Madhavi & Beheruz (PGP 1973)

Dr. Madhavi B. Sethna, PGP 1974 & Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna, PGP 1973

It was July of 1972, I think on the first day of the new academic year; it was my second year at IIM-A. As I came out of the mess hall, my good friend Kirit Raval (later to become Attorney General of India, and regrettably now deceased) pulled me aside and introduced me to Madhavi Kaji, an incoming first year student. Nice girl, full of life, I thought, and moved on to other conversations.

Little did I know that that interaction which probably lasted a minute or so, was the most impactful meeting of my life. About 13 months later, without going on a single date, I knew that was the girl I wanted to marry. Nine months from then, we were married. That was 43 years ago, and it is amazing that we are still married.

Amazing, because we are so different. We came from different religions (she is a Hindu and I am a Parsi), different socio-economic backgrounds (she was wealthy, I was not), different ways of looking at the world (she doesn’t give a flip about most things, and I am a compulsive nut). I’m still in love with the girl I married (even though we agree on almost nothing)! We both gained much from IIM-A, but I gained more. We both got a great education, but I got Madhavi and she only got me.

It’s been a whirlwind since that meeting at IIM-A. 1972: First met. 1973: Beheruz completes MBA and starts Ph.D. at Columbia. 1974: Madhavi completes MBA and they get married. 1975: Beheruz earns second Masters at Columbia, M. Phil. 1976: Madhavi completes second Masters, MA in Special Education, and Beheruz completes Ph.D., both at Columbia. Both start full-time jobs in Potsdam, NY. 1978: Birth of Anita (now a surgeon). 1979: After an unsuccessful attempt to achieve agreement on terms to join IIM-A as a faculty member, we are back to India to try a permanent return in the corporate sector. 1980: Birth of Shaun (now a patent attorney). Beheruz works for TCS and Richardson-Hindustan. 1981: Abandoned India plans and back to Clarkson University. 1985: Madhavi earns third Masters degree, MS in MIS. 1986-87: Both return to IIM-A, this time as visiting faculty – Beheruz as a Fulbright Professor. Madhavi makes a splash by catching and prosecuting cheating in her IIM-A courses! 1989: Move to Lamar University after 13 years at Clarkson, Madhavi as an Assistant Professor at a sister campus, and Beheruz as Dean of the College of Business, the first Dean of Indian origin of an AACSB-accredited school. 1994/1996: Move to West Georgia. Beheruz becomes first President of Indian origin of an American University. 2004: Anita earns her MD and gets married to Rob Cole (both MDs from Emory University). 2005: Shaun earns his JD from Columbia University. 2008: Madhavi earns her Ed.D. from the University of West Georgia, thus rounding off the Four Ds. 2010: Shaun gets married to another attorney, Sunita Shirodkar 2013: Beheruz retires from the Presidency after 19 years, continues on the faculty. 2014: Birth of first grandchild, Zarina Cross Cole. 2015: Birth of second grandchild /first grandson, Surin Shaun Sethna. 2016: Birth of third grandchild, Cyra Shirin Cole.