From being a humble politician to building magnificent educational empire in span of two decades, the journey of D K Mohan, Chairman of Cambridge Group of Institutions (CGI), is admirable.
Sharing his interesting journey in educational sector at the inauguration of Sir M V auditorium and first year BE 2022-23 classes, he said that when he received a call from the former minister Dr Prem Chandra Sagar in 2000, little did he expect that the call would turn out to be a rewarding experience. “I was excited when I received a call from him. He wanted me to help his friend in setting up of school (Cambridge) in K R Puram as they were facing a few obstacles. However, during the process, I developed a deep bond with the management,” he said.
Even as everything was progressing well, a sudden internal conflict among the management members left the school in lurch. The members requested Mr Mohan to take over the school. Though he was hesitant, he received great support from his friend Dr Joseph from Garden City College to enter educational field.
At the same time, his children—Sheetal Mohan and Nithin Mohan—who were studying in different school were shifted to Cambridge due to logistic reasons. “I used to pick up and drop my children to school. Moreover, at that time, the cable bridge was under construction. Commuting became a hassle, and I was involved in overseeing of the Cambridge School.”
Today, both of his kids have done extremely well. While Sheethal Mohan, Director of Cambridge School, took the school to a new height; Nithin Mohan, CEO of CGI, introduced innumerable programmes for students to explore their potential.
After taking over the school in 2002, Mr Mohan set up a PU college in 2006. When he was contemplating on establishing engineering college (Cambridge Institute of Technology was set up in 2007), he visited numerous reputed engineering colleges to understand the nuances of technical education. “During one of those visits, I noticed most colleges had huge auditorium. I always dreamt of having one such auditorium for my institute. Today my dream has come true,’’ said the elated chairman.
But Chairman also had another dream—to get the auditorium inaugurated by former Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah, whom he always admired and respected. “I would follow Siddaramaiah ji closely. He is an inspiration. When he spoke at an event at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), sharing dias with the President of India, I was inspired. I always wanted him to inaugurate CIT’s auditorium and today that dream too has come true,’’ he said.
On this occasion, former chief minister lauded the effort of the CGI Chairman in educational field and appreciated the efforts taken by the institute especially the superior infrastructure.
Before the inauguration, the former chief minister visited the Cambrian House of Student Start-up (CHOSS) and interacted with the principal scientists who briefed him about the innovations at CIT. Students and faculty members happily greeted and shook hands with the minister.
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Sharath K Bache Gowda and VP and Global Head of TCS, E S Chakravarthy were the chief guests. E S Chakaravarthy said that he is associated with CIT for more than a decade and has witnessed growth and transformation in the institute. He congratulated his “good friend Mohan sir” and his family for putting wonderful effort in this institution.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah felicitated the university gold medalist—Amala R, M Tech (ECE) in digital Electronics. The remaining 23 rank holders were felicitated by Cambridge Group of Institution (CGI) chairman D K Mohan, CEO Nithin Mohan, Cambridge School director Sheethal Mohan, Adviteeya, CEO, CIT, North Campus and Principal G Indumathi graced the occasion.
