Page 2 - Pooja Javer Charu Wahi
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FOREWORD









                       he great American scholar and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) famously observed: "There is properly

                   Tno history, only biography." This insightful comment was the stimulus for conceptualisation of this globally
                   unprecedented commemorative volume titled 21 Leaders Transforming Indian Education, the latest magnum opus
                   presented by EducationWorld (estb. 1999).



                   A  pernicious  fallout  of  post-independence  India's  reckless  embrace  of  inorganic  Soviet-inspired  socialism  and
                   persistence with this foolish liasion for over half a century is that there is at best, only grudging acknowledgement
                   of entrepreneurs who have taken risks to promote and establish successful business and other institutions. This is
                   especially true of the education sector. In the popular — including academic — discourse, education entrepreneurs

                   ('edupreneurs') are exploitative businessmen hell-bent on "commercialisation of education", a cardinal sin in the eyes
                   of India's academics, the majority of whom are adamantly committed to the bankrupt ideologies of communism and
                   socialism which have been consigned to dustbins in major countries around the world, including Russia and China
                   where they first struck root.



                   On the contrary, in EducationWorld, we admire bold edupreneurs who brave the numerous procedural hurdles
                   strewn in their way by politicians and bureaucrats to establish education institutions of their choice. We believe they
                   have enriched the education system and conferred huge benefits on the public. Therefore, in this unprecedented

                   celebratory compendium, we present brief biographies of hitherto insufficiently appreciated edupreneurs driven
                   by the spirit of enlightened self-interest and/or philanthropy, who have established excellent primary-secondary
                   and higher education institutions which are setting new, globally benchmarked standards. It is pertinent to note
                   that most of the education leaders profiled in this volume were/are industry leaders, businessmen and professionals

                   under no obligation to venture into education. Yet in the broarder national interest, they invested time, money and
                   resources in establishing model education institutions to nurture and develop high capability human resources the
                   country urgently needs.
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