Page 15 - ADU Voice

SPRING 2022 · ADU VOICE 15
After coming to Abu Dhabi, I applied at ADU
for a part-time teaching job but was invited
to join full-time.
My 15-year long journey at ADU has been very
exciting. In 2007, I was a new joiner at ADU
who had just come from India which has a
very different academic culture. Without wor-
rying about the differences, I started exploring
and learning. I kept asking myself: “Why are
things the way they are?” “What could I do
differently?” “How can I contribute to the
growth of students and faculty?” Since then,
the university has continuously provided
me opportunities to grow which I find very
rewarding.
I have seen and overcome challenges related
to swift changes in work culture and unfore-
seen circumstances such as those created by
COVID. My primary purpose as CAS dean is
to help students develop holistically for their
own benefit and for the benefit of the whole
world. Also, I find it a privilege to interact with
students from different majors who often help
me look at things in different ways.
As leader of 71 faculty and staff members in
CAS, I try to build a rapport with each member
of my team and understand their problems,
motivations and strengths. I also deeply appre-
ciate faculty members who remain curious,
flexible, and adaptable to meet the require-
ments of changing times.
What are your curious habits? How have
they contributed to your personality?
Let me tell you a childhood story. I was in
grade one, and my brother was in upper kin-
dergarten. As we were walking to school one
day, we heard a kitten meowing. To see where
the noise was coming from, I did something
extremely daring. While my brother stayed
at his place, I climbed down the steps of a big
water tank which was used to store water
for emergency. There I found a few tiny kit-
tens and I started playing with them. I was
so engrossed that I lost track of time. When
the school bell rang, we realised that we
were already too late to enter the school gate.
Realising that our mother would scold us for
missing school, my brother started crying.
From a very young
age, I used to
explore without
fear, challenge
gender inequality,
and behave as a
go-getter.
To calm him down, I came up with an idea.
When my mom asked why we returned home
so early, I told her that we got a day off because
our teacher, who had been suffering from
bronchitis for a long time, had died. We really
did have a teacher suffering from bronchitis,
so my mom believed me. However, when my
mom investigated the matter and caught the
lie, she told my father about it. He explained
to me that lying is morally wrong and told me,
“Never choose the path of lies to achieve any-
thing in life.” Later, I overheard him telling my
mom that she needed to be very careful with
me as I was super smart.