Pramath Raj Sinha: The classroom entrepreneur

Sonya Dutta Choudhury

The first dean of the Indian School of Business and co-founder of Ashoka University on a new classroom for women, and trysts with chief ministers

By the time we get to lunch at Mumbai’s Sea Lounge at the Taj Mahal Palace, the restaurant has begun serving tea. The place exudes an old-world charm, with live piano music, the clink of china and the buzz of conversation. We are ushered in to a much coveted sea-facing table. Outside, the afternoon sun makes everything sparkle as barges and boats criss-cross the Arabian Sea against the backdrop of the imposing Gateway of India.

It’s 3pm. Pramath Raj Sinha hasn’t had lunch. The 52-year-old entrepreneur had flown into Mumbai that morning and had just finished speaking at a business school event on education. Sinha was the founding dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, and is co-founder of Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana.

His most recent venture is the Vedica Scholars Programme for Women in Delhi, an alternative master’s in business administration (MBA) programme. This all-women residential programme tries to address the problem that far more women graduate from high school than men, but get left behind in careers. Sinha says he was inspired by institutions like Wellesley College of Massachusetts, US, where women get the confidence to express themselves. The Vedica curriculum includes subjects that many conventional MBAs neglect, like politics, sociology and history. The first batch of 36 Vedica scholars has just graduated and Sinha informs me that one student has received an offer from Google at a starting salary of Rs22 lakh.

By now we have settled into our seaside seats and turned our attention to the menu. We debate the relative merits of keema ghotala (a spicy Parsi keema with bread), a smoked salmon sandwich or a BLT burger, and end up settling for the latter two.

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