Is Tech Bad for Management Ed?

 Courses in management- MBA in particular, used to be about free thinking, no single right answers, case studies with possibilities - and no certainty.

Now, it's more about Analytics, and AI-driven solutions. Where does that lead a student, or a faculty member?

Assignments that used to take all night with healthy discussions can mostly be done through AI at the click of a mouse. Case studies fed into a ChatGPT can churn out solutions in a jiffy. 

So what does that make a management student? A prompt manager? And a faculty of management? A judge of the best prompts that generated desired outputs? 

Maybe the fun is going out of learning management, and teaching it. Unless we all up our game, and transcend this BS.

Art Mandai- an Exhibition

 Saw a nice art exhibition with everyday things as its theme. Met a couple of artists too- one known, one unknown. Impressive work. A flower seller's basket was my favourite (first pic below). Got a pic, with the artist. A couple of good ones with a known artist, Anuradha and a chair painted by an unknown one.

Anuradha, the artist and her work.. two sides of Pune.

Suspenseful Play - Don Wajun Baawees Minitanni

 It means - at 2.22, and is a play in Marathi. Very engrossing, about a possible ghost or a haunted house in a remote place, where a couple has just moved in. Another couple who is friends with them visit, and a long argument goes on about rationality and beliefs that defy it. The direction and acting is superb, and all the build-up leads to a completely unexpected resolution. Great stuff. Hats off!

Bhumika - Play Review

 It's about an actor who gets to play Dr. Ambedkar in a TV serial, and how it changes him. Sachin Khedekar is the actor. 

A lot of things are discussed in the course of it, like activism by film stars, untouchability, reservation, Gandhi and Nehru, His conversion to Buddhism, how we treat servants at our homes, admission percentages in mainstream courses, our perception of Africa, Europe and America, and family dynamics. One unique thing I saw in this play, was the hero sweeping his house, of course when urged b his wife.

Good for thinking about some important issues.

 

Melody Makers in Pune

 It's a famous group orchestra that has been around for 65 years.. the Saraf family started it and runs it. But the show was dedicated to Laxmikant Pyarelal's music. Jitendra Bhuruk, Kishore Kumar of Pune, started with Mere mehboob qayamat hogi.. Then Bhakti did some hungama with hunagama ho gaya, and Radhika Atre others chipped in with hit songs. But the surprise package who stole the show was Sudesh Bhosle.. totally unexpected. He did some mimicry, mingled with the audience, and sang a song that made him famous- Jumma Chumma de de..

Teaching Golf Over the Years

 Over the years from Nagpur (2009-13), IIM Indore (2013-2020), NMIMS (2020-22), and Prestige University (2022-24), I taught Golf basics to a wide variety of students including MDP participants from industry, MBA/BBA/Ph.D. students or alumni, and faculty members. Staff too. Some pictorial reminders-

Professors and families, above, IIM Indore

Sohni Roy, colleague, at an Indore Driving range.

Prachi Jain above, and Akansh , Ph.D. students, IIM Indore

Below- Radha Ladkani, prof., IIM Indore

Above- An unusual one, a kid we met at Kodaikanal Golf Club, is being taught by a caddie, while her Mom and we assist.

Students above, and profs. - Tnameet Sahiwal and Prerona Baruah- below, NMIMS Bangalore

Students from NMIMS above, and IIM Indore (Anusha and Shantanu), below

Snehal, visiting faculty at Prestige above, and Veronica, Argentinian faculty who visited Prestige.

Juhee Singh, faculty at Prestige, and below, students..

Below-Natasha Kothari, guest faculty, Prestige

Below- Gayathri, a friend of Prof. Preeti Ravikiran.. she's a Cricket umpire for India.

at NMIMS Bangalore

A Global Mindset

 What does that mean? Probably means that you could function equally well, no matter where you lived -of course, given time to adapt to local language, conditions. It's the mindset that enables you to do so.

I may choose to live in one place, but treat people from around the world as the same, like me. I don't look down on anyone that is economically or socially less fortunate, nor look up to the Rich man or a King or a Lord (or a President).

This is tough to bring about, due to many kinds of conditioning we have had. There are a few souls who have demonstrated that it's possible. J. Krishnamurti and Osho, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela come to mind. I am sure there are common citizens not as well-known as they were also, in all parts of the world. 

If we could propagate the idea that all humans are valuable and equal in practice, the world might truly be a better place. Wouldn't it?

Nice People

 Ok, forget everything else. How many nice people do you know?

I started counting, and gave up. So many that I know one-to-one. It boggles the mind!

What makes a person nice? My definition-

He/she is not annoying. A good listener, and maybe a talker.

Genuinely interested in you/other people. Not self-obsessed.

Does not crib about their life. Instead, acts to do something about it. Could be quitting a job,.. or something else.

He/she has interests of some kind, like reading books, music, sport, dance, or travel.

Interest in food. Not constantly on a weird diet.

Ok, not counting, but you are one, right? Don't worry, we will still be friends 😂

Gitanjali- A Music Show

 The latest in the series of music shows we attended had two or three singers who were good- Ghafar Momin, quite a popular one, and two female singers who are decent- Pournima Waghmare and Amruta Deshpande.

This one had focussed on Chitragupt Shrivastav, music director, and a bit on Suman Kalyanpur too. Na tum hame jano was a highlight.

Can We Do Things Differently?

 Most of the time, the answer is yes. But we don't. 

Teaching- there are many ways to teach so that students enjoy the process, and learn better. But we don't try hard enough..

Improving Admissions in Institutions- many untried ways exist. Paying commissions to agents is not one of them.

Recruiting faculty- Going out to meet Ph.D. scholars instead of just advertising.. how many have tried this? I have, with some success. At a new university..

Motivating Faculty as a leader- having a tea and a chat with them regularly helps. Have a chai room in your institute if you don't. 

Spending Your Time- in a way that you enjoy it, doing things you like, minimising things you don't like to do (visiting govt. offices is one I don't), and so on.. listening to the radio doesn't cost anything, for example.

Hum Donon Milke - Music Show

 It was a feast of duets, with three good singers- Vaiju Chandavale, Shalaka Ghaisas and Manjiri Latkar, accompanied by a decent set of male singers. Organised by Rajabhau Tikhe. A bit short on Kishore Kumar duets, saw a couple of rare ones like those of Shailendra Singh (from Do Jasoos- Purvaiyya leke chali meri naiyya), and Mukesh.

Shalaka with her partner.. she sang well!

 Another Marathi classic - a play called Duritanchey Timir Jawo. Saw it at Bharat Natya Mandir. Written by Bal Kolhatkar, it talks about a spiritual soul who resides in a house where he is ill-treated by a conman who has married his sister. He is called stupid by the whole village, but he transforms suddenly into a wise person, who is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the village. He also pardons his brother in law for his atrocities.

Musical Theatre- Sangeet Sanshaykallol

 Saw an entirely different kind of play- a musical, called a sangeet-natak. Instead of dialogues, the characters converse through songs. Specially written for the situation, of course. This was a great traditional art form that's almost dead now. I got to see one such play, Sangeet Sanshaykallol, with a plot like a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film. Spouses who suspect each other of ifidelity, without justification. Superb performances from everyone in the cast!

Hope the tradition gets revived.

The cast, and the main characters.

Aisi Deewangi- Music Show.

 Yet another free music show- Pune's hidden treasure! This time I heard a good rendition of Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche.. (Mrunalini Chavan and Nitin Pendse) and also Yeh mera dil yaar ka Deewana from the performers.. some pics.

Bendre, the Emcee, was pretty good. 

Do Kishore at Pune

 Two Kishore fans sang their heart out at this show on August 4, his 97th birth anniversary.

Makarand Patankar and Jitendra Bhuruk, along with Bhagyashree who accompanied them on duets. Surprisingly, Wada tera wada was a very popular number, sung by Makarand. I like Piya piya piya with Jitendra and Bhagyashree, especially the yodeling.. 

on the whole, it was great fun! Lasted 4 hours!