MY MEMORIES OF IMS BIKANER & WHAT I LEARNT FROM RAVI TIKKU AND M.L.

MISHRA
I would like to start with my own lesson : I have seen that Institutions like IMS Bikaner create a platform, where every student can explore his inner capabilities and is put to the toughest challenges so that the real strength of the student can emerge out Institutions are made by the people and the true test of institutions is the test of the moral and values of the people comprising the institutions. Institutions are built over a long period of time and they represent certain values and ideas which the people develop as shared ideology. I am fortunate that I have a very rich experience of working in a variety of institutions ranging from premier institutions like IIM Ahmedabad to down to earth institutions. I got an opportunity to work with the whos who of the nations and provide the real vision and ideas to the intellectuals of the nation and also an opportunity to work with the bare foot workers, who are the real backbones. It was in the year 1987 that I joined IMS Bikaner as a student of MBA. I got the first rank in the entrance examination for MBA and hence I was able to get an opportunity of interaction with every one. I was a shy and reserved person and didnt have the confidence to talk to the Director or the Principal of the college. However, for my fortunes, Dr. M.L. Mishra (the director) used to call every student and guide personally, and hence I got an opportunity to interact with him. I remember, that during MBA Final year, I didnt attend the college for a few days and one day Prof. M.L. Mishra came to my home on an auto. He asked me why I was not regular. I had no reply. Thus we had to be regular and punctual. Prof. Mishra had amazing qualities. We admire him a lot for his integrity, commitment and empathy. He used to remain cheerful always and used to motivate every student for excellence. He was able to bring out our outstanding ability forward by his sincerity and commitment.

In those days, the students used to give lot of respect to their teachers a student had to think twice before speaking anything to the faculty member. IMS Bikaner had created a culture where every student used to take initiatives and interact a lot. The institute was almost a residential institution though not one. The outsiders used to stay nearby in rented houses. There was a house called Solanki Sadan where seven of my classmates used to reside. Unlike these days, we used to have regular academic sessions from 8 in the morning to 5 in the evening and thereafter we used to have informal get-togethers, where it used to take us another 2-3 hours. We used to enjoy our participation in the institute. My parents were old and ill and I had to reach home early to serve my mother but it used to be difficult most of the time. I didnt want to miss the institute and at the same time my family was also a priority for me. I have a very pleasant memories of my seniors and my classmates, who provided me an excellent platform for interactions, debates and discussions. We used to have seminars almost everyday and these seminars were not like the present day seminars, where a person speaks something and goes back. Those seminars were the occasions to really test out how can a person defend himself. There would be hot debate and discussion after seminar which would continue for some one hour. Dr. Mishra and Prof. Tikku both used to take active interest in the debates and discussions during those seminars. We used to have almost 99% attendance in those occasions. The seminar hall used to remain the most buzzing centre. In those days, we used to take up summer training projects very seriously and used to put in our best efforts to bring solutions to the organizational problems. I prepared a feasibility report for the URMUL Dairy Bikaner for launching Ice creams, Flavored milk and other such products. Then we had to defend our projects in the seminar hall. It used to be a very difficult day. There were occasions when a person would be ask to repeat summer training, if his contribution to the company was not significant enough. We used to get case for written analysis. We were evaluated on the basis of our analysis of cases and there was a separate paper for this called WAC (written analysis of cases). It was a usual practice that if would write one line, some 5 errors would be spotted by the faculty members in that line. It used to be a difficult task as to where to start and how to write something meaningful and impact making. I managed to complete my MBA with first division. I was not sure about my career (unlike the present generation, we were not very confident of our career choices). I started as a tutor for MBA entrance coaching and started the coaching classes in Sri

Jain PG College Bikaner. Soon after I got an opportunity to serve IMS Bikaner as a faculty member and thus my academic career started. I got an opportunity to learn from the two magnets, whom I always admired Prof. Ravi Tikku and Dr. M.L. Mishra. However, Dr. Mishra soon left due to his ill health. I continued to learn from Prof. Ravi Tikku. Prof. Tikku was a great administrator. He knew how to get work done from people. He was a great visionary also. He had plans in his mind to transform our institution to amazing heights. Some of the lessons that I got from Prof. Tikku are as under : Constant motivation for academic excellence : He used to constantly motivate us for academic excellence. He used to ask each of us to put in our best efforts. He used personally interact with each faculty member and talk about the progress. His main focus areas were as under : Innovations in class teaching and research Attendance and participation of the students Debate and discussions for developing the reasoning ability of the students Focus on communication and presentation ability of the students Great HR Prof. Tikku used to cherry-pick persons for the development of the institute. He would identify the right candidates. If there would a bright person, Prof. Tikku will definitely give him a chance. He would not wait for vacancy. He would immediately create a vacancy and induct the person. He knew that great academicians are difficult to find and if there is any available, pick up that person and give him a chance to do something. It is not surprising that he was able to establish one of the best business schools of the country in a desert city, where there was no modern amenity. Prof. Tikku had an amazing ability in Human Resource Management that he had converted IMS Bikaner into a centre far ahead of the rest of the city. People used to say that prof. Tikku can do anything yes there was nothing impossible. He was able to start computer courses for the first time in Bikaner. He was able to start MBA for the first time in Bikaner. He was able to start hotel management and tourism courses in Bikaner for the first time. He was able to start English, French and German language courses for the first time in Bikaner. He was the first to start career counseling and career guidance for students in Bikaner. He was the first to start IGNOU study centre in Bikaner. The list will continue Impossible ideas made possible

Prof. Tikku used to come up with impossible ideas we used to say that it is just impossible but prof. Tikku used to make it possible. Many of his dreams remained unfulfilled he wanted to start video recording of all the classes so that the students could revise the lectures. He wanted to start video conferencing of the classes. He wanted to prepare video film on successful and impact making alumni in their corporate offices (I am talking about 1993, when technology was not as advanced as today). Blind support to innovative ideas and projects : He used to give blind support to innovative ideas and projects and for that he used to motivate every faculty member. It was due to his motivations that many innovative ventures were started during those days. I was able to start BIKANER JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT due to encouragement by prof. Tikku. I was able to think about organizing national seminar just due to encouragement by prof. Tikku. Simple living, Adventurous thinking Prof. Tikku led a very simple life. He was himself a socialist thinker and was a staunch supporter of Karl Marx, Lenin, Nehru and Indira Gandhi. He developed corporate heroes by his ability to motivate students to think critically about the negative consequences of the corporate world. He vehemently opposed stock markets and used to extensively debate about its negative impacts. But he was a great adventurer. He toured across the country on a scooter. He was a true Edupreneur. If he would have got some big financier, he would have created the largest and the best educational institution of the country. Everyone admires him for his ability to develop the IMS Bikaner into a truly great institution. Respectful of knowledge, expertise and skills Prof. Tikku may not have liked many persons personally, but in the interest of the institution, he encouraged them. He always respected knowledge, expertise and skills. He encouraged us to invite the best persons from the country as visiting faculty. He encouraged us to get the best knowledge and expertise. We were dreaming to compete with IIMs in those days. Many faculty members visited IIM Ahmedabad to gain expertise. Due to the efforts of prof. Tikku, the IMS Bikaner became one of the best business schools of Rajasthan and of the country also. Although prof. Tikku had retired in 1998, but after his retirement, the institute got the most prestigious A+ RANKING as per Business India Survey of B-Schools across the country. The institute was ranked at no. 35 in the country due to the practices instituted by prof. Tikku. All the persons who worked with prof. Tikku in those days are today established as leading professors in their respective places across the country. Only

memories are left, but these memories are sweet enough to keep us fully charged throughout the life. .. COPYRIGHT : I shall be thankful to you, if you share or publish or distribute any of my article / research paper. I shall be grateful to you if you give me suggestions / join me in writing something useful for this small planet. Humbly submitted by : Dr. T.K. Jain Address: Parakh Niwas, Veterinary Hospital Road, Bikaner 334001 Contact : 9414430763 tkjainbkn@yahoo.co.in, jain.tk@gmail.com, afterschool@in.com, www.afterschool.tk