!

""# %&'()*+(

"#$ %&'() *'&+,&-./0 ls a seml-blography-a
monLage of memorles-of Lhe llfe, vlslon
and leadershlp of rofessor .S. Manl
Sundaram, Lhe founder rlnclpal of
8eglonal Lnglneerlng College (8LC), one of
lndla's Lop Lnglneerlng Colleges. Pe was
also Lhe flrsL vlce Chancellor of
8haraLhldasan unlverslLy ln 1rlchy, SouLh
lndla.
A sLudenLs' prlnclpal ln every sense, he ran
8LC 1rlchy wlLh enLrepreneurlal flalr and
lnnovaLlve masLersLrokes, glvlng lL Lhe solld
foundaLlon LhaL has kepL Lhe lnsLlLuLlon
conslsLenLly among Lhe Lop 10 englneerlng
colleges of lndla for half a cenLury runnlng.
"#$ %&'() *'&+,&-./0 ls Lhe auLhor's LrlbuLe
Lo Lhe sheer brllllance, wlL and candour of
Lhe man. 1lnLed wlLh Lhe unlque flavour of
Manl Sundaram's value sysLem, personallLy
and vlslon, lL conLalns recollecLlons of
people who speak of hlm ln frank and falr
Lerms. lnsLead of prescrlpLlve dos and
don'Ls, Lhe conLenL ls rlch wlLh lnsplraLlonal anecdoLes, sLorles of Lhlnklng ouL of Lhe box, llvlng
your convlcLlons, balanclng compeLlng lnLeresLs, shaplng Lhe llves of youLh by Lhe genlus of one
of Lhe greaLesL lnsLlLuLlon bullders of modern lndla. Pls conLrlbuLlon Lo posL-lndependence
lndla's hlgher educaLlon ls unequalled, hls lnfluence on sLudenLs unparalleled and hls lnnovaLlve
admlnlsLraLlve sLyle maLched by few.
123,/)&4+&()( can draw lnsplraLlon from Lhe perfecL comblnaLlon-puLLlng LogeLher
lnfrasLrucLure and Lhe envlronmenL Lo allow sLudenLs Lo make Lhe mosL of-Lo fosLer
hlgh performance.
526&+&()'/)4'( can learn LhaL pollcy ls meanL as a gulde Lo efflclenL governance raLher Lhan a
conLrol mechanlsm.
7$/2$'( ln governmenL and lndusLry wlll be able Lo ldenLlfy wlLh Lhe odds of runnlng such
an lnsLlLuLlon for almosL Lwo decades, and so successfully aL LhaL.
1he book ls dlvlded lnLo Lhree parLs. 1he 8&'() ./') relaLes Lhe auLhor's lnlLlal years aL 8LC and hls
experlences wlLh hls rlncl." A ploneer ln advanclng Lhe lnLerrelaLlonshlps beLween lndusLry
and educaLlon, rofessor Manl Sundaram, durlng hls shorL Lenure as vlce Chancellor of
resldenL of lndla, Shrl ranab Mukher[ee holdlng Lhe
flrsL copy of "#$ %&'() *'&+,&-./0 afLer lLs release by Shrl
k 8osalah, Covernor of 1amll nadu, aL Lhe Colden
!ubllee CelebraLlons of 8LC 1rlchy (now nl1) on 19 !uly
2014.
8haraLhldasan unlverslLy, used hls lnnovaLlve and enLrepreneurlal faceLs Lo seL up several
LrendseLLlng programmes. Pe empowered people and provlded Lhe enablemenL Lo allow Lhem
Lo dlscover Lhelr own poLenLlal.
1he ($,4+2 ./') of Lhe book focuses on Lhe rlncl's capablllLles as an academlclan who recrulLed
Lhe besL, creaLed Lhe rlghL envlronmenL and Lhen made sure LhaL Lhe culLure allowed people Lo
brlng ouL Lhelr besL. Pe also handled pollLlcal dynamlcs sklllfully boLh lnslde Lhe campus as well
as ln Lhe sLaLe corrldors of power. Pls was a decepLlve deLermlnaLlon LhaL allowed hlm Lo play
wlLh sofL hands, defLly drlvlng Lhrough Lhe maze of bureaucraLlc obsLacles as seen ln hls
masLerful handllng of Lhe sLudenLs' sLruggle (anLl-Plndl aglLaLlon, 1963-68) for Lngllsh as Cfflclal
Language of lndla.
1he 0/() ($,)&4+ provldes an lnslghL lnLo Lhe characLer of Lhe man, Lhe lmpacL of hls sLyle of
governance, and hls knack ln keeplng Lhe chlld ln each sLudenL he plcked for 8LC. lL relaLes
varlous eplsodes LhaL dlsplay Lhe characLerlsLlcs of . S. Manl Sundaram, Lhe genlus. Pls human
Louch shows how much he cared, and hlghllghLs hls klndness and generoslLy Lowards upllfLlng
Lhose who soughL hls supporL.
Lmbedded are key lessons ln lnnovaLlon / leadershlp / admlnlsLraLlon / educaLlon /
enLrepreneurshlp each showlng LhaL Lhlngs coo be done and done dlfferenLly.
Manl Sundaram was one flne human belng. And Lhe flrsL rlncl.pal. Maybe even Lhe lasL.
keywords: rofessor .S. Manl Sundaram, 8eglonal Lnglneerlng College (8LC), anLl-Plndl aglLaLlon,
8haraLhldasan unlverslLy, academlclan, modern lndla, hlgher educaLlon

!"#$%&'('")&

S. Sivakumar, Architect- lTC eChoupal
'WhaL a LrlbuLe! A legendary Leacher's llfe and Llmes brllllanLly capLured as a reflecLlon Lhrough
Lhe llfe [ourneys of hls sLudenLs! 1hls ls a book LhaL [usL has Lo be read. WheLher you are an
Academlc AdmlnlsLraLor or a SLarL-up LnLrepreneur, Lhls ls a 101 Lo learn how Lo bulld lasLlng
lnsLlLuLlons ... '
Thomas M. Koulopoulos, Author and Chairman Delphi Group
'A wonderfully wlLLy, remarkably Louchlng, lndellbly lnsplraLlonal sLory abouL Lhe greaL power of
a selfless splrlL.'
Sidin Vadukut, Author
'A lovely llLLle book LhaL wlll lnform Lhe general publlc of a remarkable man, and make alumnl
feel proud of Lhe herlLage Lhey wlll always be parL of.'
Dr. M. Anandakrishnan, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur
'1hls ls a fasclnaLlng volume boLh ln sLyle and conLenL and an absorblng read.1he auLhor has
adopLed an lnnovaLlve approach Lo express graLlLude and pay LrlbuLe Lo rof. .S. Manl
Sundaram, who was so much a parL of hls llfe-and hundreds of oLher sLudenLs llke hlm-durlng
Lhelr formaLlve years.'
R Chandrasekaran, Executive Vice Chairman, Cognizant India and
Chairman, NASSCOM
'rofessor Manl Sundaram was my "rlncl" Loo. 1hls nlcely palnLed monLage of words capLures
Lhe essence of 8LC 1rlchy's eLhos durlng my Llme-Lhe flne balance beLween freedom and
lndlvldual responslblllLy. 1he book underscores Lhe genlus of one of lndla's flnesL lnsLlLuLlon
bullders and ls a compass Lo Lhe enLrepreneurlal way of academlc leadershlp.'
Pawan Agarwal, Adviser (Higher Education & Culture), Planning
Commission
'rofessor .S. Manl Sundaram was a greaL lnsLlLuLlon bullder and lald Lhe foundaLlons of Lwo of
lndla's mosL presLlglous lnsLlLuLlons of hlgher educaLlon. 1hls book LhaL Lells hls sLory ls Lruly
lnsplraLlonal wlLh many lnLeresLlng anecdoLes from hls llfe and Llmes. lL ls a greaL LrlbuLe Lo hlm
and hls Lremendous work ln Lhe fleld of hlgher educaLlon aL a Llme when hlgher educaLlon was
evolvlng rapldly ln Lhe counLry.'

!"# %&'"()
Sunll runs ldeafarms, a ueslgn + lnnovaLlon company
LhaL ploneered uslng concepLs and approaches of
lndusLrlal ueslgn ln Lhe sofLware lndusLry. 8ellef ln
lndlvldual LalenL and Lhe power of lnLerdlsclpllnary
Leams provlded Lhe lmpeLus for hls foundlng ldeafarms
- a buslness model based on Lhe slmple LeneL LhaL
'evetytbloq ptoJoceJ by bomoo beloqs ls meoot fot ose
by otbet bomoo beloqs. ldeafarms's user orlenLaLlon
drlves lLs Lechnology vlslon and noL Lhe oLher way
around, Lhereby maklng Lhe company sLrlklngly dlfferenL
from Lhe norm.
Sunll's enLrepreneurlal experlence spans ConsulLlng,
ManufacLurlng and lnformaLlon 1echnology. Pe ls
hands-on and wldely Lravelled, buslness has Laken hlm
Lo mosL parLs of Lurope and across Lhe uS glvlng hlm
lnslghLs LhaL help hlm Lo conLlnually reflne Lhe user-orlenLed deslgn process aL ldeafarms.
Sunll ls a laLeral Lhlnker and a fan of Ld de 8ono's creaLlvlLy meLhods. Pls quleL amblLlon
camouflages hls keen passlon for a varleLy of sub[ecLs LhaL lnLeresL hlm, provldlng a vlslonary
dlmenslon Lo hls Lhlnklng. Pe llkes calllng hlmself a generallsL.
93+&0 :/0#4)'/
Pe belleves LhaL deslgners have Lhe hlghesL responslblllLy Lowards susLalnablllLy. 1o ampllfy Lhls,
he draws on LasLern phllosophles - (&6.0&,&);< &+,03(&4+ /+2 04,/0 '$0$=/+,$ - Lo creaLe hls
unlque brand of lnnovaLlon for soclo-culLural LransformaLlon. Pls undersLandlng of moblle as a
Lool for soclal change, powers hls currenL lnnovaLlon agenda (#uLSl - ueslgn LnLrepreneurshlp
for Soclal lmpacL).
Pls unabashed sLand "lndla-wlll-deflne- Lhe-fuLure-of-Lhe-world" ls someLhlng you wlll love Lo
haLe.
A breakLhrough pracLlLloner of lnnovaLlon, he has professlonal degrees ln lndusLrlal Lnglneerlng
and Law. AfLer compleLlng hls MasLers ln lndusLrlal ueslgn aL ll1 8ombay (1983) he ran a
successful ueslgn ConsulLancy ln new uelhl, lndla, LhaL morphed lnLo ldeafarms ln 2002.
Pe blogs wlLh passlon on a varleLy of Loplcs, aL >++4=/)&4+ ?4$( @/+/+/( and on 1?404?;.
"#$ %&'() *'&+,&-./0 ls hls flrsL book.
ConLacLs
+919810000766
?3'3-)#$A44BC?6/&0-,46 %4004D C93+&0:/0#4)'/ 93+&0 4+ 7&+B$2&+
WebslLe: hLLp://DDD-)#$8&'().'&+,&./0-,46
e8ook ovolloble oo oll leoJloq oolloe stotes wotlJwlJe.
Speclal Colden !ubllee LdlLlon (Pardback) avallable ln lndla Lhrough 56/E4+-&+< %0&.B/')-,46
and 53)#4'(3.8'4+)-,46