The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘I want to be an agent of change’

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Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘I want to be an agent of change’

Y. Mallikarjun

Aspirants -- Carnatic vocalist, bio-medical engineer and police officer -- switch gears to join B-school

- PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

Different beat: Prashanth Hariharan, Radhika Vasanthakumar and Shankabrata Bagchi at the Indian School of Business.

HYDERABAD: They are as different as chalk and cheese, coming from diverse backgrounds -- Carnatic vocalist, gynaecologist, IPS officer and a bio-medical engineer -- but have similar goals and want to be decision makers and change agents at the top level.

Meet Prathyusha K. Salla, a bio-medical engineer, who has 15 US and international patents in the cardiac and other fields for developing new technologies, Shankabrata Bagchi (SP Kurnool till recently), Prashanth Hariharan, former rocket scientist and Carnatic vocalist and 51-year-old Radhika Vasanthakumar, who ran an urban and a rural clinic near Chennai as a gynaecologist.

Rubbing shoulders with 50 IITians, 17 doctors and international sportspersons among others, these aspiring managers switched gears to join the Indian School of Business (ISB). Ms. Prathyusha, who worked at GE Healthcare, Wisconsin, USA, after obtaining her master’s from the University of Illinois, said the global faculty at the ISB brought her here from the United States. “Change is very critical to survive and I want to be a change agent”, she added. Though armed with ideas for new products, Pratyusha was reluctant to share them at this stage.

For Dr. Bagchi, who did MBBS and topped the IPS batch of 1998, the switch over is aimed at acquiring modern management skills, enhancing professional expertise and taking informed decisions.

Prashant Hariharan, who did B. Tech production engineering and management from NIT Calicut, quit ISRO and joined the course.

Music being his first love, he would like to set up an institute to promote Carnatic music in Chennai and other cities as also abroad.

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