The promise of building an institution that will be the best university in the country and perhaps one of the best in the world and will outlive us, is thrilling. I get goose bumps as I write this and this is not the first time or the last time that I will experience this sensation.

The Ashoka story started as a conversation amongst friends in 2006. While the aim was always to build a high quality institution, the larger vision for Ashoka is about transforming Indian higher education. The success of Indian higher education cannot be about setting up one Ashoka University. We need a few hundred. I am aware of at least two other initiatives being built on the Ashoka model that have gained considerable traction. More will follow. The vision and generosity of the one hundred Founders of Ashoka stands as an outstanding example of a determined collective resolve of business leaders to impact higher education and society. In the Ashoka model, there are many firsts for Indian higher education. A unique model of governance and funding, relentless focus on excellence, a 21st century education, a contemporary and beautiful campus, high quality of faculty and students and a missionary team – each of these set benchmarks for others to emulate. Ashoka stands as the beacon of excellence.

It is the purity and audacity of our vision that drives all people associated with Ashoka.

The “Ashoka People” – our Founders, Faculty, staff, students and friends are a special lot. They are unreal and have unreal expectations of this institution, of what it can become and of what they are willing to contribute.

And this “unreasonableness” makes Ashoka into what it is. The “unreasonableness” is nothing short of a grand vision of the greatest institution of higher learning that India would have ever built. Each of these individuals owns Ashoka and this spirit of collective ownership is what is different about Ashoka compared to any other organisation I have ever been a part of.

I have had the great fortune to be associated with Ashoka since the beginning as one of the Founders. It is strange to say this after 11 years of those initial conversations, but we had this nagging feeling that we will perhaps get “here”. Right from getting an initial Founder group in place, negotiating with the government for land, making the first deposit and launching the Young India Fellowship in a rented campus to building the campus, surmounting regulatory hurdles, recruiting the first set of Faculty and our first class, fundraising, starting the campus on a construction site and then delivering on the promise of a great learning experience – each building block of this amazing institution is a case study in itself. But we can say this only in hindsight. In the act of doing so, we were guided only by our instincts and by the zeal and motivation of the people who came together to build this institution. There were no precedents, nobody in the team had ever built a university before, yet each person was doing this as if this this was a matter of life and death. Everyone at Ashoka “was and is” on a mission.

Last year, I was being driven to campus by Narayan, who joined Ashoka in 2014, a little after the campus opened. During the ride, Narayan mentioned that he has made videos of the university. He did this in his spare time and he wanted our admissions and outreach team to use these videos to showcase Ashoka to potential students. He felt that we could do more to spread our message. His dream is to see his two beautiful kids study at Ashoka. Ashoka belongs to him as it does to every person who feels so strongly for what it stands for. The people who work at Ashoka feel that they are co-creating a legacy.

I also had the opportunity to be the first Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University. We were a team of approximately 40 people when the campus started in July 2014. On our first day on campus, we were scrambling to organise the first meal for our students. This team of 40 is now about 225 odd and the challenges are different but the spirit and zeal of the “Ashoka People” is ever stronger. They are truly special and I feel blessed to be a part of their lives.