Can Idealism Be Taught?
Shared experiences create bonds; working in villages creates humility. Gupta notes that the institute and the faculty lost no opportunity to drill into students’ heads that “you are ultimately here to serve the rural masses.” But insiders have mixed views on how idealism can be taught. “I do think that in some ways idealism can be taught,” says Vijay Mahajan, founder and chairman of the Hyderabad-based Basix, a rural-facing institution offering microfinance and support services. “One can certainly enhance idealism and bring out the latent idealism in every individual. Indeed, one of most distinctive features of IRMA’s curriculum is the high emphasis on fieldwork where students visit and interact closely with people in rural India, and many of the students get very enthused by this.” But Gopal “GD” Shrikanth, a CEO coach, stresses that “idealism is most often imbibed from parents and siblings at a very young age. In many cases, it is the result of inspiration that results from learning
