Glimpses of a resurgent India (Part I) -- Auckland-IIT Kgp MoU

When you hear stories of India, especially in the western media, you either get Bollywood, weddings of the rich and famous, or the pictures of people with abject poverty in the Indian slums. This story is different -- a story of hope from my recent trip to India led by Prof. Jenny Dixon Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC) Strategic Engagement. We had a team of nine people, which included the DVC, three Deans and the Director of our International Office. In the first article in this series on India, I will highlight IIT Kharagpur and the University of Auckland's cooperation.

I was immensely happy, to return to my homeland, a land that has shaped me to represent New Zealand, a beautiful nation that I now call home. I am not going to comment on the rich and the powerful or the political class and their influence. Instead, my recent journey reveals a transformation that is led by common people, selflessly serving and leading without seeking limelight or attention.

The two countries are very different on the surface. The former is massive in both its landmass and population, being the second most populous nation on the planet inhabited by around 1.4 billion people. The land mass of India is approximately 12 times that of New Zealand. However, the population of New Zealand is approximately 4.7 Million. Thus, the population of India is a staggering 297 times that of New Zealand. Hence this vast and densely packed nation may seem, on the surface, to be very different from New Zealand. However, the two nations are founded on very similar and democratic principles. Hence, both are striving to achieve equality and prosperity for all, primarily through access to high quality education. This will be my focus.

Our journey began in Kolkata on 26 November 2018. We started by road at 8 am for a 3 hour journey to my Alma Mater, IIT Kharagpur, which is also the first IIT of India established in 1951, soon after India's independence from foreign rule. It was a day full of activity and high energy.

I saw, first hand, the emergence of a world class university, which now offered not only some of the best engineering education in the world but also education in diverse disciplines such as science, medicine, business and even law! Within the span of just over 5 hours, the two universities agreed to sign an MoU to engage in many joint activities, which also included a joint PhD programme for students of both universities. Here, students will be able to undertake a 4 year PhD by spending two years at both institutes and will be supervised by academics from both sides. This is not only the first joint PhD initiative of Auckland university but also the "the first strategic partnership of the University of Auckland with a higher educational institution in India", as commented by Prof. Dixon.

This exceptional initiative was not achieved just in 5 hours but by tireless work from people in both sides, which began earlier. In particular, teams led by Mr. Brett Berquist from Auckland and Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dean, International Relations, IIT Kharagpur collaborated. Here, while talking about India, I would like to especially discuss the role played by Prof. Bhattacharya.

When foreign universities want to interact with their Indian counterparts, they dread the bureaucracy. Hence, there is a perception overseas that the ease of doing business with public universities in India is not so great. Our experience, however, was just the opposite. Prof. Bhattacharya, an IIT and  Johns Hopkins educated academic, was leading from the front to initiate discussions on both sides through Zoom conferences nearly 4 weeks in advance of our visit. During this period, he set the scene for narrowing down the discussions to key items related to areas of common interest from Machine Learning to Material Science. I was most impressed by his leadership style and his keen engagement, which moved the balance in favour of IIT Kharagpur from the point of view of our senior leadership team. During a lunchtime conversation on 26 November, I enquired regarding the unusualness of his name and its meaning. He remarked that, ``Baidurya is the gemstone worn by Sri Krishna, the mythical Indian figure worshipped by many''. This, to me, is the most appropriate name for my first unsung hero, a gem of a leader for an Indian IIT.

I will continue this theme of my impressions of a resurgent India and my next stop will be in South India. Keep watching this space.