"Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence and inspiration." - Robin Sharma, author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.
Going by this adage, Prof. Krishna Saraswat, an epitome of passionate guidance redefines teaching. Coming from a family of teachers, Krishna Saraswat had his calling of pursuing a career in teaching. It was his father, Dr. HiraLal Sharma's journey; from being a junior college lecturer to an internationally recognized researcher that truly inspired Prof. Saraswat in his endeavors of pursuing teaching. He had an unending instinct of curiosity, insatiable quest for knowledge and eternal optimism that helped him to ascend the ladder in the scientific world.
Having had the fortune of learning from some of the most famous scientists; Prof. Krishna Saraswat thinks that teaching is not mere lecturing in the classroom, but it rather is to mold young minds and develop them into leaders of tomorrow in whatever they choose to do. His teaching instills the instincts of curiosity and develops the qualities of hard work, leadership, innovation, and independence. Rather than just absorbing the material being taught, he encourages his students to challenge him at every step. Instead of 'holding their hands', he asks them to take their own initiative and get their hands on experimental work and not just in theory. He insists on collaboration to promote interdisciplinary research.
Apart from sharing about his teaching methods, Krishna Saraswat also shares his perspective on the Indian education system by stating that he finds it to be relying heavily on making students memorize, which leads to creation of 'bookworms'. "In professional life one is required to solve real problems and not just spit out facts and figures from memory. The goal should be to develop qualities of innovation, leadership, independence and entrepreneurship," he says.
Of the many hats donned by him; Prof. Saraswat's greatest contribution to the world is his unnerving passion in molding young minds into the leaders of tomorrow. In his career, Prof. Krishna Saraswat has supervised over 80+ Ph.D. students and 25+post doctoral researchers. They have further progressed on to become successful in their own careers as professors, industry researchers, entrepreneurs, managers, and VCs all over the world. The Noteworthy among them is his first Ph.D. student Dr. Rafael Reif, a Venezuelan citizen; who is currently the president of MIT.
His belief is that students should be passionate about where they are, what they do and what they are being enlightened with, irrespective of the field that they get in. Prof. Saraswat's undying passion to strive for excellence is well-endowed onto his students who do their utmost to keep the flames of his instilled ideals ignited.
Prof. Krishna Saraswat
Prof. Krishna Saraswat believes that students should take their own initiative and get their hands on experimental work rather that treading the path of rote learning.
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