In Search of S B roots

In 2004, as Vice Principal, I accompanied the then Principal Rev Fr Tom Kunnunpuram to the Rashrapathy Bhavan, New Delhi, to invite the President of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam to inaugurate the International Conference on “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development” scheduled for August 2005. On seeing Fr Kunnumpuram in Cassock, the President stood up with folded hands and greeted us. He shared memories of his student days at St Josephs College, Tiruchirappalli, run by the Jesuits. He then asked a question which quite surprised us. “What is the core competency of your College?”  The day before we were at the UGC office making a presentation on the College as a final process in the selection of Colleges for the newly being introduced scheme College with Potential for Excellence. My mind immediately went searching for the best department of college. I don’t remember the answer we gave him to the question.

But this question has been haunting me for years. I had been using this incident in my strategy class at MBA programme to introduce this concept. The Management concept ’Core Competency’ was introduced by C K Prahlad and Gary Hamel in 1990. To put it simply, it refers to the bundle of skills and capabilities that enable an organisation to provide particular benefits to its customers. They depicted core competency as the roots on which an organisation grows.

On 18 June 2021, the eve of 100^th  foundation day of the college, SB College: ഓർമ്മക്കൂട്ടം in Clubhouse was jointly organised by the Alumni Association, BTV and Manorama. Around 150 attended and around 20 of them expressed their recollections of their SB days. They were highlighting the teachers’ relationship with students, taking role models of them, ambience in the college and hostel for learning, exposure to their inert talents, meeting and listening to renowned personalities of the time, caring for the needy during the noon meal and especially during the flood of 2018, human Resources Development programmes … to sum up, SB had moulded them, formed their character, exposed them to the world and turned them to their career, and given the values for life.

To continue the episode with Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, after referring to his itinerary for the year 2005, he categorically said that he cannot attend the inauguration of the International Conference, but will visit the College for an interaction with the students on his next trip to Kerala. True to his words, on 29 July 2005 His Excellency Dr A P J Abdul Kalam addressed the audience in the packed Kavukatt Auditorium. After a brief speech on the theme ‘creativity adds beauty to life’, he took the questions from the students. The first question was, ”Your excellency, what do you want to be known as, the President of India or a scientist?” Dr Abdul Kalam’s answer was thought provoking “I want to be known as a nice human being”.

Respected Dr Abdul Kalam, here is the answer to the question you asked us at the Rashtrabhati Bhavan meeting. S B’s core competency is in imparting life skills that mould the youngsters into good human beings.