Education Europe
NiIkhil Ballal & Juili Kulkarni
“Right from my childhood I wanted to do something different,” this was the opening remark made by Ms Madhavi Kharshikar, the owner and founder of South Western European Corridor (SWEC).
During her college days in Mumbai, when majority of her friends took up French as the second language, Ms Madhavi opted for German. Learning German gave her an adrenaline rush and soon she developed a strong love for the language. Having completed her graduation in Psychology and German gave her an edge over her peers in the job market during those days in 1980s.
As she said earlier she wanted to do something different, she did not want to follow the herd. She always wanted to do what she loved, she loved German and here she was nicely placed in Max Mueller Bhavan (MMB) in Mumbai as a language administrator.
Having gained significant amount of experience at MMB, Ms Madhavi contemplated of starting her own academy. In 1996, this dynamic lady established Indo German Training Academy in Nashik. She was blessed with tremendous response and the training academy picked up in no time.
But as it is rightly said, “What goes around comes around,” Ms Kharshikar was called back by MMB. This time she was offered the post of Head of Administration for MMB’s Kolkata branch. “This is a post that is offered to only Germans”, said Ms Kharshikar. If she would have taken up that job she would have become the first Indian to become the Head of Administration. However due to family commitments she ended up saying a “No” to such an attractive offer.
After juggling between family and work for quite some time, Ms Madhavi started SWEC in 2014. Through SWEC, the students who want to go abroad, especially in south western European countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg, for higher studies
are hand held to help them realize their dreams. Ms Madhavi now eyes on getting Ireland on board.
Getting students was never a challenge, thanks to Ms Madhavi’s magnetic abilities as a teacher. During her extravagant career life, she was associated with several institutions training the students for GRE/GMAT for a brief period. Once SWEC was formed, these students came to her for consultation.
“Our target is to counsel only 10-11 students per month so that we can give personal attention to each of them, understand their concerns and provide them with optimum solutions, because at the end of the day we are in the business of shaping the children’s future,” elucidated Ms Kharshikar.
“Our USP is the IDF, that is, the Internal Documentation File which is a terrific and dynamic profile making process. Here we deal with mind mapping, questions and making effective CVs,” stated Ms Madhavi. Internship opportunities are also provided to the students. “Selecting the right internship is the key to enhance your profile. We have industry tie-ups in Pune and Nashik,” she added.
Apart from this, SWEC throws a grand pre-departure party for the students and their parents. The parents are also bestowed with trophies as a token of appreciation. The alumni connect of SWEC is very strong and every October they meet in Germany. “It is a lovely get-together of all my students. It is a perfect blend of casual meeting and networking,” averred Ms. Kharshikar.
Prior to SWEC, Ms Madhavi Kharshikar has donned several hats. She acted in Marathi plays, she worked with SP Jain Institute of Management Research, RIL and TCS, she was also associated with an NGO and just prior to starting SWEC she completed the subtitling work for the movie “Dr. Prakash Baba Amte – The Real Hero” that was released in October 2014. So many feather to her cap, isn’t it?