Rohini Desai

To begin with, I was born in the early 90’s in a middle-class family in Mumbai. My father used to work in a tyre manufacturing company. My mother was a homemaker. Like any other middle-class family at that time, my parents would hardly make the ends meet. They never let the heat reach to me though.

At the age of three, I was admitted to school. Technologically advanced schools, that provided “Learn from home” facilities using video calling which was a dream at that period. I call it “that period” just to make an impact on how long our generation has travelled. Today I am delivering lectures from the comfort of my house to students sitting at their home. I was a bright student from the childhood in academics. Securing top rank in the class used to be my ambition.

My brother came to the world when I was 3 years old. As a result, financial requirements increased. So, my mother, being well educated, took the role of home tuition teacher along with her other responsibilities. By the time I was in Junior college, I had started taking home tuitions with my mother playing the second fiddle. Teaching became my hobby as well as my earning and I started supporting my family from an early age.

After HSC/CET, Mathematics being my favorite subject Engineering was the obvious choice. Computer Engineering was considered as one of the best streams in those times. So, I went for it. Engineering developed my technical skills and gave a direction to my life. It was engineering which made me realize the path I was going to follow in future. College life was quite joyful. College teachers, friends always give life lasting memories. After completing B.E. with distinction, I joined a private IT company. But being a teacher by heart, I left the corporate job soon to join Terna Polytechnic as an Assistant Professor. After few months in Terna Polytechnic I landed in VSIT.

VSIT is not merely a 9 to 5 teaching job for me. It is more of a process. Mother gives birth to a child but a (Guru) teacher gives life (Jeevan). Engineering gave birth to my career but VSIT added the value of life to it. I joined VSIT as an Assistant Professor to teach Mathematics. But I did not remain confine to it. In my tenure of 07 years at VSIT I have taught many subjects. I never tried to limit my knowledge sharing with students to the boundaries of books. IT industry is developing every second and hence my approach is to always provide real life problem solving and industry-oriented teaching rather than just abiding to the syllabus. I tried my best to give justice to all of them. I have also worked as a Moderator/Paper setter for the University exams. Parallelly, I have completed certifications in topics related to the recent developments in IT industry.

While everything was moving with good pace in my professional space, urge for learning more however was still burning in me. So along with teaching in VSIT, I took admission for Master’s course in Mumbai University and subsequently completed it with Outstanding Grade in March 2016.

My journey as a teacher doesn’t end here. For me teaching is not an occupation but a moral responsibility to give whatever I can to my students. Following few lines from Mr. Avinash Dharmadhikari will always serve as motto for my life.

If I can wipe even a single tear from a weeping eye with my knowledge giving, then I would consider I have done something fruitful in my life. That knowledge can stimulate the hidden energy in that person’s mind which in turn can be channelised towards his betterment and in turn betterment of our country.