‘Daulat ki bhasha nai sikh, bhikmango ki awaz badal!
Simti bahon ko khol garud urne ka ab andaz Badal’: Ramdhari Singh Dinkar( Learn the new language of prosperity, relinquish the voice of obsequiousness of mendicancy! expand the contracted wings to develop the new technique of flying )
The man who dared to think beyond; re-drawing the Lakshman Rekha, after dismantling the age old social stricture which, inadvertently though, had come to presume the entrepreneurship as some form of loathsome taboo. No wonder, sailing against the wind, picking up the gauntlet to script the glorious success story not only for himself or his family, but for Mithila and Bihar in particular and the nation in general, Shri Sandip Jha, the spectacular phenomenon whose illuminating life saga not only inspires the current generation, but the generations yet to be born in Mithila, Bihar and the nation. Little wonder then, as great Hemanta Mukhopadhyay says, ‘ Ami bajarer kachay, mrityur majhe, rekhe gelam amar thikana( amidst the fiercest of lightening, in the midst of death, I dared to leave behind my own footprints for generations to cheer), Sandip Jha, with thousands of miles journey still left for him, has already left behind a priceless legacy which will be as much cherished in the Punya Bhoomie of Mithila, as that of ‘ Balohang Jagdanandang’ of the famous scholar of Shankar Mishra’s fame, for centuries yet to born.
Vivekanand Jha Ranchi . On the eve of the General Election of 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during one of his historic speeches in Darbhanga, had famously said, ‘ Main is Mithila kay Vidwanon kay dharti ko pranam karta hun, yahan say bare bare vidwan aur rishiyon nay janma liye, magar aek baat mujhe dukhi hokar kahna par raha hai, ki yah dharti entrepreneurs nahi vikshit kar paya'( I am reverentially saluting this sacred land of Mithila, which has produced great scholars and saints, over time, yet ruefully failed to produce the successful bunch of entrepreneurs). Indeed the Prime Minister was stating the obvious: Mithila, through ages, had remained trapped in a peculiar mindset, where scholarly excellence invariably remained an object of deep rooted veneration, yet the very remotest of invocation of entrepreneurship, rather Ironically, evoked a disproportionate sense of social revulsion. Significantly, the Punya Bhoomie of Mithila has had a special knack of venerating scholastic showcasing where a school teacher evoked a disproportionate sense of attention than a businessman who, notwithstanding the showcasing of grandeur, only succeeded in engendering a peripheral attention. Hence in this backdrop, choosing an independent path of entrepreneurship and still being cynosure of all eyes, was like building a castle in the sand. Sandipjee dared to do it; he dared to think beyond; dismantling the hitherto prevailing Lakshman Rekha, re-drawing it with the sense of an ease; re-defining the social mind space for entrepreneurship as the class worthy of veneration, almost in the corresponding measure as that of scholastic excellence, had its own saga of volatility, with the fluctuating vicissitudes of fortune ingrained in it.
In 2010, I had gone to Mumbai on a job assignment. My brother- in law, late Suman Sharma, the scientist at Bhava Atomic Research, had informed about one Sandip Jha, the Chairman of Sandip Foundation, who had set up a sprawling campus at Nashik. Incidentally, my brother- in law informed me–I am not vouching this fact, yet I had shared this with Sandipjee when I met him later– that Sandipjee too had tried his luck in Bhava, yet his Providence had charted a distinct trajectory for him: Instead of becoming a scientist, he graduated into a thriving entrepreneur who had made a fortune in the commercial city of the nation. Interestingly, I was informed that, Sandip Foundation in Nashik was a thriving educational hub which had showcased Engineering, Medical, Management and other branches of learning. Small wonder then, my excitement in meeting the great entrepreneur from the Punya Bhoomie of Mithila, who carved out a niche for himself in the citadel of Marathi and Gujarati, accentuating by leaps and bounds. Presently, I got in touch with him, and he magnanimously gave me an appointment at his institute in Nashik, in the immediate vicinity of Jyotirlinga. The day I undertook my trip from Mumbai to Nashik, remains itched in my memory cell for all time. In fact, landing up at the gate, at the early morning, I had to while away my time, for I was told that none was there in the office to attend to me. Due to some strange reason, owing more to my sense of little trepidation brought about by the sense of an exorbitant uncertainty of meeting a hugely successful man which could have prevented me from calling him or anyone else. Significantly, after waiting outside for more than an hour, I was allowed inside. After waiting for some more time at the reception, I was taken in where Sandipjee, in all his majesticity, was sitting on a very distinguished chair, the chair apparently looked like some form of throne where the emperor who sat there was scripting a story from almost rag to riches; symbolising a conquest of a bastion almost unheard and unseen in several decades.
As I sat opposite to Sandipjee, the conversation kick-started ; first, in English, and then in Maithili –kudos to him, he intended the fraternal affinity to dawn at the earliest. Significantly, as we were engaged in a chat, another Maithil gentleman, a stranger, we saw from the window, was coming towards the reception. A while later, someone walked with a piece of paper which contained his name. The staff who was there with us inside that chamber, sought to turn away that Maithil gentleman who came without any appointment. Then, showing the sign of rarest of rare wisdom, scarcely seen in contemporary times, Sandipjee intervened, twisting his tongue, in a sign of repudiating the interpolation, the education czar, commanded, ‘ No, just call him in, after a while, we do not know for what purpose he has come’, we should not send him back without knowing his purpose. This observation, laced with wisdom, touched a deep chord within me; it was the vindication that the great man has not forgotten his roots; he has never sequestered himself from the innate sweet fragrance of ‘ Saugandh mujhe us miti ki’. This special affection showered upon an inconsequential man, almost a persona nonGrata, who sought an audience with the big shot, without taking even the minimum trouble of seeking an appointment, still found an audience with the Chairman, invariably uplifted his image in my estimate by several notches.
Sitting with the doyen of education, I expressed my deeply felt aspiration to deliver my speech in his presence. He readily conceded to my request. Walking along with him to the auditorium, where almost 1,000 students were in attendance, was one of my finest motivation speeches ever in life. In a feat of miracle, I addressed almost a thousand students without Mike, even though the Mike was there, created some sort of history; it became the talk of the institute for some good time. Once Sandipjee stood up to leave, there was a deafening cheers, even a standing ovation, the students were reverentially acknowledging his mammoth contribution to his altruistic mission for nation building; the clapping went on for few minutes when I had concluded my speech. In all my humility, I bet that speech of mine must have been one of the best ever in that great auditorium of Sandip Foundation. After bidding Sandipjee good bye, I stayed back to return to Mumbai the very next day in the transportation provided to me by the organisation. I never met Sandipjee, physically, ever since then.
Almost a decade later, I came to know about the Sandip University has been established in the village Sijaul, in Madhubani district in Mithila, Bihar. It is an institute of excellence with a sprawling infrastructure, the best quality of faculty along with adequate space to expand to its full capacity. The existing departments of Engineering, Management and other branches of studies. Moreover, in no time, the university has already elicited the stature of being the best private University of Bihar, speaks the volume of the vision which has gone into making this citadel of learning, almost equivalent of Nalanda in ancient times. In addition to the above, this University provides a unique opportunity for jobs for the local youth. Unequivocally, as I had the great privilege of visiting the Nashik campus of Sandip Foundation, and had delivered one of my finest speeches ever, I will be looking forward to any such opportunity in the future for the duplication of such opportunity in Sijol campus too, if Providence does provide such an opportunity for me in the future.
A colloquial adage goes in this way: Jo dikhta hai, wo bikta hai( the saleability of a product gets a substantial boost on its visibility). The mega achievements of the entrepreneur of Twenty first century of Mithila, Bihar and the Nation is visible to one and all. He has, unequivocally, revolutionised the length and breadth of Mithila and Bihar with his pioneering vision and spectacular mission to engender the tangible change in the landscape and mindset of the people of Mithila and Bihar: a new set of respect has emerged for entrepreneurs now in Mithila and across Bihar. No wonder, his pioneer contribution as an entrepreneur in the field of education represents a new paradigmatic shift in the society for new entrepreneurial class. It is tantamount to teaching a new language to the people who remained entrapped in acute impoverishment brought about by the devastating impacts of Kosi and Kamla. Significantly, the people of Mithila who had only known migrating to metropolises and industrial cities across India, or to Punjab and Bhadohi, for feeding their families, are now feasting on the grandeur of infrastructural revolution in the place of birth where the world class University has come to define the new language of prosperity for the people, itself is a new showcasing of entrepreneurial Mithila. Thus, Sandipjee has come to be the new brand ambassador of this new language of prosperity for Mithila, especially that of crystallising Dinkar’s immortal stanzas, ‘ Daulat ki bhasha nai sikh’. But then, as great Robert Frost says, ‘ I have promises to keep, miles to go before I sleep! The journey of new brand ambassador of Mithila cannot stop or come to a halt, unless the whole Mithila turns into another Gujarat, a citadel of entrepreneurs. Sandipjee has already shown the way, it is for the youth of Mithila to fulfill his vision for happy and prosperous Punya Bhoomie of Mithila. Last but not the least, the next time when Prime Minister goes to Darbhanga, which hopefully he will before 2024, he will be taken to Sandip University in Sijoul to personally witness the living glory of Mithila attaining its dream of rising to entrepreneurial aspirations of a new dawn. He is the modern Shankar Mishra, albeit in different field, who has scripted a glory for generations for ushering in a revolution of entrepreneurship across Mithila. Significantly, beholding the splendour of entrepreneurial Renaissance, Prime Minister will chuckle, ‘ O Sandip Bhai tusi great ho, Mithila ab Scholars ka hi bhumi nahi, entrepreneurs ka bhi swarg ban gaya hai. Apnay to Mithila mein hi Gujarat dikha diya'( O, Sandip Bhai, you are great, you made Mithila the heaven of entrepreneurs, indeed in Mithila, I am beholding the glory of Gujarat).
