Her business is to make it simple DNA profiles some of city’s most outstanding college teachers in the run-up to Teachers’ Day. Today, meet Sudarshana Saikia, professor of business economics (commerce) at RA Poddar College

Her business is to make it simple

DNA profiles some of city’s most outstanding college teachers in the run-up to Teachers’ Day. Today, meet Sudarshana Saikia, professor of business economics (commerce) at RA Poddar College

Moving into a new city far removed from one’s hometown is an intimidating and daunting experience for many, but not for Sudarshana Saikia. Within just six years of having moved from Guwahati to teach at RA Poddar College at Matunga, the 35-year-old is already one of the most admired teachers at the institution. The professor of business economics (commerce) has quite a few aces up her sleeve. Faizan Khwaja, a second-year student of BCom at the college, says Saikia’s classes are packed because of her ability to think out of the box. “She comes ready with interesting PowerPoint presentations and explains demand and supply relations through graphs with such ease that it makes even a tough subject like commerce easy to understand. As she has in-depth knowledge of the subject, we never miss her lecture.” Another one of her USPs is her ability to draw analogies to make concepts clearer. In her macroeconomics class, she recounts the events of the Great Depression in the US in 1929, which was triggered by the Wall Street crash, and how it spread rapidly to the rest of the world. Jayesh Khatu, a third-year BCom student, explains, “She goes beyond textbooks and gets updated information from banks’ websites and other resources. She knows how to make the subject interesting.” What’s more, she wears several hats. She heads the Quizzers’ League and the placement cell at the college and is, therefore, in constant touch with many students. Appreciating Saikia’s ability to multitask, Akshay Mahatre, another third-year BCom student, says, “She is great at organising in-house quizzes and also prepares us for participations outside [the college].” Saikia says students in Guwahati and in Mumbai are as different as chalk and cheese in terms of aspirations. “BCom students in Assam have a full-day college and dedicate longer periods in study. In Mumbai, BCom is like a part-time course, where college ends by noon. Most students either work or pursue other courses, like CA, as they want to start earning as early as possible.” She quips that more youngsters in Mumbai than in Guwahati have money playing on their minds. “The Mumbai youth are calculative and want every single penny they spent on education returned.” kanchan.srivastava@dnaindia.net