manipal if satya nadella and rajeev suri of the manipal institute of technology find themselves heading two of the worlds leading fortune 500 companies they can thank dr tma pai a visionary who created an educational township out of a barren hillock here it was dr pai who said students are the great assets of the country they must realize it and see they are not only assets in imagination but in action and dependability too while these illustrious alumni of manipal institute of technology have put the global spotlight on this truly international education town the university authorities while certainly delighted with the turn of events are not going to town about it when toi met dr m ramdas pai chancellor of manipal university he was modest saying in a matter of fact manner it is their satya and suris own efforts what the university has done dr ramdas pai says is ensured the brightest minds have access to various educational institutions that the university runs mit included provide the best of faculty to chisel the rough edges and give matching infrastructure to take it forward success of the alumni is the recognition society has provided them for their hard work and also a testimony to the universitys efforts to give society the best he adds backing his chancellor prochancellor dr hs ballal avers it is merit merit and merit alone that counts at manipal university the process of attracting the best brains happens at mu students and faculty included the best of talents have emerged not just from mit but from other wings of the university too including life sciences its just that their success has not been heralded as much he says registrar dr gk prabhu says a reason for the success of students passing out from the portals of this education hub is the atmosphere here we have students from 59 englishspeaking nations on our rolls and this international mix helps locals gain a wider perspective about life the projects and group exchange programmes ensure that indian students at manipal university go abroad for their learning with a broadened vision of life he adds explaining this further dr ballal says we dont want our students to be frogs in the well these twinning programmes are aimed at giving students the best of both worlds he adds that the accent is not just on academics but cocurricular activities social service and sports as well the university believes in creating a rounded personality he says quality learning big achievements can be made only by a man who is content with small beginnings this management adage was well imbibed and practiced by dr tma pai introduction of selfreliance in education where the students contributed towards acquiring knowledge through quality learning is a great concept developed at least in india by dr pai manipal institutions have stood for quality which is a great contribution to society from the days of dr tma pai d veerendra heggade