Living is about learning and when you stop learning, you stop living,” said Arun Maira, former Member, Planning Commission, sharing a few anecdotes from his time at the Tata group.
He was in a conversation with Bharat Wakhlu, Ex-Resident Director, Tata Group, on his book The Learning Factory: How the Leaders of Tata Became Nation Builders , at the inaugural session of BIMTECH’s Business Literature Festival held last weekend.
Spark ideation
The objective of the festival, curated by the business communication area of the B-school, was to foster the habit of reading business literature amongst students and professionals. It was also organised to encourage ideation through book launches, panel discussions, and conversations with renowned authors, says a press release.
The one-day long virtual event, in association with publisher Penguin Random House hosted 22 authors. Jayashree Mohta, Chairperson, Board of Governors, BIMTECH, delivered the inaugural address followed by a welcome address by Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director.
The Resilience Sagas, the second session of the day, began with brand coach and strategist Ambi Parameswaran’s talk, who threw light on his book Spring: Bouncing back from Rejection. Urging people to bounce back from the dark times in their lives, he reiterated, “with every rejection, you learn something better.”
Experts talk
The event continued with talks by various acclaimed authors such as Abhijit Bhaduri, Ismail Amla, and Akhil Gupta, among others. The highlight of the day was also its four masterclasses on ‘digital storytelling’ by Sandeep Kochhar, ‘online podcasting’ by KV Sridhar aka KV Pops, ‘ancient Indian literature and its impact on management’ by Atul Satya Koushik, and ‘how to get published’ by Rohit Bhargava, which attracted a huge number of participants.
The valedictory address was delivered by Shiv Shivakumar, Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Group, who is also the author of The Right Choice: Resolving 10 Career Dilemmas for Extraordinary Success. He emphasised that “a successful career is not a straight line, but one where you are often faced with difficult choices that one must overcome.” He concluded by giving meaningful career advice to the students of the institute. The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Anupam Verma, Deputy Dean, BIMTECH.