Suresh Goyal writes about us — in Hindi

 

When writer Daniel McCabe went looking for professors with hobbies outside their field of scholarship, we suggested John Molson School of Business professor Suresh Goyal.

Here’s what McCabe wrote about him for the January issue of University Affairs:

Dr. Goyal merrily finds ample material in university corridors to drive the plots of the short stories he writes for magazines in India.

He says academics experience plenty of intrigue and heartbreak in their lives, and many of his short stories are based on episodes in the lives of friends and acquaintances.

“In [the JMSB], we have faculty members from over 30 different countries. We have students from all over the world. The possibilities for interesting stories are endless.”

Only in India

He gets away with this without making enemies because his stories are written in Hindi and published only in India.

At first, Dr. Goyal’s stories were set in India, where he was born and raised, “but an editor suggested that I focus on Indians living abroad” — the sort of people he regularly interacts with in Canada.

He has published more than 130 short stories since 1987 in magazines such as Sarita and Mukta, some with circulation in the millions. He has also published poetry and a novel.

Initially he wrote as a way to escape the pressures of his job, but now he can’t help himself.

“Once I get an idea about a story, I have to write it out. I can’t sleep otherwise.”

An expert on operations management and productivity, Dr. Goyal practices what he preaches.

“I teach about the best utilization of limited resources. Time is one of those limited resources, so I try to utilize my time effectively.”

His ability to shut out distractions would be the envy of any academic, or budding author, for that matter.

“I can write a story in three hours. I can be very disciplined about it,” says Dr. Goyal.

“I can work surrounded by noise. I write in airport terminals when I’m waiting for a flight.”