I was invited recently to deliver a talk at Institute of Management and Technology, Hyderabad. This is a reputed management college and a branch of the college with the same name in Ghaziabad. I was hesitant at first. I am not an MBA. I don't know anything about management. What could I talk about to management students?
The topic was supposed to be "Challenges and Opportunities in Healthcare in India". My colleague at NephroPlus, Shreyas Naik, who is an alumnus of that college had recommended my name and he egged me on. He advised me to simply go and talk about my story and the NephroPlus journey. Images of adolescents booing and walking out came to my mind and I was very nervous for a while. I agreed though.
I prepared my presentation slowly, over many days whenever time would permit. I sent off my presentation file to the organiser a day before the event.
As it turned out, it was raining heavily on the appointed day. As I reached the campus, quite an architectural marvel, like a stone sculpture among an expanse of greenery, I felt a tinge of remorse that I could not do my MBA.
I was welcomed by the team and some students who had helped organise the event. I was led to the board room where I spoke to the faculty who had gathered. We talked about healthcare in general and and the state of dialysis in India. After that there was a short interview by a student committee (I forget the name).
The talk went off fairly well. I talked about my journey with kidney disease, how NephroPlus began and where we have reached. I told the two hundred students gathered there about how it was important to look at things from the patient's perspective while doing anything in healthcare. I talked about the challenges specific to India and how we have tried to overcome some of them. There was a brief round of Q&A after that. Tea and snacks followed.
Education has changed so much over the years. Students these days are given so much exposure to the real world. This college, as probably other colleges, has a number of clubs and societies that enable them to organise events, run various activities and connect with industry to get insights into how companies actually function.
Even kids in school are given more opportunities than we ever had. My nephew who is barely fifteen is part of a team that organised the whole school concert.
All the organisers and faculty saw me off to the car. The warmth of the entire team was very touching. As I headed back to the city and was stuck badly in the traffic that was caused due to the heavy rain, I felt gratitude for having the opportunity to have such a lovely evening. I felt fortunate to be able to interact with this young bunch of people even if just for a few hours. With stars in their eyes, they seemed ready to take on the world. It was so refreshing to see their infectious enthusiasm.
Thank you IMT, Hyderabad!
Pics from the evening:
The topic was supposed to be "Challenges and Opportunities in Healthcare in India". My colleague at NephroPlus, Shreyas Naik, who is an alumnus of that college had recommended my name and he egged me on. He advised me to simply go and talk about my story and the NephroPlus journey. Images of adolescents booing and walking out came to my mind and I was very nervous for a while. I agreed though.
I prepared my presentation slowly, over many days whenever time would permit. I sent off my presentation file to the organiser a day before the event.
As it turned out, it was raining heavily on the appointed day. As I reached the campus, quite an architectural marvel, like a stone sculpture among an expanse of greenery, I felt a tinge of remorse that I could not do my MBA.
I was welcomed by the team and some students who had helped organise the event. I was led to the board room where I spoke to the faculty who had gathered. We talked about healthcare in general and and the state of dialysis in India. After that there was a short interview by a student committee (I forget the name).
The talk went off fairly well. I talked about my journey with kidney disease, how NephroPlus began and where we have reached. I told the two hundred students gathered there about how it was important to look at things from the patient's perspective while doing anything in healthcare. I talked about the challenges specific to India and how we have tried to overcome some of them. There was a brief round of Q&A after that. Tea and snacks followed.
Education has changed so much over the years. Students these days are given so much exposure to the real world. This college, as probably other colleges, has a number of clubs and societies that enable them to organise events, run various activities and connect with industry to get insights into how companies actually function.
Even kids in school are given more opportunities than we ever had. My nephew who is barely fifteen is part of a team that organised the whole school concert.
All the organisers and faculty saw me off to the car. The warmth of the entire team was very touching. As I headed back to the city and was stuck badly in the traffic that was caused due to the heavy rain, I felt gratitude for having the opportunity to have such a lovely evening. I felt fortunate to be able to interact with this young bunch of people even if just for a few hours. With stars in their eyes, they seemed ready to take on the world. It was so refreshing to see their infectious enthusiasm.
Thank you IMT, Hyderabad!
Pics from the evening:
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