iFEEL draws inspiration from Chak De!

Remember the Bollywood hit movie Chak De! India in which Shah Rukh Khan moulds the Indian women’s hockey team with such grit and determination that it goes on to win the World Cup, humbling mighty opponents.

A similar story is unfolding in real life at Karla near Lonavla, about 60 km from Pune, at the Institute for Future Education Entrepreneurship and Leadership (iFEEL), where a bunch of budding managers are being groomed to tame adversities and become future entrepreneurs to lead the corporate world of Incredible India.

The mission is being promoted by the well-known Future Group and is being led by iFEEL director, HS Cheema with the backing and guidance of iFEEL’s chief mentor, Sanjay Salunkhe.

Unlike other management institutes that only focus on academics, at iFEEL the thrust is on imparting leadership and entrepreneurship education so as to facilitate and mould budding managers into future entrepreneurs.

The Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space.

iFEEL took shape about five months ago to passionately create charismatic and zealous entrepreneurs with 15 students. From the next academic year, beginning in June-July this year, another 120 would be admitted to the institute through written test, group discussion and interview.

Interestingly, Cheema, with an experience of 27 years inthe industry and academy, has to his credit being the first in India to analyse the case study of Chak De! India as a management training tool. He has conducted workshop based on Chak De for 24 B-Schools in Indore and has been described as a management guru.

The two-year management program at iFEEL offers specialisation in HR, marketing, finance, operations and information systems and technology — all approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Speaking to DNA, Cheema said that one must come up with new ways of teaching to make learning more effective. Chak De is an effective film of our times and can be used to convey the principles of management study.

“At iFEEL the thrust is not only to impart academic knowledge like other management institutes but also to focus on developing entrepreneurship and leadership skills of these students so as to motivate them to start their own ventures and manage businesses and business-related risks,” added the soft spoken iFEEL director, stating “the programme is structured keeping in mind the international business practices and standards. iFEEL is committed in preparing some exceptional assets for the
industry.”

The iFEEL campus boasts of one of the finest infrastructures in the country, both in term of design and technology. The ambience is perfect for an educational institute as it’s removed from the hustle and bustle of the city and surrounded by lush green hills.

With the latest technology available on the campus with state of the art learning tools, air conditioned classrooms, spacious library and excellent faculty, the iFEEL management has ensured a perfect grooming ground for the students to shape their future.

Cheema said that unlike most of the management institutes that take time to settle down, iFEEL has been a hub of various kind of activities like corporate interactions and conferences ever since it started functioning. In the last five months iFEEL played host to 25 such events, apparently a record of sorts.

iFEEL team has already launched Gyan Samhita Research Journal in February this year containing research papers of national and international scholars covering a wide spectrum of subjects.

“At iFEEL the stress is very much on research since in Indian context a lot of ground has to be covered. In Europe and America, special importance is given to research and recognition of the institutes depends on the quality of research work that they
undertake,” said Cheema.