Six Degrees of Education

Ignatius Chithelen views himself as a goat rather than as an Asian Tiger - he read Dostoevsky instead of mastering calculus, while in college in Mumbai. Though he got six degrees, his going to college was perhaps an accident. He provides an unorthodox road map for changing careers, while discussing his jobs. He moved from journalism in Mumbai and New York to investment research at SoGen fund. It was run by a Frenchman who was a rare boss on Wall Street. As he discusses his education, Chithelen offers insights into how a series of competitive exams enables India to produce world class engineers, doctors and chief executives, while 15% of the college graduates in the country are unemployed. He analyzes the puzzle of winning Indian political elections, which is based on shifting alliances between five religious, four caste and 22 major language groups. This is also a story of Chithelen losing Santa Claus in Mumbai; fearing arrest during Indira Gandhi's State of Emergency; being saved from drowning; finding his lost briefcase, with $3,880, left in a New York cab; and learning to overcome writer's block at the journalism school.