On 7th August 2021, we the students of Mushtifund Aryaans Higher Secondary School (MAHSS) had the great privilege of listening to Mr. Saish Kapadi who is one among the numerous successful students our school has produced.

Mr. Saish Kapadi, who was born and brought up in Bicholim, has a degree in B.tech mechanical engineering from IIT Madras after which he pursued a post graduate diploma in management programme from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM). Currently, Sir has joined a start-up. He created a history in Goa by cracking an All India Rank of 11 in AIEE in the year 2010, among numerous other achievements.

The interaction started off with a flash back to his times at Aryaans study circle, where sir spoke about his experience at the institute.

He described his decision to join the institute as one of the best decisions he has ever taken, as studying under experienced teachers gave him an edge over all the other students during the competitive exams and allowed him to excel in the same. During his times, he worked a tiring schedule of going to school in the morning and then attending coaching classes from 3 to 7. He told us that the emphasis made on concepts by the teachers instead of merely solving problems was one of the main factors that not only helped him in the exams, but also life after that.

He also talked about the importance of our peers in the process of learning. Healthy competition and avid discussions on the subject help everyone to have a different perspective on subjects and learn to approach the problems in a different way.

He then moved on to his stay at IIT, Madras where he pursued his B.Tech degree.

He talked about the fantastic learning atmosphere at IIT, where everyone has different opinions which helped shape him as an individual.

He also spoke about why the IITs stand out from other institutions due to their excellent faculty, quality of students, advanced equipment and most importantly, a great learning atmosphere. There is also great scope for interdisciplinary studies.

He then came to the main highlight for college students -the Hostel life.

Even though it might not seem the most comfortable but sharing rooms with students coming from different corners of the world helps in sharing of culture and traditions. We get to learn much more from it rather than secluding oneself.

He also spoke about the flexibility displayed by IITs in their curriculum, involving a mix of open book tests, assignments and others very distinct from the standard education system.

He then spoke about his time at IIM.

Mr. Saish has great passion for helping people and being a creative person who likes to bring his ideas to life, he wanted to build a product that would help people. Thus, he came up with a superb idea of building a rugged wheelchair for Indian users that can go in all terrains, the typical Indian roads etc which is customisable but still a single product that is one wheelchair with a multitude of adjustments so that it is tailor fit to the user. This project kept him busy during his last years in IIT and after graduation.

The next device that sir worked on was an attachment to the wheelchair, which could then be used as a scooty, providing tremendous outdoor mobility.

After graduation, with his time working on such great products, sir always wanted to get into business which is why he joined IIM Bangalore in 2019.

The 2 years at IIM was quite hectic for him but at the same time immensely rewarding. The multitude of assignment and projects just made those 2 years fly away quickly. Here too, he encountered extremely experienced and smart people thus leading to a lot of peer learning.

With this, sir ended his presentation and then answered several questions posed by our students.

In all, we were immensely benefited from this interaction and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We are extremely thankful for Mr. Saish Kapadi for having taken time out of his busy schedule to come and interact with us.

Written by

SiyaThamban