Dr Madhu Agarwal has spent her life teaching girl students as a professor in a renowned college of Udaipur. Post-retirement, she is pursuing her passion for writing songs, poems and ghazals. She has also been always available for her friends.

Dr Madhu Agarwal is a retired professor of Commerce from the Meera Girls College, Udaipur. She served there for the last thirty-five years and had an interesting teaching style that created women with confident personalities.

Dr Madhu was born in Udaipur but her parents lived in a village, 75 km away from Udaipur in Chittorgarh. She was raised in a culturally aware atmosphere at home.  Her mother was a teacher and thus, cultural studies and education was an important aspect of her family which she imbibed.

Dr Madhu believes that having clear set goals will help students to succeed in life. She had always been an average student but, due to her clarity of goals, she passed BA, M.Com, M.Phil, and did a PhD in Commerce with good grades. She credits her hard work, trust in herself, self-confidence, and talent for becoming a teacher and subsequently, a college professor.

Dr Madhu says that struggles were part of her career from the very start. She tried to manage her personal life and professional work with equal dedication and care. In her view, better planning helps manage both worlds well. Moreover, initially, it was tough for her to clarify the doubts of her students on technical aspects, of which she didn't know much. Thus, she thinks a teacher needs to remain updated on the subjects, be confident, and be courageous to face the daily challenges.

As a professor, Dr Madhu had an interesting style of teaching. She used to teach on the first day and ask the students to speak about it the next day. Initially, this process was frightening to the students. But slowly, it built confidence, memory retention, attention, and an interactive learning experience among them. This teaching style was a blessing in disguise to many of her students, who later contacted her and thanked her for making them confident and bold. Dr Madhu counts these experiences as her achievements and feels grateful to be a teacher.

As an individual, her hobbies are writing songs, poems, and ghazals. She likes to attend poetry seminars and programs and is an appreciated poet in Udaipur. She is regularly invited to India level mushairas.

Dr Madhu is highly social and friendly, available for her friends at any hour of the day or night. She enjoys the trust of people in her and tries to help them in whatever way she can. But, she also knows the risk of being misused on being too available and cautions everyone on it. Also, she advocates the importance of having a presentable personality as a first physical impression speaks a lot about ourselves.

Dr Madhu advises aspiring and beginner teachers to understand and teach the students on their level. She says you should give practical life examples so that the students can co-relate to them. You should maintain direct interaction with the students.

Dr Agarwal is the first woman to receive the Bhartendu Harish Chandra Award by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Her husband and her mentor during her MPhil degree are her role models.

Dr Madhu wants to relive her college days if she gets a chance and pursue arts and singing as her career. She likes to write, read, and listen to music during her free time. She is also an ardent social worker and tries to help the needy as much as possible. She recalls teaching at a blind school and says, “It changed my life. The kids there inspired me so much.” She believes that life is about moving forward and gradually getting successful.