Ansuman Jena

Dr. Ansuman Jena

Associate Professor, CUTM, Bhubaneswar [Formerly with OSOU]

My Professor Severus Snape

Run… run... run…! We can’t be late to his class…!

Areee… yaar… jaldi chalo…

Students were talking to each other like this as they were rushing towards the classroom. I was shipping water as I was getting ready to attend the research methodology class as a PhD research scholar of the School of Management, KIIT University.

I went inside the class and to my surprise, a few students stood up.

I am not your teacher… I am a student like all of you but doing PhD… so relax… I will attend the class with you.

Then entered Professor Subudhi. I had interacted with him earlier but had never been a part of his class. He saw me (possibly expected it) and asked me to come to the front and also enquired about my fellow researchers. They were also supposed to attend the session.

I said, 'I am not sure…'

Anyways… let me introduce you to Ansuman. He is a PhD scholar and as a part of his doctoral course work, he will be attending classes with you. Other research scholars are also going to attend the session.

And then the session started… I was mesmerized that how could a course like research methodology be so interesting, engaging and realistic. Every sentence had such an impression that it was creating visuals as I was listening. From that class alone, I had learnt several tricks to engage the students.

The class was going to end but there was a surprise announcement, ‘Ansuman will discuss about literature review in the next class and then I will take it further’.

And, I was terrified more than, I was surprised. I walked along with sir and went inside his cabin. He gave me reference of several books and wished me luck for the presentation. It was a sleepless night for me. I did manage to refer several books and come up with a presentation.

The next day, I gave the presentation and it went really well. I was more than happy as Subudhi sir asked me to make the same presentation in another section of the MBA programme. Often, sir randomly called me to solve problems on the board or explain some concepts to the students and as a PhD scholar I had a lot to protect and prove. This is how I came closer to sir. There were countless memories of such impressive occasions where I had not only learnt about research methodology but also learnt a lot about teaching.

Another instance that I would like to mention here is about a research methodology workshop. I was assisting sir and coordinating some activities related to the workshop. I was so impressed by the resource persons and the participants that I thought I would make a presentation based on the progress on my doctoral research. However, it was not scheduled. I was certain that I had zero possibility to make the presentation. The thought came to me at late night. I would not dare to call sir and share this absurd idea with him or seek his permission. But, I did spent the entire night giving final shape to my thoughts. It was around 3.30 AM and my PPT was ready. I emailed it to sir and expressed my interest to make the presentation. I went to sleep. I woke up late and to my surprise, I had about 3 or 4 missed calls from Subudhi sir. I called him and he said that he was happy that I did volunteer for this. I made the presentation and it was very well received by the resource persons and the participants.

If you ask any student who has attended his courses then (s)he would tell you that he is a strict, hard disciplinarian and that makes him frightening for the students. He would not tolerate any act of indiscipline or dilution of academic integrity or spare anyone for any such violations. Moreover, he teaches papers like statistics, research methodology etc. Sir’s personality and the nature of the courses taught by him were enough to scare an average student.

As my doctoral course work was done along with the students; I had got the opportunity to interact with them and got their honest feedback. Most of the students were terrified of him but they loved his teaching style and his personality. My fellow research scholars also have similar opinion.

I am fortunate that I had the opportunity to be in his class and work under him. Even after my PhD, he has been guiding me. I have worked closely with him for the revival of the Bhubaneswar chapter of the Operational Research Society of India (ORSI).

I am blessed to have a teacher like him. He is a strict disciplinarian and often come across like a terrifying figure but he is exactly like Professor Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series. Caring, emotional, passionate, and committed to his duties towards his students, institution and the society at large. I certainly aspire to imbibe those of his qualities and become a better person. Love you, Sir.

Dr. Ansuman Jena, Associate Professor, CUTM, Bhubaneswar