It was perhaps the final day of exams. We were giving our first exam of that day, and we just wanted to get that day over with, for it would provide us with much needed relief. After all, it’s not often that you give 6 exams in 3 days. The rumour of getting Dr Singhvi as a teacher next term (which would start 2 days later), was still very much a rumour. There was no confirmation, and being a finance student, I personally hoped that he wouldn’t teach our class.
(For those of you who don’t know him, he is a marketing professor at IMT Ghaziabad; and why I did not want him will be clear in due course)
So let’s get back to the story. We’re giving our first exam of the day, in walks Dr Singhvi, and there sinks my heart. He was here to distribute the course material to us, for we would be taught by him. We were also given a course outline, and were told to read and follow it strictly. Saying so, the man left. Frankly speaking, I had half expected him to give us a pile of homework to be done for his first class. That didn’t happen, for the first class atleast. But the news was now confirmed- Dr Singhvi would be teaching us marketing next term.
Many were excited, I was irritated. The man was known for his strict discipline and strong work ethics, and I wasn’t very keen to put in the hard yards for a subject that I didn’t want to specialize in. Alas! I had no choice.
One bad thing with good professors is that they set the rules, and you can’t find too many ways around them!! You just have to follow them. So was it with him. After his first class, we sure as hell were piled up with a good amount of work to be done for the next class. But to my surprise, I started to actually like those lectures. Sure he was strict, and would show zero tolerance to students who wouldn’t come to class prepared, but I always had some knowledge to take home at the end of the day. He demanded from us that we come prepared for his classes, individually as well as a group. Even when we did that to the best of our abilities (yes, we did give it our best initially), he would bamboozle us with his level of thinking, if nothing else.
Yes, we put in our best efforts initially, if nothing but for fear of the man, but we did. And he was impressed. Probably a bit too much I guess. Because soon, people started coming in half-prepared (I know I did). We got complacent, sometimes so much so that we wouldn’t be prepared for his lecture at all.
To be continued.