Dr. Param Srikantia, an esteemed   member of  Baldwin Wallace University’s school of business, holds five degrees, has written dozens of papers, and has been all over the world learning and educating others. Even with all his experience, he takes an unorthodox approach to business, education, and life.
Born and raised in New Delhi, India, Srikantia spent thirty years in India studying organizational psychology and personnel management before moving to the United States in 1992. Teaching at Baldwin Wallace since 2001, he brings a worldly and unique approach to business and management education.
“I came to realize after fourteen years in college that my education was very one-sided,” Srikantia said, “It was only based on Western thinkers and Western ideas.”
This realization has been the foundation for not only his style in the classroom, but a seminar series inspired by Eastern philosophies and ways of life. In these three-hour seminars, Srikantia covers topics such as marriage, love, parenthood, education, and business.
While searching for the wealth of knowledge the rest of the world has to offer, he discovered an Indian mystic named Osho who would serve as a huge inspiration.
Osho, a philosopher and spiritual teacher, is a controversial but enlightening figure in Eastern thought and published over 2,250 works before his death in 1990.
“I started following him because he was so well-versed in all the Eastern traditions,” Srikantia said. “He seemed so effective at integrating the knowledge and making it available in a way that modern human beings could use.”
Inspired by Osho’s teachings and Srikantia’s knowledge and life experience, the three-hour seminar series, entitled “Why Life Sucks” has drawn thousands of people to the BW campus to listen and learn.
During these seminars, Srikantia lectures uninterrupted, telling stories and relaying experiences to the audience with just a short intermission in the middle. These lectures started out small but have recently amassed huge crowds.
“We first had thirty-five people I invited,” Srikantia said. “…we went from thirty-five people the first month to seventy at the second month to one hundred and sixty in the third month.”
Over three thousand people have heard Srikantia speak and with a new lecture every month, the number will continue to climb.
The rapid growth of these seminars demonstrates the power and the reach of these ideas and philosophies. Not only does Srikantia teach these ideas in his seminars, but he harnesses the power of Eastern thinking for his students.
“I really don’t take credit for it,” Srikantia said. “…I have excavated very deep insights from other cultures and historical periods, insights that would not be available to us in everyday life.”
Even so, students seem to enjoy his teachings and take away powerful ideas and stories that they can use in life.
Srikantia was the professor of choice of young alumni when they were asked which professor they would like to speak at a recent event. He spoke about the failure of success and the success of failure, a topic that many can relate to in both their professional and personal lives.
Whether he speaks at a seminar, for alumni, faculty, or students, Srikantia has experience and wisdom that everyone will benefit from.
Srikantia’s greatest takeaways for his students are to think outside of the confines of Western education, focus on their inner self, and look outside of the textbooks.