I PLANT A SEED, IT'S UP TO PEOPLE TO NURTURE IT
ROOSHIKUMAR PANDYA
I've been a teacher all my life,'' says Rooshikumar Pandya with a smile. ''The first lesson I learnt as a Sanskrit teacher in an elementary school was that my job was not so much to teach children slokas and mantras, as to make sure that they never scraped their shoes and chappals on the bare floor (which was my habit when the speaker bored me!). This has always remained as an feedback system. This is why at 62, I continue teaching!''
He was also a learner, picking up a BA, MA and an L.L.B., before he got a Fulbright scholarship to go to the USA. He did not speak English then, so he decided to learn and within six months he was teaching English to Americans. He attributes his success to an innate love for words and languages, plus an yen for challenges.
''I taught for many years in the States, and was part of a national study conducted among students to rate their teachers according to a number of factors,'' says Pandya. It turned out that his students gave him a score that put him among the top two per cent of teachers.
A friend mentioned that American industry had a $2 billion training budget and this got him thinking. ''As one of the best teachers in the country I ought to get into it. The next one year, I invested my entire savings in learning the trade. I participated in seminars, found out how they were marketed and how the logistics were arranged. Then, I made a brochure and distributed it, pegging my price at $1000, which put me at the top end of the market. It took six months before one acquaintance showed an interest. He asked me how much I charged. I said $1,000 a day. He didn't blink. So I added, plus expenses. I never looked back after that.'' By 1982, Pandya was earning $19,000 for a three-day workshop. But moneymaking became too easy, so he quit and came back to India. ''I now charge corporate clients Rs 30,000 a day plus expenses,'' he says.
''What people get out of participating in my workshops is firstly an enhancement of self-image. I absolutely believe that they have unrealized potential which I help release. I have a genuine need to help people see it. That, I believe, is the secret of my effectiveness.'' His approach is simple. He talks to people and they talk back. It is this interaction that creates the real magic.
But how retentive can talks or exercises be if it is just for a couple of days in a lifetime? Pandya is confident that his methods work, saying: ''In two days, I plant a seed in them. It's up to them to nurture it. I agree workshops are not long-term based but many come back for repeat workshops. I also work on a long-term basis with some people.''
''Someone asked me if I had any goals and I said none because I am practising my passions on a full-time basis, which is playing music and lecturing. I am extremely happy and fulfilled as a person. My bottom line is that people have great potential. I would also advice all participants of workshops that irrespective of the quality of the faculty, they must take what they came there for. They should not be disturbed by other factors.''
Pandya is a communicator, trainer and management expert. He holds workshops in various areas of holistic human development. He works for five days a month and for the remaining time he plays the sitar and holds workshops at nominal rates for the government and the police forces.