Ten years journey from a banker to an academician…

Ten years journey from a banker to an academician…

It's 30th June 2020 today. Exactly 10 years back on same day (30th June 2010) I joined this academic career shifting from the position of Deputy Manager (at HDFC bank) to Assistant Professor in RCPIMRD Shirpur. Hundreds of people during last decade have asked me one common question that 'Sir, Why did you switch from Corporate to Academic career?' I don't know why there was such a big shock in the minds of people to see me going from higher salary to lower salary, from mega city to small town or simply to a teaching profession from being a banker? This kept me surprised always & thinking as well that whether I did right or wrong by choosing this career? I do not know the exact answer to this question even today. Whenever somebody raised doubts on my decision initially, I always felt like Mahabharata’s Abhimanyu who entered the Chakravyuha but didn’t know how to escape out of that. But I tried to convince everyone who asked me this question & finally this Abhimanyu learned how to escape the Chakravyuha of people’s doubts. So I spent long 5 years in corporate just after my MBA from University of Pune where I learned many managerial & professional skills, met new, talented colleagues across Maharashtra & Goa states while working with ICICI & HDFC Banks. There were many good learning experiences while being a part of big organizations like Methodex, Godrej, Automart & WNS to name a few in the initial time of my career.

The basic philosophy or theory I follow in my life about various decisions is to believe completely in them & not just thinking about their right or wrong consequences. I prefer to continue positively with the decisions I always make. Since I was always determined to give my hundred percent in any job, I found no difference in teaching job too. I joined my present institute on the same day ten years back & my entire world changed suddenly. Challenges were surely different in both the jobs but learning is unlimited when I talk about academic. Every job has its own pros & cons. So after evaluating both for almost big 15 years now I think myself to be in a position to guide others something about making right career choices at the right time. There are many people who might be confused over such major ‘career shift’ decisions in life. The basic fact of life remains the same that- Not all the decisions we take are perfect or the best. It is our duty, responsibility & response to those ‘taken’ decisions to turn them into a satisfying & nice experience over a time, right? So in corporate career of 5 years after my MBA I got a chance to interact with lots of people from different culture & society from almost 23 different locations I handled during my tenure as a banker.

Definitely I met all kinds of people during this journey who helped me, who ignored me, who annoyed me, who supported me, who liked me, who disliked me, who wanted to see me happy, who wanted to see me unhappy as well. I may be successful in few eyes who kept watching me since years or I may be a failure in many eyes as of today, I don’t know that. What I know is that everyone who knows me personally as ‘Amul’ should know me as a person who kept trying all the time with all his potentials. I am not justifying myself because anyhow it makes no difference to me to do so. I would love to be called as ‘a struggler’ in life because at least it proves that I am trying to acquire something & chasing my dreams. It is a fact that I have big dreams. Finally everyone will judge me based on his/her perception about different things and the fact remains same as no one is ‘me’, so we all are different. It is very humorous to get remarks from my past colleagues & friends that ‘now being a teacher must be great, no target and no pressure, lots of time & other time relaxations.’ My close friends keep teasing all the time. I respect their opinions but we should not forget the very fact that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. They may not be satisfied with their own situations so they always think I am on the better side of life. I had many debates initially with those who now are at middle and higher levels of management in MNCs, that which career finally is better? Like being a teacher or being a manager in MNC? Like I said earlier we all have our own opinions and perceptions about everything in the universe, this question is of no exception. Corporate Job is target oriented expressed in quantity or numbers, fixed working hours with a promising future career path & a total packed schedule for any day from 8 am to 10 pm sometimes but when I talk about academic career in a private institute, there are certain aspects need to be focused on very minutely. This job is also target oriented in terms of quality delivery to the pupils who may be in no mood to listen to you. I have seen my friends earning fat salaries but being afraid to talk to strangers even for few minutes. As a teacher I need to talk to hundreds of pupils regularly for hours on daily basis without a break. Corporate managers are reviewed annually but when it comes to me, as a teacher, I get reviewed after each session, by everyone who listened to me. So think now what looks easy and what looks difficult. This is not the only aspect to judge, I know. The biggest challenge as a teacher is to change the mindset of pupils to learn more, to read more, to be good human being, to respect others or to teach them importance of being focused in career. When I sold financial products & services in banks, even an unknown person used to think twice before opening mouth or asking me any question because there was an impression of those big brands in his mind so naturally I was perceived as ‘an intelligent’ there but here every day I need to prove my intelligence through my talks, presentations or knowledge because as a teacher sometimes I even have arguments with others over any stupid topic which is beyond my control. Like these, there are many challenges I face on daily basis as a teacher & finally it’s ‘others performance’ that decides my performance as an effective teacher. There is a major mistrust in many people about this profession of being a teacher to which I will only say that working in a government approved institution & working in a private self funded institution are two totally different situations. Nothing can be compared on same scale. I am a part of a private institution.

In corporate field one thinks of growing in his/her own career path upwards & secure future but in my field I (& many others too) care about creating others future. To some extent I am satisfied in doing so. It is a great satisfaction to change someone’s life by our own virtue. Not all people can experience this in their lives. All these years were surely chaotic due to my personal dreams & my brawl to complete them. But still it will need time to fulfill all of them. But I enjoyed the time as I enjoyed those corporate days at the start of my career. In my view enjoying the present is more important than getting lost in the past or being busy in making future’s unrealistic plans on papers. So this decade was perhaps a big time & opportunity to learn, relearn or unlearn many things in life for me. I did the same. I could dedicate more time to myself, my family and my dreams by working in this sector. Comparatively challenges here in academics keep changing more often especially when living in this small rural area, since I need to deal with many unforeseen circumstances like pupils who lack in basic communication skills, no career dreams and poor in various personal aspects etc. We need to work very hard to build a corporate ready material out of this rural raw material; this is what I try to do. Ignorance about being professional is very dangerous for the new generation in rural areas. It has always been a tough challenge to change the mentality and backward thinking of students as well as their parents & convert the same in to big dreams in today’s competitive world.

I got many people who supported during this journey to me in last 10 years. Few moments to cherish during this time can be summed up as winning many Carrom trophies in various competitions, being appreciated for the various experts talks I delivered across institutes, judging many State & University level events as Judge, being a part of Interview panel for my own Institute & for Shirpur People bank, various training programs, seminars, workshops I attended where I was appreciated for my ardent participation. The case study workshops in New Delhi & FDP session in Infosys, Pune are the two most memorable ones. Other remarkable events like judging the State level Avishkar event at RCPIT, judging Manager's day event at IMR, or may be my institute’s first over state trip to Amul at Anand under my leadership all these moments will always be there deeply stored in my heart. The most enjoyable time has been as an anchor for programs in my institute like KSET, Avishkar, Induction or Bonvoyage to name a few & my speeches on topics which I never imagined earlier like NSS or Constitution day speech. But what I really enjoyed most till day are the two major events. First, on the occasion of Induction program I made presentation on ‘Time Management’ as I was asked to engage audience for an hour on any topic of my choice. It was a session during my first week of joining in the institute. It was my first public appearance so I wanted to make it very big & most memorable. I am happy that I did it successfully. Second most memorable event is my 3 hours long PPT on the movie ‘3 Idiots’ which I love to conduct any number of times for any number of audience. Other enjoyable event was KSET series of online and offline speeches (just like TED Talks) where I was an anchor. That event got huge response and the list of events continues. One more happy moment during this journey for me was to get qualified in a difficult exam like SET in subject of Management in May 2018. This journey is unending & stories will keep coming & being written every now & then. I enjoy them all.

Finally the rule is quite simple in any private sector job, ‘When it’s the worst situation; only the best will survive.’ So my only target is to improve myself on each day passing by. I keep learning regularly from almost anyone or anything I come across. Only one remark I will give to those who always doubt my abilities or work is that ‘Please do not label me as ‘good or bad’ or do not even judge me. I am in the journey towards my dreams & it will take time to accomplish them.’ If possible, help me or guide me but please do not compare me with anyone or judge me on any parameter of Success.

Thank you very much to read till this very end.

Mr. Amul S. Tamboli.

09763356722.