Sonal still gets rave reviews from her former students for making the driest of Mechanical Engineering subjects interesting during her teaching years. Today, the Machinery and Tooling Expert at Matchless Machines and Technology, Sonal Dhar may have quit a career in teaching, but the spirit of a teacher shines through her personality.
It is said that a teacher never fully retires, in Sonal Dhar’s case this was more than true. Even though she has switched her career from being a Professor to becoming a machinery and tooling expert in Matchless Machines, the spirit of a Guru has been an inspiring leadership for many.
Childhood Influence
Machines and factories were not unfamiliar to Sonal as her father, Mr. Sudhir Masurkar, a Mechanical Engineer himself, was extremely passionate about his work at a well-known gear manufacturing company. She recollects fondly how the festival of Dussehra was celebrated by the organization. The entire factory was thrown open to the families of the employees; The machines were decorated with flowers and rangolis around them; while the lawns lined with food stalls resonated with music and dance performances. The entire atmosphere used to be magical, but it was the huge machines that fascinated Sonal the most.
“The smell of machine oil and grease takes me back in time to when I was a child and my father used to come back home from work and hug me. That is probably the reason I feel so much at ease in factories and around machines!”, She laughs. Also, since Sonal’s father was closely involved in machine procurement, he often traveled to places like Germany, Russia, and Japan for work and shared stories about his travels. This aspect of his work too filled her young self with awe.
Becoming an Engineer
Even though subconsciously she was attracted to the manufacturing industry, consciously she wanted to pursue something in the creative field. Or so she thought! When it came to filling out forms and finalizing a stream for her graduation, however, she opted for Mechanical Engineering, completing her Bachelor's degree at Sardar Patel University. Though in a minority, the female students were treated no different by the professors and were always encouraged. “It is wonderful to see how great most of the women who were in my class are doing in their life, conquering great heights professionally”, says Sonal.
She chose to get married to the love of her life, right after graduation. Most of the boys in her class joked at her wedding that she had wasted a seat in Engineering as they were quite certain that she was now going to settle down as a homemaker and never pursue a career. However, with the immense support of her husband and mother-in-law, Sonal never stopped working, other than the few months that she availed maternity leave when her children were born.
Sonal worked in a steel company for a couple of years initially. While her love for machines came from her father, Sonal had inherited a natural flair for teaching from her mother, Kausalya, who had been a Lecturer and Principal at a Nursing College. She therefore gravitated into the field of academics, when her boss’s wife who was also a Lecturer advised her that teaching might be a better career option if she was considering starting a family.
Teaching years
Sonal eventually joined Dwarkadas J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, a reputed college affiliated to Mumbai University, as a Lecturer in the Production Engineering Department. It was while working there that she was encouraged by her peers and seniors to pursue her Master’s Degree. She enrolled for the M.E Program in CAD, CAM and Robotics at V.J.T.I, Mumbai.
“When my son started studying in 1st standard, I started my First semester in the M.E. Program. I would teach at the college where I was working, till around noon and then commute to the other end of the city to attend my M.E. classes. Once back home late in the evening, I used to teach my son, play with him and after he was asleep, I'd swot away at my own studies. Even though it was overwhelming in a sense, I thoroughly enjoyed it,” says Sonal. She declares with emotion that she is indebted to her colleagues and family; especially her Mother-in-law without whose support she could never have managed to study further.
Going back to being a student after a gap of ten years was tough and she grappled with coding and learning to use advanced software. “Most of my classmates were about 10 years younger, and I was the only woman in the class. But they treated me as an equal and were always there to lend me a helping hand”, she says with appreciation. It was also during this time that Sonal was fortunate enough to have Dr. Mrs. Prasanna Nambiar, as her project and research guide; whom she has looked up to ever since, as her mentor. Sonal stays inspired by Dr. Nambiar’s strong work ethic and learnt from her that one could indeed balance one’s roles as a mother and a working professional with grace if one stayed positive and true to one’s conscience.
After completing her M.E. (with a score of 80%!), Sonal was supercharged and she continued with her teaching profession full time, taking on more advanced subjects. “I enjoyed teaching and I put my heart and soul into prepping myself for my lectures so that whatever I taught could be understood easily by my students. It is so gratifying when my former students reach out even after 15-20 years of graduation and tell me how they can still remember the Iron-Iron Carbide diagram or the Pneumatic control circuits that I taught”, comments Sonal.
Then there came a point after about 16 years of teaching where she was at a crossroads: She realized that she had to decide either to do her PhD and stay in academics or seriously consider switching careers. Sonal felt a deep urge to challenge herself, to do something different and craved for a more hands-on exposure to the industry and manufacturing.
Serendipitously, around the same time a close friend of her father – Mr. Kodikal, who knew of Sonal’s qualifications and potential asked her to join his company and take over the sales and marketing function at Matchless Machines and Technology. And thus, Sonal took the plunge into a completely different world. “The decision to switch careers was not to prove anything to anybody else but just to myself -that I'm capable of doing more than ‘just teaching’,” says Sonal.
A New Beginning
Matchless Machines and Technology is a small company that brings to its customers Machinery and Tooling solutions for all process ranging from forging to hard finishing of gears for automobile as well as industrial applications. As part of this new role, Sonal started spending a lot of time on Factory shop floors, at times up to 8-10 hours as the machines were installed. She also started travelling abroad a lot on her own and started enjoying it. Here again, she says she is grateful for the help and support of family and friends, who stepped in to help with school drops, pick-ups and coordinating extra-curricular activities for her kids while she was out of home for days together on work related trips. In the initial days in this new line of work, however, Sonal says, she was often mistaken for an interpreter or assistant.
“Once when I was visiting a customer with one of our Foreign Principals, I was ignored for most part of the meeting and much later the manager realized that I was able to answer all his technical queries. It was then that he asked me about my role. And when I told him about myself, he was furious that I had not mentioned my qualification or designation on my visiting card! I just said that I believed that my work and my knowledge and not my visiting card should speak for me!” recalls Sonal.
She believes in being straightforward and honest with customers. To retain customers, building trust by adhering to a moral code and a strong value system are core, she says. Her small team (other than the Director of the company, they are all women!), believes in the concept of “Quality over Quantity” and gives every customer a personal level of attention.
It is through this dedication that the company has been able to create a loyal client base. A few years ago, at the 40th-anniversary celebration of one of the company’s Principals, König-mtm, Germany; she was the only woman amongst all their sales representatives from all over the world. The fact that India was the only country there represented by a woman was something that I felt great about!”, says Sonal
I Can, I Will
It was during the pandemic when Sonal became associated with the ‘I Can I Will Foundation’ established by a company called Unnati Unlimited, founded by a close friend. During the lockdown Sonal attended their free 21-day webinar, “Turn Crisis into Opportunity” and came away inspired to contribute to the cause as the pandemic had taken a toll on everyone, especially small businesses, and SMEs. She readily accepted the Foundation’s request to conduct the ‘I Can V Will’ program, to coach the employees of MSMEs so that they can discover and exploit their full potential. The program also familiarizes them with concepts like 5S, OEE, Kaizen etc and encourages them to implement these, to facilitate the growth of their organizations.
Sonal says while she loves her work at Matchless Machines, that she enjoys being a small part of the effort by Unnati which enables her to contribute to society. “I keep learning and sharing my knowledge and that is what gives me immense satisfaction. I feel that to be truly happy, it is not necessary to do great things; doing small but meaningful things can also have great impact, and bring fulfillment!”, says Sonal.
To girls aspiring for a career in manufacturing she says: “If that is where your interest lies, don’t let anything stop you! Whatever you do; do it with passion and dedication, and success will follow. There are always ups and downs in life, of course, but hold on to those few people who are in your corner, and you will get through the tough patches with their support. Most importantly never stop believing in your capabilities. Change is a constant; embrace it with joy and never stop learning!”
