There were two reasons why C N B Rajesh felt the need to become a teacher — he always had a flair for simplifying the most complicated of concepts and he was not one to fear large crowds as he had always excelled in public speaking. Yet, teaching wasn’t Rajesh’s intentional plan. Hailing from Mysuru, Rajesh attributes his success to his parents who were very instrumental in guiding him towards this profession.
“They always looked at teaching with a lot of admiration and wanted me to have a noble profession. So it made the decision easier,” he says. For NITTE School of Management, Bengaluru, Rajesh is one of their stand-out teachers, not just because he is good at what he does but also because he brings a lot of life experiences into his teaching.
This is due to the fact that 39-year-old Rajesh is not just a teacher, but also an entrepreneur and this, he says, has a great impact on the knowledge that he imparts. He developed a software which managed the training data of an NGO called RUDSETI, called the Training Information Management System or TIMS for short.
“When I started off in 2000, it wasn’t particularly a good time for software, but I dabbled in it and it didn’t do well. Then, of course, I took up teaching, but I made a promise to myself to continue participating in at least small ventures,” says Rajesh, who was also the CEO of Associated Business Enterprises, which operated its electronic division under the brand name Security Mechanics that expanded over 15 years and is now a partner of the India International Jewellery Show.
Rajesh finds start-ups on social media and works with them on their marketing plans. “I have always encouraged young talent including my own students who aspire to establish start-ups,” he says. Since he started teaching at the young age of 24, he was only a couple of years older than most of his students.
“It wasn’t just enough for me to teach them what was in the books, I needed to establish credibility. So I read extensively (Rajesh makes it a point to read 30 books related to marketing a year) and also worked with small groups with their marketing plans. I have always been a keen observer and a learner, and I have passed on these lessons to my students,” explains Rajesh, who is a management graduate from Krishnadevaraya Institute of Management, Mysuru.
Rajesh states that he doesn’t want to be known as just another teacher who has a vast knowledge but as one who is an inspiration to his students. But he confesses that once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur, and he wants to continue in both fields.
Even after they graduate, he ensures that he stays in touch with all his students. “If any of them are keen on setting up companies, I know that there are chances that they might struggle, so I offer to help them with their plans. That way, I get to do what I love and also be there for my students,” he says.
However, teaching and entrepreneurship are not the only two things that Rajesh dabbles in. Lately, he has also tried his hand at script writing. “We recently released a film called Selfie and I enjoyed the experience, so I’m hoping to do some script writing in the future as well,” he says, as he adds another feather in his cap.
Rajesh was selected by the Rotary International to represent India as their cultural ambassador for a discussion on the differences and similarities between various cultural patterns.
