Origin of Vidyalankar and its rich academic heritage:-
Endowed with a gift of good academic career,
C. S. Deshpande completed his
Inter Science Examination in
1950 from Willingdon College, Sangli with
a spectacular
performance by standing FIRST in the University, winning all
the University prizes and scholarships in all the subjects and
creating records in
Mathematics and in Aggregate total
marks. (The 2nd rank student was behind him by as many as
70 marks i.e. by 10%).
After completing his B.E. (Electronics and Telecom.) from the
College of
Engineering, Pune, he joined the prestigious
T.I.F.R. (Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research) in 1954 as
a research scholar in Nuclear Particle
Accelerator Section. His
name was specially recommended by his principal to
Dr. Homi J Bhabha, the noted scientist and the founder of
TIFR In the following
year, he appeared at the I.E.S. ( Indian
Engineering Services) Examination and
secured the top rank
in this All India Competitive examination. He was posted in
the I.R.S.E. (Indian Railway Service of Engineers) as a Class
I gazetted officer
and worked in the Railway Electrification
project at Calcutta for a few years.
During this period, he
developed personal contacts with several leading
engineers
in the country and the top engineering teachers in various
reputed
institutes like I.I.T.'s, B.H.U, Roorkee Engg.
University, Indian Statistical
Institute, Calcutta and above all,
Sir C.V. Raman, the great scientist and Nobel Laureate. While
working as a Railway Electrification Engineer, he realized that
his intrinsic interest was in the field of teaching and writing
Mathematics and
Mathematical Engineering Subjects. This
realization led to a painful internal
conflict between treading
a conventional path of continuing with the coveted
Govt.
Class I service and an unconventional risk of walking out of
such secure
civil service and undertake a struggle of
establishing his own institute for
teaching, writing and
publishing.
Eventually, he did take the unconventional decision of resigning from the
prestigious I.R.S.E. to return to Bombay to start his own academic institute.
On the auspicious day of DASARA in OCT. 1960, he launched his own A.M.I.E. classes in a rented school class room. That was the modest beginning of Vidyalankar in the Shardashram school of Dadar. After operating from another school at Matunga (West) for one year and yet another at Mahim for next two years, in May '64 Vidyalankar could afford its own rented premises at Mahim and finally in 1974 it arrived at 'PEARL CENTRE', its present premises in DADAR.
Thus, the Basic objective of establishing this Institute was neither commercial nor merely to earn a livelihood. The Basic Objective was to satisfy the inner urge of dedicating oneself to the sincere academic pursuit and to guide the eager young students with a missionary zeal, to enhance their worthiness and imbibe the nobler values of life in their receptive minds not by empty words but by one's own example.
Mrs.S.C. Deshpande, wife of C.S.Deshpande has also been closely associated with Vidyalankar right from its inception. She has done her M.A. in English & M.A. Public Administration, and has been teaching the subject of Communication Skill to the students of Vidyalankar for the past several years.
Second Generation :-
In 1985, Vishwas ( son of Shri C.S. Deshpande) secured
a high Merit Rank in
the H.S.C. Exam. of Std XII and was first
in the merit list of engineering
admissions of the V.J.T.I. After
completing his B.E. in First Class in 1989, he
proceeded to
U.S.A. and did his M.S. in Micro Electronics. In 1992 he
returned
from U.S.A. (University of Maryland College Park)
and partly relieved his
parents by taking over several
responsibilities in Vidyalankar.
Rashmi, the daughter of Shri Deshpande is also keenly
interested in the
progress of the institute. After her M.Sc.
from Mumbai University, she went to
U.S.A. for higher
studies. There, after completion of her MBA, she returned in
mid-1996 and has taken over the management of our Hostel,
the "Vidyalankar
Gurukul" at Nerul.
Avinash Chatorikar, a young and bright engineer has also
chosen to join us as
a full time partner of the Vidyalankar
Group after a splendid academic track
record. In both the
S.S.C. as well as the H.S.C. examination, he secured high
merit rank in the board examinations, and joined the renowed
U.D.C.T. of
Mumbai with top rank in the admission list. After
his B.Tech from U.D.C.T in
1987, he went on to do his M.Tech
from I.I.T, Mumbai. This was topped by
an MS in Chemical
Engineering from the Oklahoma State University, U.S.A.
After
a brief stint as 'Computer Lab in charge' at CEAT labs in
Oklahoma, he is
now involved full time in the management of
Vidyalankar's huge Navi Mumbai
establishment.
Mrs. Namrata Deshpande, the better half of Vishwas has also
joined this family
profession. Namrata has done M.M.S.
(M.B.A.) of the Bombay University from
the Jamnalal Bajaj
Institute of Management Studies. After gaining the rich
experience of working at HDFC, one of the premier banks in
India, she has now
joined in the administration of the
Vidyalankar Group as a full time partner.
The energetic young
generation has now embarked on the ambitious
programme
of expanding the scope of services of Vidyalankar as
indicated
below.
