DU Beat talked to Dr. Shashi Tharoor, an eminent Indian politician, at the Shri Ram Leadership Summit organised by Club for Leadership, Innovation and Finance (CLIF). Here is what he had to say about making the most of college life, participating in the rat race and developing entrepreneurial skills:

Q. You are a great personality known all over the world. How do you think your life experiences can help the students of Delhi University become someone like Shashi Tharoor?

A. I personally feel that nobody can teach someone to lead a particular life. You can look at a person’s life for examples to an extent but ultimately most of the motivation comes from within. Moreover, circumstances change from time to time. There may have been some opportunities then that do not exist now and some constraints then that people do not face now. Every person has to deal with their own problems and advantages but one can certainly learn from other people how they have dealt with adversities, taken risks and how they have overcome setbacks.

I was very active in college, participated in various extra-curricular activities and that ultimately has shaped the kind of a person I am today. College is a place where you don’t only learn in the classroom, in fact I would argue, you learn the least inside the classroom. Those who just come to class and go back, miss out on the real experience.

Q. Now-a-days it has become a rat race for students not involved in professional courses like CA to pursue an MBA. However, in a country of 1.2 billion people, not everybody can be a leader although almost everybody wants to be one. So how, in your opinion can we satisfy the needs of all such aspirants?

A. The rat race is a relevant reality. In India the number of opportunities is much fewer than the number of people chasing those opportunities. As a result, the rat race becomes much more intense. In my time, the politics of scarcity was a major factor. There were fewer of us but we were chasing even fewer possibilities. The emphasis on marks alone and the so called “cut-offs” is a pity as it has spoiled the educational environment and relying purely on percentages misses the fact that university is a place of all activities.  There were so many students that I would have loved to see in my college but could not make it due to lack of percentage, so, I went to the principal regarding the matter and he told me that it is the Supreme Court’s guideline if he interviewed a 90 percent student when the cut off is 95, he will be obliged to interview everyone between 90-95%- which would become an impossible task. This is probably why most students run blindly for percentages. I remember a friend who was a theatre person and went on to become one of the first anchors of Doordarshan. He did not do well in school but St.Stephen’s still took him for his extra-curricular work. He was a great addition to the college.

When we talk about rat race for management, managers are not necessarily leaders. A manager may not be an effective leader and an inspirational leader may not know how to manage the nut and bolts of an organisation.  So you should not mix the two terms. As far as management education is concerned, in the whole world there were no management institutes till the early 20th century. In my time, there were only two IIMs- at Calcutta and Ahmedabad. It has all gradually changed in recent times, now it has become more popular course of study and people think an MBA will make their resume more attractive to companies.  It is true of some MBAs, some institutes and companies but I also know companies who would rather have a person with a substantial degree whom they can mould accordingly for their company than having an MBA from a wrong institute.

Q. In Delhi University, a large number of students aspire to be entrepreneurs and some begin their start-ups in college days itself. In your opinion, should they try to earn through their learning or learn while earning?

A. Students should certainly learn because without learning they won’t have the capacity to earn anything worthwhile. Having said that, entrepreneurship does require gut feeling, the ability to spot opportunities and take risks, and that can come to you at any age, sometimes with your education having nothing to do with it. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs, let’s face it, have been college drop outs. So entrepreneurship, in a sense, probably cannot be learned. The state and the university can help incubate. One way is by providing a safety net to students who have a very good idea in mind but cannot afford to take risks. One of the things we will be pushing in my constituency is an incubation program. I welcome this development as I believe this is a defect in our society. In my generation, people mostly opted for government jobs and stayed in the same job throughout their lives. All this has changed in recent times as youngsters have realised the potential of entrepreneurship in the world.

It is also not possible for the formal economy to create jobs for everyone. If more and more people become successful entrepreneurs, they can generate employment for even more people. Everything cannot happen top down. If we take IT for instance, I believe we have generated only about 5 million jobs last year whereas there are 12 million young people entering the market every year. Hence, self employment should be the pattern of the society, even if not exactly entrepreneurship, people who are skilled in writing or other creative talent can be hired for such services and earn probably more than what mediocre government jobs can offer. These initiatives will certainly solve the problem.

Ishani Rajkhowa with inputs from Arjun Talwar

Image Credits: Chirag Sharma for DU Beat

Faridkot, one of India’s most versatile rock bands, have been in the music scene since 2009. Inspite of being affected by frequent line – up changes, the ‘hindi rock’ giants have managed to release their second album ‘Phir Se’ in June this year. We had the opportunity of speaking to Rajarshi Sanyal, the guitarist of Faridkot. This is what he had to say:

Your first appearance as we know it , was on V Launchpad in 2007(it was 2009). And now in 2014 you have managed to release your second Album. How do you think your music has evolved?

It’s really hard to judge your own music as a listener as you’ve been too closely involved with it. Maybe in 10 years we’ll be in a better place to be more articulate about its evolution. For now, we’d like to believe that it has evolved in the same way that we have evolved as human beings. All the changes and experiences we’ve gone through over the last 5 years inevitably ends up affecting and creeping into the music we make.

How is the first album different from the second album?

For starters, the first album was written in a different way. Some songs were written by IP and Anindo Bose (from Advaita) since they had been working on music before IP and I met. Since Anindo was busy with other projects, he couldn’t join the band and we ended up adding a ‘Faridkot’ flavour to the songs and spiced them up. The other songs were written by IP and I through guitar riffs and him singing along and both of us exploring various ideas to complete the song by introducing the other elements. To be honest, we barely had any idea about how to do it and were kind of just using hit and trial! Lyrically, IP was talking about the romantic idea of love mostly and a lot of the songs were about heart-break.
On the other hand, the second album was written by structuring the songs on the bass and drums by me and Sahil respectively. This was followed by me laying down the guitars and then finally the vocals/lyrics came in. So it was kind of a reverse approach to the earlier album’s songwriting method. Also, lyrically, IP talks more about cosmic love and other introspections and reflections involving the bigger picture.

Musicians in India, are known to play in different bands at the same time. Your bass guitarist, Nikhil Rufus Raj has been associated with many bands. Recently he left Skyharbor. Is it hard to dedicate oneself to one project and if not how do you manage to actively contribute to so many projects at the same time?

Quoting Nikhil on this, “Bands I play with are also my friends and since I’m playing with friends, there’s an understanding I share with them. After that, with careful planning and systematic scheduling I’m able to give my time to all projects without hindering any of them.”

How has Delhi University influenced your music?

We’ve played at a lot of colleges there and the University represents a big chunk of the younger generation. Playing there is a whole lot of fun since the audience is always so receptive and feeds us with so much energy that it’s a delight to be on stage.

Your latest single ‘Bijli’ consists of minute pieces of ‘Rap’. Is it something that was introduced to grab the attention of the crowd, given the latest fuss and demand of Punjabi Rap music?

Well, not really. Not that we have anything against the latest fuss and demand for Punjabi rap music.  We actually love Hip-hop music and there’s something really powerful about spoken word. It’s a different style of expressing and since we’re always looking for new ways to expand our musical horizons, it was inevitable that we explore this direction too. In fact, some of the new tracks we’re working on right now are highly inspired by hip-hop music.

What in your view is lacking in new bands? Is it important to make long term plans for a band that is just starting out?

I think when you start out, it’s important to just explore various kinds of music that you find interesting. When a group of musicians come together, they’re always bringing something unique to the table. The important thing is to find what is unique about their combined efforts and ideas. It might be something that none of them can predict so instead of assuming direction, it’s important to find it.

We’re all so busy thinking about the future all the time that few of us realize how beautiful the present is and how much you can enjoy it by just living in it 100%. If we try to envision a future while living in the present, then we’re just distracting ourselves. The same goes for bands making music. It’s important to work hard and put your all in the “now”. The future is always going to be unpredictable so why bother.

Your music tends to be groovy. What are your major influences as a band?

We love all good music. Especially rhythmic music. We feel its the foundation of life. Think about heart beats or the flapping of a bird’s wings.  Rhythms and beats. Melody comes right after that and we love that too. Our inspiration is the world around us. Just try to grasp the emotions you go through when you look into the depths of a mountain or feel the splash of waves on a beach. Existence can be just so fascinating, isn’t it so?

Any band in particular which you feel is doing pretty well in the latest music circuit and deserves a record deal?

There are a lot of artists working really hard here. The independent music scene is constantly growing at a really fast rate. Naming a few would mean that the others don’t deserve it, which is not true. So we’d rather not be specific.

Do you think social media has a huge role to play in the modern music scene and How?

Yes, it does. It’s the only platform where people across the world come together as a community. It’s the best way to reach out to audiences who would’ve otherwise never heard of you. As any musician, all you really need is someone to listen to you and maybe tell you how they feel when they do. Even if the latter doesn’t work out, the chances of the former happening has increased exponentially thanks to social media.

How did the deal with Universal Music Group come about?

We were looking for someone to help us distribute the album and they were looking for artistes. We got together and they wanted to take it further and do a 360 degree deal with us. Also, they were pretty open to ideas and thoughts that we had, which is a great thing. Not many mainstream labels are like that and we’re very happy to be working with them.