic people becoming employees nothing I mean the economy will not be affected. But intelligent people are misused by the unintelligent people as owners. Please understand.
Swami (45:42.423)
Okay.
Mandi Sir (45:44.558)
I mean you know that, I mean today you look at the hard words and Ivy League people are being recruited by whom? Who are the people? Be a past, become past. So how do you use it? So we need an educated who is ethical, educated who is an excellent, rather than uneducated we are expecting to be ethical and also excellent, which is impossible.
Swami (46:07.242)
It’s almost like what you say is that we are generating more job doers but you are saying your vision is to actually create students who are job givers.
Mandi Sir (46:16.779)
Definitely. Even I would like to put it this like that. Even 10 % of population if you are able to create job givers, that’s more than enough.
How come you can say that 10 % cannot be done? They are not born for it. Who said it is a lie? Actually, we are making misfits.
this is the damage which education is doing and especially higher education is doing it. They forcing people to become knockers, employees, servants.S bus. Forcing 100% placement means there is 10% error. 10% error because 10% people they don’t fit to employees. No, no, they are experts that they want to become.
Actually, we create that seed behind them saying that startup, they join the company within no time they will leave out like that. I’ll give an amazing examples for it like that. For example, I was talking about the gentleman called Imelji Nick. He joined ENY.
Swami (47:13.176)
So.
Mandi Sir (47:36.61)
He joined E and Y. He loved the girl Disha there. Both started a company. Four years worked and came out like that. But this particular seed has come in the classroom. That’s the whole idea. For example, there is a company called Laltan, which was started by Manit Goheel. He joined Flipkart. He joined Flipkart. Worked for only six months.
He joined the company with a condition saying that, will not work for more than 6 months with you. I will do 6 years work in only 6 months for you. Any entrepreneur will say, any founder will say, Bansal will say, we love you.
Swami (48:16.846)
Mandi Sir (48:29.055)
and he joined there. He worked for six months, one year. He got out and he got a funding. Actually, they were interested to fund the company, LoL Tech. But he said, I don’t want to feel like you this thing. I got from ITC some top executive you could do invested in it like that. this idea is that placement should be able to create a kind of a unhappiness for them saying that I need not. Yeah, yeah, nothing wrong with that. It’s nothing wrong.
Q7
Swami (48:56.994)
So literally you got, know, cashify is a unicorn, you got, you know, almost about top 10 unicorns were actually built through the assignments and through the Monday kind of learning that people did and these companies I just calculated Professor Prasad, almost about 10 to 15,000 jobs they have been able to create.
Mandi Sir (49:09.986)
Yes.
Mandi Sir (49:19.405)
I thought of you so nice of you. 15,000?
Swami (49:23.982)
So that is the kind of employees that these companies have created,
Mandi Sir (49:34.016)
amazing kind of companies which we got. Nagpur, Indian Auto Gas, by this Rahul Gugaliya, amazing kind of gentleman. The gentleman came in the classroom. I still recall. He said, sir, I am registering the company. I said, wow, beautiful like that. So, Square Yards by Vivek Karwal, amazing. They send me the T-shirts. Actually, there are so many T-shirts with me, actually. So, they send me and I’ll be using like the Cashify.
Swami (50:00.43)
Yeah.
Mandi Sir (50:02.497)
You can use this.
Swami (50:05.227)
okay.
Mandi Sir (50:07.339)
This is electric vehicles charging network. created amazing gentleman. SP Institute of Engineering, this thing and after that he did his, this thing, Maxon, the gentleman like that. So it’s much easy. Please understand the method of learning we should be able to change it. That’s the whole idea.
Swami (50:09.324)
Yeah.
Swami (50:31.363)
Yeah.
Mandi Sir (50:32.557)
Vaava. This boy came and he started a company. So it’s a rule that everybody should respect company. Automatically. Once you made a rule and they love it, they don’t hate it. Actually I go to different universities across the country, Mahindra University, Unrog University, I go to Weltec University, Adair, I go to, I was at, you know, the
dental college called Savita University Dental College, Veerappa, Veerappa is, Viraya is the kind of thing, a farmer’s son, he created an amazing kind of dental and engineering college in Chennai. went there. So I go to different colleges and speak about it. We make undergraduate students loving it. Unfortunately, so-called Ivy League, these things, they are still copying XYZ and…copy masters cannot become big, copy masters will be retain there only. This is the problem.
Q8
Swami (51:29.666)
So how does your institute support you and how does the government support you in this cause and is this something that has been widely adopted because IIM Mumbai is probably at the epicenter of economy, right, it’s the financial capital of India. So how is…
Mandi Sir (51:46.798)
I got best support from my directors earlier also and even my current director also and encourages so much for that. They support me and I mean otherwise I will not be able to do it. Even allowing this kind of thing itself is a big kind of thing. But the only thing is the we require to make it much much bigger is the whole idea like that. So unless we do it, it cannot be going far. So if you have to create.
Mandi Sir (52:19.575)
we can create this thing.
It’s not difficult like that. This is by, know, Rashmi Bansal she created. But these are not from the college kind of thing. They just randomly just by fluke they happen. But here it is by design we are trying to make it. The Prime Minister of India is talking about Startup India. We celebrated 10 years. There are no jobs for the student. It doesn’t mean that it’s a nightmarish. No, it’s not.
Swami (52:25.987)
buns.
Mandi Sir (52:46.655)
Actually it’s much better to be there, no job, so that you are forced to think contrarian way and you are able to create results.
And time has come for education. Education to all, education, best education to all can come out with when I stand on my own legs. Actually standing on my legs, keeping my head held high is not a bad idea. Why should I work?
Q9
Swami (53:11.276)
What does success mean to you?
Mandi Sir (53:22.753)
Success is basically, I say very simply kind of thing. I should be able to know what is the truth in this world. That’s the whole idea. Truth and in a non-violent way and I should be able to stand. Truth, non-violence and also self-reliance. I am not dependent on somebody else and I can make help others to depend on me. Self-reliance and also Atmanirbhar and also be able to help others. But at the same time I am not violent.
But I am radically different, as you said about. Yes. And it can be as nonviolent as possible. In the ultimate, this thing, sathyasodhana. What is the truth in this world? Why I am leaving? Who am I?
Swami (54:09.72)
Yeah, correct, correct.
Q10
So the next question that I have is what’s one piece of advice that you got in your life which you would have got a lot but which you really value and remember even today?
Mandi Sir (54:25.953)
No, actually, mean, be on your own independent because the times are basically to be unindependent, be innovative, think about yourself. You will be able to take things, decisions like that. The times are ripe for individual to be innovative. Times are ripe. If individual is not innovative, he becomes one more, another brick in the wall. We don’t want another brick in the wall. We want to become…
Swami (54:44.376)
Okay, beautiful.
Mandi Sir (54:53.961)
another mansion, we want to become another kind of thing rather than one more brick in the wall. So individuals can be innovative today. Technology is right for it. Times are right for it. And I see amazing kind of opportunities for the youth.
Q11
Swami (55:12.206)
If you were to call three people living or dead for dinner, who would you call and why would you call them and what would you like to learn from them?
Mandi Sir (55:24.343)
Of course Gandhi, Ambedkar, I love these gentlemen. Amazing to see like and also greatest engineer Moksha Guna Vishweshwaraiah. I generally discuss these case studies. They are unique people which they brought it like that. Of course Bhagat Singh can be there in that. But Gandhi, Ambedkar, actually I wish to have both of together and then do it like that. Actually I love this.
I can show two of them, will be there always in my cabin actually.
Swami (56:03.352)
Nice.
Mandi Sir (56:04.301)
I see no conflict between these two actually. It’s absolutely no need for it like that. Actually I give these two books to my students, that, I say that if you buy one, other should become free for you like that, a gift as it is. That’s the way kind of thing. So these are people amazingly thought about. They are not 50 years back people, 100 years back people. They are next 50 years people. One talked about vyavastha, other talked about vaikthi.
Swami (56:18.414)
Thank you.
Mandi Sir (56:33.311)
One talked about system, one talked about internal system.
Of course, Moksha Kondya Vishwaveshwara again is an amazing, towering personality. And who is even far beyond than even Gandhi and Ambedkar. What a figure these people are. So, youngsters should look for these kinds of things. Of course, we have every other corner, have these people actually. I wish to say,
Swami (57:00.558)
Absolutely.
CLOSING
Swami (59:28.696)
Thank you Professor Prasad, lovely talking to you, the enthusiasm, the authenticity, the commitment, the love and passion for what you do really came out in this conversation. Thank you very much for your time.
Mandi Sir (59:49.185)
Jo Jo Sika Usi Ko Becho Jab Jab Sika Turant Becho Jahan Sika Waini Becho Jitna Sika Pura Becho Jab Jab Sika Turant Tabhi Becho Jisse Sika Usi Ko Becho Contrarian Se Sikna Contrarian Ko Ulta Becho
Swami (01:00:14.36)
Thanks Dr. Prasad. Thank you very much. It lovely talking to you.
Mandi Sir (01:00:19.682)
Thank you.
