Being born and brought up in a village in the district of Bargarh Odisha, Deepak struggled a considerable amount for gaining higher education. Likewise, he saw fellow students having the same problem. So, he decided to open his own educational institute. Imperial College is that very college of Odisha.
He founded Imperial College at the age of merely 32 and then, faced some of the bigger challenges which included, explaining to people the ideology encouraged by his college, and dealing with finances on the side. But, because his aim was to focus on creating an environment that values empathy, culture, and practical skills and not to treat education as a mere medium of business, he is steering toward achieving his goals. That is why he has been a member of the India Didactics Association, AIMA’s Vice Chancellor Council, and has attended numerous conferences including the 3R to 3H confluence by Dr. Sonam Wangchuk, Family Business Conferences at IIM Ahmedabad to name a few.
Deepak also talks about coming across a point where his family was hesitant in supporting him in this venture for they belonged to a completely different industry. It is just how Indian families usually are, where the son has to take over the father’s business and continue running the generation-old shop. However, with time they understood the passion that drives him to follow this line and has been his support system since. It is remarkable how they embraced his creative side rather than imposing their wants. It really is the most incredible thing a loved one can do, pat your shoulder and say, “good job.” After all, all one needs is praise to do better.
Imperial’s journey is truly an inspiring one. It started as a single-floor building, which was then upgraded to a rented building. Currently, the campus is more than nine acres with one of the best infrastructure in the area which got featured in The Neptune- Glitz magazine in 2020. Deepak is exceedingly happy with this rate of improvement and proud too to have made the best of the resources available and be ready to learn whenever and wherever possible.
According to him, the importance of being a self-made entrepreneur is the passion one puts into the work one does and the clear vision one has of the results to be obtained. Also, it is the pleasure you get in calling the idea you set up yours and only yours. It is a feeling of accomplishment that can only be felt if one invests time into something, rather than creating something of poor and unappreciated quality. “I have always tried to raise the standard of education in the area and will continue to do so.” The college takes students with a minimum percentage and helped them to become University toppers with unique and interactive teaching methodologies like SLATE(Strategies for Learning, Assessment and Teaching Excellence). The college has a paved path and mentored 10 students to become University toppers and more than 50 University rank holders. He believes in the power of discipline, morals, and effort for there is nothing greater than touching the sky while staying rooted to the ground you rose from.
Deepak describes Imperial as a pioneer in providing professional university-affiliated courses in areas where students had to migrate to bigger cities for higher education. The college has always put sustainability over ease and has been mentoring ethical and knowledgeable students for the good of the nation. The College was featured in Better India and was awarded the Green Champion Award by the Depart of Education, Government of India for its various Sustainability and eco-Friendly Initiatives like farming to feed parrots, a plastic-free campus and awareness about it, and more. They do not believe in fabricating an oppressive regimentation for the children, but rather an exciting surrounding with lots of stuff to do all around.
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