“XLRI’S VALUE OF DOING THINGS FOR THE GREATER GOOD HAS BEEN MY DRIVING FORCE”
THE XLRI AS AN INSTITUTION AND ITS WORLD-CLASS TEACHERS HAVE LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON THE LIVES OF ITS STUDENTS
It’s
It’s been over two decades since I completed my Bachelor of Management, with a specialisation in marketing and system, from the XLRI in 2000, but I still have vivid memories of the institution. All I need to do is just close my eyes and I can visualise, rather relive, my days at the XLRI-Xavier School of Management. No wonder, the XLRI as an institution, its world-class teachers and the inspiring campus atmosphere have left an indelible mark on my life and endeavours.
When I look back on life and assess my humble achievements—winning 52 national and international
medals and mentoring the Indian archery team to win multiple medals—I find a clear connection with the values I inculcated at the XLRI. The XLRI’s value of giving back to society and doing things for the greater good has remained my driving force. Even today, as I am mentoring a bunch of extremely talented Indians to win the archery gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, I have a clear goal—process the evolving skills besides, of course, keeping the trainees truly inspired. I attribute all this to what I learned at the XLRI.
As I write this piece, my mind goes back to the Art of Marketing classes of Prof. Sarin, the Organisational Behaviour lessons of Prof. Madhukar Shukla, the engaging and thought-provoking ideas of Ethics and Leadership by Father Jesurajan, and the significance of the concept of viability that I learned from Kaushik Chatterjee in his finance classes. The list is long. When I took up archery as a teenager, it was basically a D.I.Y. (do it yourself) exercise for me. But now when I am able to apply my knowledge and transfer my skills while mentoring, I cannot thank enough both Tata Steel and XLRI. While the Tata Group has given me the opportunity to create archery champions for the country, the XLRI lessons have helped me hone my skills in creating benchmarks. ■
The writer, a Dronacharya and Arjuna awardee, is the high-performance director (archery), Sports Authority of India. He graduated from the XLRI in 2000