Transit Post

 It is not often that I post from an airport while in transit.. but I have the time, and the laptop, so why not? Life is transitory, so why not the posting while transiting?

Had an interesting couple of days at IIMB, what with a symposium on Digital Innovations, Financial Inclusion and sustainability.

A session with HDFC and Mahindra Housing Finance.

Got to listen to a lot of experts on the subject. I liked the HDFC rural/agri initiatives the best. Mahindra also had some interesting new businesses aimed at the rural population in terms of housing loans..

As an aside, met a couple of former colleagues - one of whom is transiting, out of academia into industry- Google, to be more precise.

IIM Bangalore has a few new classrooms, of which I saw one from the inside. A U-shaped seminar hall (pic above).

Interesting to meet a childhood friend after a few decades too. I have written about that elsewhere.

Smart Cities- A Seminar at Reva

I was part of an interesting seminar at Reva University last week. Smart Cities was the theme. Some pics from the event and the venue. The university is a private university in Bangalore. It has some unique architecture, a staircase that is floating, or rather supported from the top rather than the base.

 Some nice exteriors too. Below, with my ex-colleague Shinu Abhi, who works there and is a Corporate Trainer for New Age programs in AI, Analytics, Cybersecurity, Deep Learning etc.

Relaunching the Seminar on Thought Leadership

There was this course that I ran in IMT Nagpur a few years ago. We had around 40 students in it, and I had generated a list of thought leaders (authors, playwrights, inventors, explorers) or ideas that have impacted the world or society in a big way. The students in groups had to research the topic given and tell the class through a presentation how the given person or idea changed the world. There would be  a critique of the presentation from me and a couple of students from the audience, and a Q and A.

I still remember the course vividly, and hope that students do too. I am collaborating with my colleague Shweta Kushal at IIM Indore to relaunch the course here for our 5-year integrated program students. We both hope that we will learn a lot about history, inventions, art, etc. that changed society and our lives, along with our students. Two of my former students, Padmapriya and Jogeswari had also come in to guest lecture in the earlier edition of the course, and added diverse perspectives-one worked with an NGO, and the other was a director of a Golf tours company- Golftripz..

Education Seminar at Sohna

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.