Hyderabad, Jan. 2 -- Who doesn't chat up with utter strangers during journeys? Everyone does and the talk usually runs around inane things which lead to nowhere. Imagine such casual conversation resulting in something big - even constructive.

It happened with Prof. Masood Ahmed of Hyderabad. Once he was travelling to Mumbai by train and struck a conversation with his fellow traveller, an engineering student. As the conversation progressed, he was surprised to learn that the boy had no inkling of what economy is all about and what inflation is. "This is not part of our syllabus," the youngster replied when the professor expressed surprise.

That was the turning point. It led Prof. Masood to embark on a journey of lectures on the topic - K...