The Benevolent Dictator

From a gritty Indian soldier who fought from Siachen-the world’s highest battlefield in the Himalayas-to becoming a visionary educationist, professing dedication, discipline and determination and a 365-days classroom schedule, Dr (Col.) A Balasubramanian’s life journey is as amazing as it is inspiring. An insight...

"Dr (Col.) A Balasubramanian is the first Indian educationist to launch a Business School exclusively for the defence personnel and their dependents; thus opening a new avenue for the children of the Armed Forces to do their MBA courses leading to corporate careers"

It is said that, when you desire something intensely, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it and to add-motivates a person to walk the out-of-ordinary path. Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian is one such example, who, as a son of a poor farmer from Kandithampettai village in Mannargudi Tehsil of Tamil Nadu, ran away from home, when his father did not permit him to pursue his studies after Std. VIII. He joined an orphanage known as Setu Bhava Sathram, where he joined the National High School to pursue his Std. IX and Std. X. He however, failed in Std. X.

After a series of roller coaster rides in his life’s journey, he has risen several notches high, to achieve Himalayan heights in the field of education and is the first Indian to be decorated as Honorary Colonel of the Indian Army, by the President of India, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. He is the first Indian educationist to launch a Business School exclusively for the defence personnel and their dependents; thus opening up a bright second career in the Civvy Street and opening a new avenue for the children of the Armed Forces to do their MBA courses leading to corporate careers.

He received many awards, one of them being the lifetime achievement award which was conferred on him by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Malaysian Government in Malaysia in 2017. Today, 25,000 alumni of his four prestigious Balaji Institute of Modern Management (BIMM), Balaji Institute of Telecom Management (BITM), Balaji Institute of International Business (BIIB), Balaji Institute of Management & HRD (BIMHRD), Balaji Law College (BLC), Balaji College of Arts, Commerce and Science (BCACS) and; Balaji Junior College of Arts, Commerce and Science (BJCACS) of Sri Balaji Society are spread across the world, occupying senior positions in leading national and multinational corporate companies.

"I toured across the country and saw different types of people and various cultures. I also witnessed natural calamities. In every posting, I worked hard with total devotion and the appreciation of my bosses"

With industry magnate Ratan Tata
and Ved Prakash Malik, former
Army Chief

With Mukesh Ambani, Chairman &
Managing Director of
Reliance Industries Ltd

Says Balasubramanian of his childhood days, “My father was picked up by the British to go as a labourer to work in the plantations in Singapore and Malaysia. He later joined Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army in Singapore. Once, Singapore got freedom, my uneducated father joined the Singapore Municipality in a low-grade job. I saw him for the first time in my life when he visited the village when I had just passed my Std. VIII. My father prohibited me from pursuing studies further and asked me to start grazing the cattle we owned. Since I was good in academics and extra-curricular activities, I ran away from home to pursue my further studies.’’

In Mannargudi village, he stayed in an orphanage, passed his Std. IX but failed in Std. X. He then thought that education is not his cup of tea and ran away to Chennai to become an actor.

There, he spent a few days loitering in front of film studios and residences of actors and then slept on the platforms of the railway station. After running out of money, he was lying in a temple when he was spotted by Mr Mahadevan, who had also run away from home, took pity on him and fed him parathas (Indian bread) at a roadside stall. He also took him to Majestic Film Studio, where shootings used to take place. His job was to keep make-up rooms tidy as they were frequented by actors and actresses including Tamil Superstar, M G Ramchandran. Recalls Col. Balasubramanian, “Mostly, Tamilians are dark-complexioned but I was fair and well built. The supervisor told me that he was looking for a handsome boy like me to work in his makeup room. Thus, I was recruited as a make-up room cleaner boy at a salary of Rs.10 per week.’’

"From Subedar in the Indian Army, Col. Balasubramanian took the giant leap of entering the profession of education by taking early retirement. Prof. M. S. Pillai, propelled this decision and Dr S B Mujumdar offered him the job of a professor. Being passionate and dedicated in everything he does, it does not come as a surprise that Col. Balasubramanian voluntarily offered to take the role of the Rector of Symbiosis International Hostel, when he saw indiscipline around"

A cohesive family: With wife and sons

Life took an unexpected turn when bored with his job at the film studio, he decided to return to this village. By sheer coincidence, some Indian Army personnel were on a visit to recruit young men into the Army. Reminisces Col. Balasubramanian, “I just stood there as a bystander, curious to know what was happening. Suddenly, one of the recruiters called me and said that I should join the Army as I have the required physique, would get a good salary; be entitled to lots of mutton and other food to eat and would have the privilege to see the entire country. He said, ‘I have nothing to lose and everything to gain’.’’ Thus, Col. Balasubramanian served the Army for 28 years and six months, during which he participated in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak Wars.

Say he, “I toured across the country and saw different types of people and various cultures. I also witnessed natural calamities. In every posting, I worked hard with total devotion and the appreciation of my bosses. Once, I told an officer’s wife who was impressed with my work, that her husband is a lucky man as he is an officer. I’m not so lucky so I’m a foot soldier. She said, ‘No. The biggest difference is that he has passed his school board examination of Std. X and I have failed it. You should study further as you have got great potential in you.’ That left a deep impression on my mind. I decided to make the most of the two months annual leave that I was entitled to and pursue my studies.’’ With a sharp focus on his academics, Col. Balasubramanian not only cleared his Std. X board examinations but also pursued his studies to attain three post-graduations. That opened the window for him to join the educational field. That set the next dream goal for Col. Balasubramanian. Says he, “I got this opportunity when I was posted in the Southern Command in Pune in 1973. I came across an advertisement of the Institute of Management Development and Research (IMDR) for entrance for its MBA course.’’ He got admission into it and opted for Marketing as his specialisation. I appeared for the entrance examination and did MBA in Marketing. Then he did an MBA in Business Management from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.

"When my friends suggested that I should start my own college, I got hooked on to the idea. I sought direction from Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupati and when I got the go ahead, I worked towards opening the Sri Balaji Society educational institute"

With wife Tilgavadi and sons,
Prof. B. Parandhaman, Principal
Director and Prof.
B. Paramanandhan, Director
(Finance) of Sri Balaji Society

With wife and grandchildren

From Subedar in the Indian Army, Col. Balasubramanian took the giant leap of entering the profession of education by taking early retirement. Prof. M. S. Pillai, propelled this decision and Dr S B Mujumdar offered him the job of a professor. Being passionate and dedicated in everything he does, it does not come as a surprise that Col. Balasubramanian voluntarily offered to take the role of the Rector of Symbiosis International Hostel, when he saw indiscipline around. He also volunteered to be responsible for the hostel security. This impressed Dr SB Mujumdar, Founder of Symbiosis. Not to lay content with his achievements, Col. Balasubramanian proposed to Dr Mujumdar to start a separate MBA College, exclusively for Armed Forces personnel. Dr Mujumdar promptly agreed to this innovative idea and thus was born Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS). No prizes for guessing that Col. Balasubramanian took over the reins as its Director.

Col. Balasubramanian received an overwhelming response for the MBA course in SIMS and worked from scratch to develop a relevant syllabus. He also introduced short term courses for Army personnel in order to empower them to use new administrative skills. Says he proudly, “When the Army came to know that one of its retired Subedar has started a separate college for Army personnel, the officers were appreciative of my work and took the decision of giving me the honorary rank of Colonel.” Col. Balasubramanian is not only the first citizen of the country on whom the Army has bestowed the honour of Colonel but also the only Sepoy of the Army to be honoured so. This record is unbroken until date.

The next predictable step was to start an educational institute of his own. Says Col. Balasubramanian, “After working with Symbiosis for seven to eight years, I decided to go my own way. Initially, I thought I should return to my native village but when my friends suggested that I should start my own college, I got hooked on to the idea. I visited the Balaji Temple in Tirupati and put five chits. On four of them ‘no’ was written and only on one chit ‘yes’ was written I wanted God to give me direction. The one chit that came was ‘yes’ and his journey of Sri Balaji Society started.

"My wife Tilgavadi is like Mother Earth for me. She has been accommodative in my good and bad times and stood like a rock, in every situation"

Dr (Col.) A Balasubramanian receiving the lifetime
achievement award from Deputy Prime Minister
of the Malaysian Government in Malaysia in 2017

The college that started at the Agrasen School at Yerawada, Pune, had 100 students. The Balaji Institute of Modern Management operated from the same rented place for four years. The demand for admissions kept increasing. Then gradually, three new management institutes for Telecom, International Business and HR, started. With the help of students’ fees and a bank loan, a new campus was built in the year 2000. The USP of all the four institutes of Sri Balaji Society was the 365-day college, without any weekend holidays.

States Col. Balasubramanian proudly, “We brought in the entire school system such as college uniform, sending monthly reports to parents, ensuring that the timing of the college is at least 10 hours a day, imparting a lot of current information to them, involving them in activities for personality development, providing them practical knowledge in colleges and giving them no holiday-although, festivals are celebrated in the campus itself. He introduced the Uniform for management education in India and brought in the concept of no-holiday. We provide two months of induction training to develop their ability to work for 10-12 continuously when they get jobs. Basically, we train them for the industry and today we have corporate managers at very senior levels, all across the world.’’

On the personal front, Col. Balasubramanian has a very supportive family. He proudly states, “My wife Tilgavadi is like Mother Earth for me. She has been accommodative in my good and bad times and stood like a rock, in every situation. I have two sons - Parandhaman and Paramanandan. Both have done their MBA. While Parandhaman is Principal Director of our Group, Paramanandan, is Director, Finance. My both daughters-in-law – Chindur and Sushama are homemakers. Besides, my grandchildren Harshini, Rishi, Pranav, Rohan and Ananya are the apples of my eye. All I am doing is to create a team that would carry forward my legacy.’’

Col. Balasubramanian has two sons, both are post-graduates in Management. They are proud of their father’s achievements and are fully geared to share the responsibilities of running this prestigious educational program society.

The ultimate crowning glory for Col. Balasubramanian is that Sri Balaji Society has recently been given the status of a University.