92 year old Manohar Ajgaonkar from Borivali, Mumbai is a former Professor of Economics, known for his unusual teaching techniques. Magzmumbai recently met Prof. Ajgaonkar at his residence at Dattani Park, Borivali, where he lives alone with caretaking assistance. But, at this age he is active enough to offer his services and guidance as a Chairman of his housing society. His mantra in life is to remain active. In the past he has written books on economics and served as Principal of Sadhna Education Society’s L.S. Raheja College of Arts & Commerce. Even after his retirement, he has served as a part time guest lecturer for Post Graduate students in reputed management insitutions in Mumbai.
Talking to Professor was a real delight, as he made his point on any subject with relevant example. When we asked him the secret of his fitness, he gave us an example. “ Be curious to know more about the things around you.” Professor gave us an example of a 3rd year student, when he was taking a class in a college. “Her surname was ‘Sane’. So, I asked her whether she had heard of Pandurang Sadashiv Sane. And her reply was ‘No’. So, I asked her to check with her parents. Next class, I asked her whether her parents were familiar with this name. But, she said, ‘No’. I was surprised that she did not ask me, who this person was ? I expected her to be curious to know, Pandurang Sadashiv Sane, who was a renowned author, teacher, social activist and freedom fighter from Maharashtra and was also referred to as ‘Sane Guruji’ – the National Teacher of India.”
Talking further on the topic of‘Curiosity’ he added, “If Sir Isaac Newton had ignored the natural happennings around him, there would not have been laws of motion and universal gravitation, whicht formed the dominant scientific viewpoint. So, curiosity keeps the person on the move in life.Leo Tolstoy, a Russian writer is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time . Tolstoy not only drew from his own life experiences but also created characters in his own image.”
Professor narrated to us an interesting short story written by Tolstoy. “How Much Land Does a Man Require?” It is about a man who, in his lust for land, forfeits everything. Here this man goes to a generous landlord who gifts his lands to the needy at a throw away price. When this man approaches him , the landlord puts a condition that he can walk around an area as large as he wants, starting at daybreak, marking his route along the way. If he returns to his starting point by sunset that day, all the land his route encloses will be his. The man keeps walking with the confidence that he would be able to return to the starting point before sunset. But, while returning, he realizes that he walked too far and therefore runs fast to reach the starting point. He finally arrives at the starting point just as the sun set time. But, exhausted with the run, he collapses and dies on the spot. So, he was buried in an ordinary grave only six feet long, thus answering the question posed in the title of the story.”
Professor Ajgaonkar recently lost his wife, after living together for 65 years. But, his reading habits and active interest in his society matters, keeps him busy during the day. He likes to communicate with people and shares his extensive knowledge & experiences with simple examples. During our meeting, he narrated few such short stories and essence of every story was that a person should keep learning new things, till the end of his life.
Talking about his favourite subject of Economics, Professor told a story of a village, where there was a tradition of inviting all the villagers for lunch during marriage ceremony of their daughter. So, those who could not afford, borrowed money to serve lunch to the villagers. One such villager who had five daughters the youngest 5 year old and eldest 13 year old; decides to get all his five daughters married at the same time. When asked as to why he had thought so, he replied, “For every marriage I had to borrow money. And with the price rise every year, it would have been difficult for me to manage the expenses. So, this was a better option.”
Prof. Ajagaonkar made the subject of Economics look easy with his teaching techniques. Those who were fortunate to be his students, still remember him and are in touch with him. Reading books and keeping himself busy with his day to day society matters, keep him on the go. On behalf of magzmumbai we wished him a long heathy life.