I attended a seminar on higher education at an upcoming Haryanvi town of Sohna, beyond Gurgaon yesterday. It was organised (very well) by a media company called nine dot nine floated by the erstwhile Dean of ISB, Pramath Sinha, and his team.
The town of Sohna, about 25 kms. from Gurgaon is reported to be another Gurgaon in the making. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. Anyway, the venue was the Westin at Sohna. Why Westin went east into this place is a question, but having got there, they have managed well. The food was excellent- they had an Italian-Spanish mix of some yummy stuff the names of which I can't begin to remember.
The turnout at the seminar was good, ranging from the ex-chairman of UGC, to a lot of Vice Chancellors, of private and public universities. I also ran into an IIMB alum from three batches after mine. Many new business ideas were apparent from various sponsors of the seminar. Adobe, Oracle, Naukri.com and so on.
The best presentation was by the founder of FLAME, a liberal arts school in Pune, Parag Shah. He explained 'Dil se' (from his heart, literally) the reasons and reasoning that went into founding the 4 year degree program-offering institution. He is also a builder, and has built some real estate including a golf course around the school. But his philosophy of how to combine music and mathematics in the same school on the lines of similar institutions in the West struck a lot of chords. Of course, he had Dr. Indira Parikh, former IIMA professor, to help him as the Dean to implement his ideas. True innovation, in the way courses are offered in different streams, and students grow up as a complete person, rather than as an engineer or doctor. Great idea, I would say.
The town of Sohna, about 25 kms. from Gurgaon is reported to be another Gurgaon in the making. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. Anyway, the venue was the Westin at Sohna. Why Westin went east into this place is a question, but having got there, they have managed well. The food was excellent- they had an Italian-Spanish mix of some yummy stuff the names of which I can't begin to remember.
The turnout at the seminar was good, ranging from the ex-chairman of UGC, to a lot of Vice Chancellors, of private and public universities. I also ran into an IIMB alum from three batches after mine. Many new business ideas were apparent from various sponsors of the seminar. Adobe, Oracle, Naukri.com and so on.
The best presentation was by the founder of FLAME, a liberal arts school in Pune, Parag Shah. He explained 'Dil se' (from his heart, literally) the reasons and reasoning that went into founding the 4 year degree program-offering institution. He is also a builder, and has built some real estate including a golf course around the school. But his philosophy of how to combine music and mathematics in the same school on the lines of similar institutions in the West struck a lot of chords. Of course, he had Dr. Indira Parikh, former IIMA professor, to help him as the Dean to implement his ideas. True innovation, in the way courses are offered in different streams, and students grow up as a complete person, rather than as an engineer or doctor. Great idea, I would say.
2 comments:
Sohna mein Westin ya Westin mein Sona (sleep)?
Michael on a cycle will not be able to reach there easily, unless there is a Golden Goose (Sone ki chidiya) as an incentive- it's so far!
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