Eminent medico engineer

Dr Arvind Agarwal was born in a middle-class family in Rajasthan. Despite lack of resources including a school in the vicinity, he, not unlike his three older brothers, was determined to get an education. He used to travel for two hours by public transport just to get to school. Encouraged by his father, who himself was an engineer, he went on to pursue his MBBS from the University of Calcutta and thereafter, served and practiced in well-known hospitals and institutes such as Willingdon Hospital in Delhi and All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Following that, he went to the US to pursue his MD in Psychiatry.

In 2000, the medico engineer returned to India to established the multiple award-winning Arya Group of Colleges at Jaipur. “My father, TK Agarwal, asked for my help in fulfilling his longtime dream and ambition of setting up an engineering college to serve the society by imparting quality education,” he says. It’s been 18 years since, and the rest, as they say, is history. The journey demanded a lot of determination and hard work, which Agarwal never shied away from. “My father, who is my inspiration, always taught us that hard work has no substitute,” he says, adding that honesty is another virtue he lives by.

Agarwal believes that if quality education comprising high academic discipline and infrastructure are provided, it will open doors to great opportunities. He took one of the biggest risks of his life and established Fortune School of Technology and Management (FSTM), a business management college in Singapore. “Our goal was to provide international education and exposure with modern infrastructure and technologies, and since Singapore is one of the most technically advanced countries, we chose it as our foreign campus.”

Sadly, there was a sudden change in Singapore’s government policies, and after three successful years, they had to close down and continue their expansion in India. “My life has provided me with enough opportunities to learn from my actions and from a lot of people,” says Agarwal. “I believe that my knowledge in and exposure to technology in the medicine and engineering fields gives me an edge. This kind of knowledge and Years of Experience: 23 years exposure experience is essential to have a vision and realise it.”

Disclaimer: The pages slugged ‘Brand Connect’ are equivalent to advertisements and are not written and produced by Forbes India journalists.