From Academics To Stocks, Harshad'S Come A Long Way

Professor Harshad Mehta! If all had gone well, this is the only way he would have been known. The former big bull of the stock markets, Harshad Mehta actually wanted to be a professor and make it big in the world of academics. Make it big, he did, but destiny had something else in store for him.

Today he still has the burning desire to move back to academics, and this could probably explain why Harshad was addressing students of Lala Lajpat Rai Management Academy last Thursday, on the future trends of capital markets.

The man, who at one point of time inspired an entire generation, and who was a role model for finance-tuned whizz kids, was back at college, talking about his heydays at the capital markets. Harshad, who is remembered by the young generation for his flashy life style and the Toyota Lexus, was in his elements when he chatted for more than two hours with the students.

I cannot tell you how excited I am today, said a beaming Mehta. For I am coming back to my college after a gap of nearly 22 years, revealed Harshad to the group of youngsters, who were all ears to the man who moved the stock markets at his whims.

Perhaps, Harshad found the broking business more lucrative than academics. Or the fact that he just managed to scrape through his BCom exams did not make him eligible for the post of a professor. In a frank talk, he admitted that he could only score 36 per cent, which perhaps deterred him from joining the profession.

Talking about his school days, Mehta said, Whenever I sat on the other side of the table with my class fellows, there was a single minded purpose to acquire knowledge. I used to dream of sitting at the teachers seat and deliver lectures, reminisced Mehta.

Mehta mesmerised his audience not only with his oratory skills but also the abundant knowledge which he had on the capital market. Apart from the traditional areas of broking, his talk covered related areas of the financial sector. He spoke largely in favour of introducing derivatives trading.

Talking to students about the Indian capital markets, he said: We have come of age as far as development of the capital markets is concerned. We have witnessed a great leap in technological advancement. Gone are the days when the stock exchanges were managed by a few speculators. Today, a great deal of research goes prior to the buying or selling of a scrips, Mehta said.