After a degree in mechanical engineering, Tirthankar Poddar aka 2Blue says doing an MBA in Marketing and Systems broadened his horizons, and shaped his personality and career as a musician
When Tirthankar Poddar told his mother that he did not want a job anymore she broke down and cried. 바카라I was in my late 20s,바카라 says Poddar, now 47. His mother cried again a few years back, when he hired a former client as a management representative. 바카라This time, though, it was tears of joy,바카라 says the musician, who is popularly known by his stage name 2Blue.
For Poddar, the journey from a typical middle-class Bengali home in Agartala that prioritised a conventional profession like engineering or medicine to a career in music has hardly been smooth sailing. But in 2005, he had reached a critical juncture, where he had to take a call. 바카라I had an opportunity to get a promotion at my job,바카라 he tells Outlook. 바카라And, I also had the opportunity to headline one of the biggest music festivals in the country. I thought: anyone can get a promotion. But not everyone can headline the festival.바카라 The decision was made.
Poddar바카라s parents wanted him to pursue a safe career option. So, he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Agartala, in 1997. And, in 2000, he got an MBA in Marketing and Systems, from the Institute of Technology and Management, Navi Mumbai.
But he knew he would be the black sheep of the family.
바카라Even as a child I knew that I would break the mould in my family,바카라 he says. 바카라And here I am.바카라 While his childhood was not unhappy, he was always under pressure to become a topper in his class. 바카라This allowed my parents to interact with others like them,바카라 he says. Though he loved the performing arts, pressure from his parents made him choose engineering and later management.
바카라They said no one would give me a good job right after I became an engineer,바카라 says Poddar. 바카라I don바카라t blame them. We were from a small town. And, unfortunately, this is true.바카라 His formal education, however, also helped him in performing arts. 바카라Engineering got me started on this path,바카라 says Poddar. 바카라Subjects like marketing management and consumer behaviour that I studied in the management course broadened my horizon.바카라
Music is physics at play, opines Poddar. 바카라It is about how vibrating bodies communicate. When the frequencies match, physicists call it resonance. Spiritualists call it the oneness of energies. I call it magic. It is this magic that convinced me to choose a career in music,바카라 says Poddar, adding, 바카라I have been a fan of physics as long as I can remember. The more physics you have the less engineering you need.바카라
Meditating on the impact the knowledge of sciences or business has on the humanities and vice-versa, Poddar says B-schools must have courses on liberal and performing arts. 바카라They help in building empathy, a quality that is key in business leaders. Logic needs to
embrace emotion. The left brain needs to embrace the right brain. Else, B-schools and management colleges will produce well-trained robots with little or no emotional quotient. Co-curricular activities are vital, especially for leadership roles. Leadership is not only about profits바카라it is about people as well,바카라 says Poddar.
Many hats
Poddar is not only a successful singer and musician but also a leadership coach. 바카라There can be no leadership without empathy,바카라 he says, adding that his experience in conducting leadership workshops has convinced him of the utility of humanities for management students. But it might be too soon to demand a radical change in the B-school syllabus. 바카라As more and more innovators and disruptive educators come together, we will get there soon,바카라 he says. B-schools should send well-rounded people into the world. The future rests on them.바카라
(This appeared in the print edition as "The Business of Music")