IIMA-RAVI MATHAI

Brick by Red Brick by Prof. T. T. Ram Mohan ; Published by Rupa Publications; Price Rs.495/- Pages 281.

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India is rightly proud of its Management Institutions which rival the best in the world. Pre-eminent is the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad which was  established in 1961 and   has completed 57 years of glorious existence. Vikram Sarabhai , the Father of India’s Space Programme, had a crucial role in the  choice of  a young corporate executive, Ravi Matthai, to head the team of academics he had assembled . This in spite of , many of the Faculty having  been trained at Harvard Business School. Matthai was thirty-eight years old when he was appointed the institution's first full time director.  Matthai succeeded in creating a dynamic  institution that became  unique in the world of education.

 This is a book that discusses threadbare how this miracle was achieved  and the role of an extraordinary leader forms its subject. The author  of this fascinating book  Prof.T.T.Ram Mohan is  an alumnus of IIM Kolkata and a Professor in the IIMA and author of six books. He writes regularly in financial dailies.

The volume  is a fascinating story of institution building, of a coming together of a “constellation of forces” of personalities, Governments, bureaucrats, and the  Harvard Business School and other  academicians who all were inspired to build something different.

 We learn why the  first two IIMs were established   in Kolkata and Ahmedabad and not  New Delhi and Mumbai. Ram Mohan has gone through   the IIMA records minutely and held detailed  discussions with concerned individuals and  delved into the rich archives.   Prof. Mathai came to the IIMA without much academic credentials and was  a greenhorn. The choice of Ravi Mathai was a game-changer, one that was to augur well not only for IIMA but also for management education in India.

He continued to work as a Professor   till his untimely demise at the age of 57 years. After a brief career in industry as CEO and a two-year stint as Professor in the IIM-Calcutta, Mathai joined the IIMA in 1965 at an incredible age of 38 years. When he stepped down as Director in 1972, everyone in the IIMA was taken by surprise, but his action was by no means impulsive. It was deliberate, a kind of self-abnegation born out of a sense of detachment. He  continued to be on the faculty, working in an area that was close to his heart — rural education.  He  travelled extensively in Rajasthan  spreading financial literacy.

The author brings out a balanced view of his personality making the story at once  inspiring and insightful .He writes  - “With people in high office, one assumes certain things. They are in it for the money -- they like to project themselves at every turn, they enjoy the power that goes with the office and, all too often, they view their current office as a launching pad for a bigger and more lucrative one. Matthai just didn't seem to care for any of these things. His was a state of not wanting, that ordinary mortals would almost find impossible to relate to. He didn't seem to want anything for himself, he was simply delighted in building the institution, in watching people grow and flower. He practised the Gita ideal of nishkam karma  without ever preaching it.”.

Three things about Mathai were—“ his clarity of mind, his values and his leadership skills”.

 The  book should be read by all management students, directors of academic institutions and people dealing with academic matters .Ram Mohan is eloquent-- “No national honours came the way of this pioneer in management education. --- Men like Matthai need none. The institution that he helped build - brick by red brick - and that is hailed as a centre of excellence is a greater tribute to him than any award that anybody could confer. In the initial decades after Independence, India was fortunate in having institution-builders of the highest calibre. Nehru showed the way by building the institutions of democracy. Then we had the likes of Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, J. R. D. Tata, V. K. R. V. Rao and R. K. Talwar. In that constellation of institution-builders, Ravi Matthai shines brightly.”

 The IIMA has  made it a point to nourish and encourage a spirit of freedom with diligence.  “Faculty Governance” enables Faculty members to play  a role in the decision-making process and this  leads  the teaching fraternity to innovate and feel a sense of ownership.

 Ram Mohan provides  an account of Ravi Mathai's parentage — he was the son of  Dr.John Mathai who had distinguished himself as Finance Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet — his family background and formative years.

How the IIMA came to be built in the structural as well as institutional sense — is explained in detail: moving from temporary premises into permanent quarters; selecting and training faculty; designing courses and their content; creating a framework for further research; and also, sourcing adequate funds for sustenance and development. Then comes the  software  element — the culture of fostering academic freedom, creativity, and the democratic pattern of governance

 Mathai worked relentlessly on problems related to rural regeneration, and his missionary zeal and punishing work schedules are legendary. He won universal acclaim for his role as an educational entrepreneur nonpareil.

The last moments of Mathai's life are described poignantly; he passed away in 1984. Perhaps, he would have lived longer but for his hectic and tireless working style. He comes across as a man who had no complex and was totally at ease with himself and the rest of the world.

The book is  an excellent story of a remarkable  man and his mission that helped build a world-class institution.   Persons influencing included  Vikram Sarabhai--a remarkable modern day renaissance man, responsible for the founding of many of India's famous institutions, Lalbhai, a prominent industrialist and great institution-builder , Prof Kamla Chowdhury, responsible for  the academic framework in the initial years, and, of course, the main protagonist and IIMA's first director, Ravi Matthai, who many credit with the unique culture and appeal that IIMA continues to have even today.

What Ram Mohan also clearly shows is the way frameworks and processes were designed and implemented in a manner that contributed to IIMA's unique way of working at different levels — be it the active involvement of the faculty in key policy decisions; the autonomy that IIMA sought and got from the beginning; the deliberate creation of a culture of informality with accountability; thinking big as evidenced by the choice of Louis Kahn as the architect thereby, rendering IIMA's old campus a tourist attraction even today!.Kahn was described by Time magazine as enjoying a “near divine status in the world of architects.”.

Above all this, what absolutely stands out is Ravi's clear determination, right from the time of his joining to stepping down as Director after seven years; he actually did that, much to everyone's utter shock at that time, and continued  as a regular faculty member.

A key lesson that emanates is what Ram Mohan enunciates  — “You do not need extraordinary people in order to create great institutions, you need ordinary people who are highly motivated and are driven by a shared sense of purpose.”

A Ravi Mathai is a miracle that happens once in the lifetime of an institution. Just as the nation threw up a Gandhi, a Nehru and an Ambedkar who moulded its destiny, so also the IIMA was blessed by the leadership of an exceptional individual. "Mathai was unique; he is non-replaceable”

A very well written book about a remarkable Indian who laid the foundations of a commanding  non-pareil management   institution.

                                                      

PPR

29/07/2018