By Patrick Jonas

AS I was ushered into his room by one of his female colleagues, Prof Lalit Goel asked her: "Did you think you were looking at a mirror image of me?"

She giggled and nodded yes. He was referring to the marked similarity in our features.

Like me, Prof Goel has a shiny pate and a moustache to match.

His sense of humour is quite obvious, and one need look only at the host of awards arrayed in his room to realise that his students at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) appreciate it. Several are from them. The plaques read: Most Interesting Lecturer (2002), Best Charisma Lecturer (2004), Most Popular Lecturer (2005), Most Humorous Lecturer (2006) and Most Energetic Professor (2009).

Seeing me look at the awards, he tells me that he was just informed by the student club that he has been selected as the Most Charismatic Professor for this year.

Prof Goel's classes are fun and students have put up his lectures on YouTube, which to date has drawn more than a million hits and adds to his popularity.

When I ask the 49-year-old Delhi native how he became a YouTube hero, he says he was not even aware of it till some students e-mailed him in October 2006.

"At first I did not pay much attention to these messages, partly because of my own ignorance about YouTube and partly because I assumed it was no big deal! However, when colleagues also started to congratulate me, I wanted to find out what the fuss was all about. So I checked out YouTube and the video showing part of my "funny lecture" was very much there."

Someone had put up a clip of him during a lecture where he shared quirky comments about him made by his former students in their feedback forms.

Each year, the 1,000 or so students who take his second-year class on circuit analysis are asked to rate his teaching on a feedback form. One student wanted to know if his moustache was "the source of your knowledge". Another called him "sexy, handsome and erotic".

In the video, Prof Goel remarks: "Now where did that come from" Handsome, I can understand. Even sexy. But erotic?" No wonder then that the video was ranked No. 2 by The Straits Times in the Top 10 home-bred videos on YouTube in 2007.

Prof Goel has been with NTU since 1991 and headed the power engineering department from 2005 to 2008 - in 2006, he was awarded full tenure till the age of 65 and promoted to a full professor. In July 2008, he was appointed dean of admissions and financial aid.

As dean, he oversees admissions for all undergraduate programmes at NTU and is also responsible for offering scholarships and financial aid to students. This is a role he enjoys but, unlike most professors who give up teaching once they take up such a role, Prof Goel asked to be allowed to teach too. He now takes three weeks of classes every semester for second-year students.

However, all this would not have happened but for his wife Sangita's dislike for extreme cold weather. After he graduated with the top rank in electrical engineering from Regional Engineering College, Warangal (in Andhra Pradesh), the young Goel joined Engineers India Limited (EIL) in Vishakhapatnam. After three years, he got married, took leave and went to Saskatoon in Canada to do his master's. Even though he returned to rejoin EIL in Delhi, he quit and made his way back to Saskatoon to pursue a PhD, with the aim of staying on in Canada.

"I had a couple of job offers towards the end of my PhD studies in late 1991, one from BC Hydro in Vancouver and the other from NTU. My own preference was to take up the BC Hydro offer but my wife did not wish to stay in Canada on a longterm basis. She was not happy with the cold climate - temperatures during winter would drop 40 degrees below zero. Hence I reluctantly took up the job offer at NTU," he confesses.

"At that time I regretted letting go of the Canadian job offer but the minute I stepped into the classroom here I started enjoying the job and I have not looked back."

The Canadian connection was revived three years ago when the Goels' elder son Akash, who was born in Saskatoon, opted to study in Toronto. Akash, 20, is a third-year student of physiology and human biology at the University of Toronto.

Their younger son Aneesh, 14, lives with them on the NTU campus and goes to Class 8 at the Chatsworth International School.

During weekends, when Prof Goel is not touring the region wooing bright young students to join NTU, Sangita and he visit the Shree Lakshminarayan Temple in Chander Road. The temple trips also give them an opportunity to have an Indian meal and do some grocery shopping in Little India.

When he's at home, he relaxes by watching MTV. Beyonce, Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas are among his favourites.

Until 2005, he used to swim and jog regularly but says it has been difficult to maintain that fitness routine as "my time is not my own, with work occupying my mind almost 24/7". Proof of that is his addiction to his Blackberry phone, which he uses to check his e-mail even after getting into bed.

His wife, he says, complains about it.

But this desire to stay on top of things professionally will probably get Prof Goel another award... one that reads Most Dedicated Professor.