Rather, he taught students something that the IIMs will never be able to teach its elite pupils. Never once did he behave like a minister, and kept repeating how he doesn't even have a birth certificate and how he would have been tilling his farm in Bihar had he not become a successful political leader.

Although he is graduate twice over, with a Law degree to boot, he doesn't show off his educational credentials. What, however, he would like people to acknowledge is that he is not a vidushak (joker).

Prof Sunil Handa, who teaches entrepreneurship at IIM-A, gushes: "We are from the management and the corporate world. He made us look at Indian railways from a social outlook. We (normally) tend to take him as a funny fellow and we didn't really take him seriously initially. But three hours with him in the IIM classroom left us with deep admiration for him."

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad was a very big hit with IIM-A students as he regaled him with his management mantras in his rustic style. The minister delivered his lecture in Hindi.