When on the 25th of August we, Aryaanites interacted with an Engineer, a core scientist and a management consultant all rolled into one- Dr Rahool Pai Panandikar we had the time of our lives. We not only got the best experience we got a crash course on how to make our lives fulfilled, which, is very rare.
Dr.Panandikar captivated us with his very original and eye-opening presentation that went on to stun, motivate, and teach a lot more about what growing up was about. And if I were to summarise his entire talk, it would literally run into pages. So here are a few picks of what he imbibed in us…
He began by telling us his journey, from a passed out chemical engineer to a management consultant. After he passed out as a chemical engineer, he went to the US to pursue his masters and excited by the prospect of research, he bypassed his master’s course and went on to pursue a direct Ph.D. and for one of his papers, he worked with the US army to develop a silicon wafer that could detect toxins on the various food items that the US army-men received through various sources in the war afflicted areas. He completed his Ph.D. at the age of 25! He also did a post-doctoral fellowship one each in Physical chemistry and Chemical Physics. He later worked in many parts of the world finding an alternative to Chlorofluorocarbons that were almost singlehandedly responsible for the ozone depletion menace which was a hot topic for research then. Then he moved to the Europe, Portugal to be specific, and taughtthe Ph.D. students at the University of Lisbon and then at the University of La Laguana in Spain. He continued to work in association with many consortia looking at solutions to many scientific problems, as a researcher and a scientist presenting innumerable papers of research in fields of his concern. He then took a break, came to Goa only to discover the idea of a Knowledge City would catch his eye and would set off to pursue it. With a unique vision and the supportive conditions that pre-existed with the GOI being open to international universities looking at considering India as a location to set up. With a bright vision Doctor went to the US to catch the eye of potential and interested investors thereby transforming his thoughts to reality. But however, the destiny had something else in store for Dr.Panandikar as the US suffered a wound inflicted by the al-Qaida it was a pain to trust any south Asian nation and hence Doctor had to drop his efforts.
And from there onwards started the next adventure of his life, keen on understanding the markets and the lingo of the corporates, he took upMBA and pursued it investing his analytical mind- powered his experience in research- in the field of markets and business. From here started his journey as a management consultant for which he had to trade off his research opportunities. One of the many notable things he spoke was the fact that everything he ever practised gave him different but equal pleasure and joy. But it was rather noteworthy each of his prior practises has a cumulative impact on his success and accuracy in management consultancy. As a management consultant, heading one of the paramount positions at BCG he has worked as an advisor to many international companies, such as those seeking guidance in staying afloat at a time when their shares seem to have nowhere to go and crash for instance. He has also worked with the GOI in thinking past many difficult choices and different polices as solution to many ills. BCG and Sir Panandikar’s contribution to the society is applause worthy.
Sir Panandikar is a strong believer of talent and believes that to manage one’s talent one has to maintain balance in a number of aspects to get what they want, they need to take a structural approach towards learning, managing one’s work and personal life and finally towards the money and fame that one wants to achieve.
Dr.Panandikar gave us the definition of true talent: perseverance and a learning attitude and even grit, this definition taught us that a complete student had all of these and this was what it took to be satisfied as well.
Everything we learnt from that interactive session is worth more than anything, as they are life lessons and his life itself gave us an insight into the possibilities that existed for truly focussed youth coupled with the fact that life has to be lived to the fullest and so we must do what it takes to serve the people and be happy.
We eventually came to end of such a captivating session and we concluded the same with the Vote of Thanks delivered by our very own Aashish Zantye.
This interactive session will always have a special place in our hearts as it was more of GUIDE TO LIFE than just a guest lecture and all of this was possible because of VPD sir’s tireless efforts to bring the best of us. And we Aryaanites are surely lucky to have such exceptional teachers, VPD sir and to have interactive sessions with some of the most experienced and brilliant people in the world.
Nandini S. Rangnekar
11th REG