Think “out of box”

Mr JATIN NAGORI

This is about a versatile Ahmedavadi Mr Jatin Nagori.  

He is a Post Graduate in Commerce with a degree in Law and also holding Diploma in Export Marketing Management. He joined IIMA in 1983 as an Account Clerk. He could have continued in the same department but it was his self-initiative, which won him the title of Program Officer-Post Graduate Programme in Management.

In 2008, he was offered by the management of the institute to work in any other department except Accounts. He wanted to do something new. He was asked for his preference. He preferred to work and get involved with students. Finally, he was appointed as Administrative and Supportive Head for the flagship programme of the institute, Post Graduate Program (PGP) as PGP Officer where he had to start from a scratch. It took about a year of involved learning to understand the complete process. He had to give extra time and effort to understand the whole cycle. It's during his tenure that significant changes have taken place regarding increase of 54% in total intake and nearly 40% increase in electives courses in last 3 years.

Along with his job, he wanted to do something else to give more meaning to his life. It was his outlook towards life and a burning desire to try new thing, which gave him the opportunity to work as an online tutor for Tutor Vista (USA based) which is world's-leading online education company. At the time of selection, he was completely unaware about use of computer applications. But, seeing his aptitude and knowledge about the Accounts subject, he was given the chance to teach global students online after proper rigorous training of 6 weeks scheduled from 9.30 pm to 12.30 pm six days a week.

He excelled and delivered online tuitions for more than 1300 hours where he was rated 97% in overall ranking of various components. It was physically and mentally challenging due to different time zone as the most of the students were from USA/UK. Many times, there were also Gujarati students residing at USA/UK or Saudi countries. After working for about a year with Tutor Vista, he switched with the company who offered him to teach in late evening due to time constrain. He joined Delhi based company named Learning Hour that is well known and is established by the alumnus of IIMA for online tutoring in India as they were flexible regarding tuition timings.

During this period, he had a memorable moment, which is worth narrating.

At Learning Hour, he was given a special online teaching assignment of Accountancy for 3 Indian students residing at Dubai. The challenge was to fulfill the wish of one of the student named Astha Goyal who wanted to come first in her class/school. It may seem easy to tutor online, but in reality it's quite different from classroom environment. Technology has its own benefits and limitations which can be understood best when done practically.

Mr Nagori accepted the challenge and worked quite hard. In the pre board exams, she could perform good but not the best. So, both the student as well as the tutor put extra efforts. Good amount of time was spent on mock tests and detailed revision. It was demonstration of dedication and determination that resulted in a surprise outcome. Astha Goyal was not only class or school topper, but she ranked number one in Dubai for Accountancy subject in the CBSE Board result of May 2008. The another student Ms. S.Sanghavi who was second in accounts but was overall first in Dubai which was published in The Gulf News. It was a remarkable award for someone who was teaching a student sitting thousands of kilometers away without seeing each other. 

There are some teachers whom we never forget. Similarly some students are special and leave their mark for ever. One such student in Mr Nagori’s life is a Russian student named Yan who was studying in Ahmedabad sometime during 2005-o7. His mother Yanna was nominated to teach Russian language by the Russian Consulate at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). He was challenged by one of the Xavier school teacher. He accepted the challenge and taught him Accountancy and Statistics for 2 years.  Yan was a lazy boy who detested study. He was an introvert who knew only 3 people while he was in Ahmedabad, his mother, Mr. Nagori and himself. He was shy and he was only fluent in Russian. The English language was the media and common way of communication between both of them. It was a formidable job. Lack of attitude towards learning added more challenge. However, on the day of Statistics exam, his auto toppled. He was injured and missed the exam. Later, he appeared for compartment exam and passed it with good marks and it was a tribute to his tutor.

Seeing his devotion towards education and in recognition of his knowledge and skills, he was invited as a Chief Guest for a National Conference on "Financial Inclusion" at Shri Krsihna Arts and Science College, Department of Commerce. Coimbatore in February 2011.

He has been giving personal tuition of Accounts to local students from last 28 years. He is even involved with some social welfare group of his community.

All this would not have been possible without the blessings of his late parents and the support of his family. He appreciates his wife, Mrs. Hina Nagori and two lovely daughters for being so co-operative. One of the daughters Murli is a talented Tabla player who started learning at the young age of 9 years. She is not a professional but loves to play Tabla for her near and dear ones. She has performed her playing of Tabla on the stage of “Saptak” in presence of Late Pandit Kishan Maharaj and Pandit Zakir Hussain in 1996. She is also a very good painter and has won many prizes and certificates. She is currently working as Assistant Manager at SNL Finance (KPO), Vastrapur. The second daughter Bansari who is a trained vocalist is studying in First year of Physiotherapy.

Mr. Nagori’s source of motivation is Dr Chaitanya Nagori who is a well-known expert in infertility and Test Tube Baby across the world that runs “Nagori Institute of Infertility” in Ahmedabad. Dr Nagori is a self-made man whose life itself is an inspirational story of rags to riches.

Mr. JatinNagori’s passion is working sincerely and with dedication to deliver his best. He leads a disciplined life and is very punctual in his work. He hopes to provide consultancy service and online tuitions after his retirement. He is a young by heart and loves to interact with young students. 

Though his good work may not have got enough recognition, I am sure that society is thankful to him and other such teachers who take their profession and job sincerely. His concern about his students must be appreciated.

One important thing I marked in my 90 minutes of interaction was that he believes in “learning never stops”.

He will agree with what once Henry Ford said “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.”

Thanks for reading.