On that Most-frequently-asked
Question in Interviews
Republic Day Thoughts | 26th
January 2025
In recent months, I was honoured to be
part of a plethora of Panels that recruited Teachers / Professors for their respective
Schools / Universities.
And one question that was frequently asked to each of the candidates during their interview was -
What has been your contribution
to your Institution in your capacity as a student / faculty member?
And this question, as we all
know, is being repeatedly asked - by default - in most of the interviews – and for
a reason though!
That means to say that, institutions
today are not interested in your skill set or your range of academic achievements
alone!
Although the candidate may have a
high range of skill sets and intellectual prowess, if he/she isn’t
service-oriented towards contributing to the cause of their host institution,
then, chances are - their stint as a faculty member would also become
purposeless for the institution’s advancement!
However, if the student had
contributed to their Institution in whatever capacity that they possibly could,
during their stint as a student, there’s a certain degree of conviction that
they would sure contribute to the Institution that recruits them as a faculty
member as well.
On the other hand, if the student had just ‘made
use’ of the services of the school / institution to advance their own personal
objectives, without caring to contribute to the progress of the Institution in any way,
the management might presume/infer that, they have just enjoyed the bounty and
the plenitude of the institution that hosted them, without bothering to contribute
to their Institution in any way, whatsoever.
As the current Dean of
International Programmes, every month we interview lots of students who apply to study abroad for their Internships or for their Semester
Abroad / Semester Exchange Programmes.
In a two-tiered interview
process, that usually includes the HoDs and the Principal in stages, the Dean and the
Associate Dean of International Programmes pose this question to the student –
So what has been your
contribution to your Institution so far? In what capacity have you contributed
to your College? Do you have any authentic evidence to corroborate /
substantiate your claims?
That proves the decider and
the clincher!
Well, quite recently, we had Ms.
Chandrika Tandon, our illustrious alumna, who had contributed a huge sum of
money towards the establishment of the Boyd-Tandon School of Business in
Campus.
Chandrika Tandon is a ‘globally
recognized business leader, Grammy-nominated artist, and humanitarian’, and she
takes credit for being one of the very few Indians to have donated huge sums of
money to the United States’.
The Boyd-Tandon School of
Business was formally inaugurated by her on Tuesday, 21st January 2025 in the
College Premises.
Interestingly, her famed sister
Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PEPSICO, also happens to be an alumna of the Dept of
Chemistry, MCC.
Getting into MCC was indeed a
herculean task for Chandrika, since her parents had wanted to get her married
when she turned 18.
However her grandfather’s suggestion
that she join MCC, and her subsequent hunger strike to somehow make it to MCC
by all means, made her join MCC for her Undergraduate Programme in Commerce.
(1970 – 1973)
During her stint as a student,
her contribution to her Institution was way beyond measure. She was not only
part of the Cultural Team of the College Union Society, winning laurels for the
College in many inter-collegiate events, but also contributed to the College as
member of a host of Committees, including the Magazine Committee, in a very
consistent manner.
This proved to be her tipping
point to stardom as well – elevating human happiness through her talents and
skills.
The New York Academy of
Sciences,
pays soulful encomiums to Chandrika on their official website –
Her passion for fostering
emotional well-being is focused on emanating love, joy, and
transcendence through her music and artistry. At the height of her business
career, she reevaluated her life and definitions of success, reformulating her
business life to intentionally include music, service, and meditation.
India Today too pays glowing
tributes to her will and resolve to contribute to society -
Chandrika Tandon's power isn't about
wealth alone, which she has — and gives away — in plenty. It's in how she
empowers people, both economically and emotionally, through her grants and
songs.
And this is where, purposeful
living comes to the fore.
Purposeful living happens when one
starts to nurture the greater common good.
So what do we mean by the
greater common good?
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
has quite an interesting definition on the subject –
In any community, the common
good consists of the facilities and interests that members have a special
obligation to care about in virtue of the fact that they stand in a certain
relationship with one another.
In a family, for instance,
the
family home is part of the common good because the familial bond requires
members to take care of the home as part of a shared effort to care for one
another’s interests in shelter and safety.
In a university, the
climate of academic freedom on campus is part of the common good
because the special relationship among members of the university community
requires them to care for this climate as part of a shared effort to care for
one another’s interests in teaching, learning and inquiring.
Suppose that a
relationship consists of a set of requirements for how people
who stand in the relationship should act towards one another—e.g., parents
should feed their children, parents should clothe their children, children
should defer to their parents’ judgment, etc.
On the occasion of our 76th Republic
Day today, let us rededicate ourselves towards a purposeful life – a life that
has the greater common good in mind, in our own little ways.
Yesterday, in my II MA
Class,
I was telling my students on how to rededicate themselves to the service of the
Nation.
You and I can contribute to
our Nation in our own sweet ways.
With our talents, skills, ideas,
writing, blogging, vlogging, tree-planting, community practice, etc.
This makes our everyday life
purpose-driven and rewarding as well.
Let me end this post with two
powerful quotes from two powerful leaders of the 1960s.
John F Kennedy, during his inaugural,
gave a memorable speech on 20th January 1961 that has now become quite axiomatic
–
In his speech, Kennedy urges the
people of his Nation to participate in public service and contribute to the
greater public good, and highlighting the importance of civic action.
Says he, in his speech
–
“Ask not what your country
can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”
The second quote to end this
post, is again from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech titled, ‘Tryst with
Destiny’ that he gave us on 14th August 1947, on the eve of Indian
Independence.
Says Nehru –
At the stroke of the
midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life
and freedom.
A moment comes, which comes but
rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends,
and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.
It is fitting that at this solemn
moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people
and to the still larger cause of humanity.
The service of India means, the
service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and
ignorance and poverty and disease and inequality of opportunity.
The ambition of the
greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye.
That may be beyond us, but as
long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.
And so we have to labour and
to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams.
Those dreams are for India, but
they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely
knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart.
Two power-phrases for take-aways today from these two
leaders –
the greater public good
by Kennedy.
the larger cause of
humanity by Nehru.
Unto this end, let’s together
resolve to strive!
Happy Republic Day!
Jai Hind!!
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