25 Mar -31 Mar 2023

As we bid adieu to the month of March and step into the balmy summer month of April,  we pause a bit, reflect, recollect and move forward with renewed focus. We look back at Krea, this week, and trace milestones, achievements, and innumerable moments of celebration.

This week was an ode to the undying collective spirit in the Kreaverse, brimming with ideas and adding new chapters in collaboration, from the world of literature, environmental outreach, history, business studies and so much more.

Early this week, IFMR GSB's MBA Batch of 2021-2023 bid farewell to each other, in a beautiful setting where faculty, students, and leadership came together to reminisce two years of moments and memories. Of learning, camaraderie, and bonds forged for life, they set sail onto a transformative phase in their lives, continuing to be torchbearers of the legacy that is IFMR GSB.

Our faculty continued to contribute to imperative social discourse, and the teams at Krea continued to echo the mission of the university rooted in equity, diversity, and inclusiveness through sessions on emotional and mental wellness outreach. We also are elated to announce that the IFMR GSB batch of 2021-23 have now achieved 100% placements and have been placed in prestigious global and national institutions of their choice.

We at the Communications team are committed to constantly grow and evolve and we aspire to keep doing what we do, fuelled - needless to add - by your unwavering support. Tell us what you think!

This week, we bring to you Rachana, the Design Club of SIAS, a community-driven collaborative effort to view and re-define art and design beyond the conventional realm. On Krea’s social media platforms, this week the Kreators from the club will speak to us about their dreams, aspirations, inspirations and what art means to them. Please do keep watching our social media for more.

This week, Suhani Joshi, Cohort of 2024, SIAS, speaks about the vibrant and stimulating environment provided by Krea to explore her passion for performing arts and pursue her academic dreams, her love for Hindustani music, the joy of performing for a live audience and her contributions to cultural activities on campus.

IFMR GSB's MBA Batch of 2021-2023 bid an emotional farewell, reminiscing their journey at Krea. The faculty and staff shared heartfelt goodbyes, and the students enjoyed an elaborate lunch. A couple of days later, the batch gathered for a group picture in their ethnic attire. As the students prepare for their next journey, we wish them success in all their future endeavors. Krea University and IFMR GSB are proud of them and look forward to their achievements.

With insightful prose and scholarly finesse, Sayantan Datta, Faculty, Centre for Writing and Pedagogy (CWP), Krea University, has published an academic essay in Qurbatein. This biannual publication by the Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality at Ashoka University is a testament to the impact of Datta's research on gender and sexuality. At Krea University, our faculty members are constantly contributing to critical academic discourse.

Read this edition of Qurbatein here.

Dr Aashique Ahmed Iqbal launched his book The Aeroplane and the Making of Modern India with a conversation with Dr Ramachandra Guha, Distinguished Professor of History, SIAS. Published by Oxford University Press (OUP), the book is a study of India's transformation from a British colony to an Indian Republic through the prism of aviation. It tells the story of how civil and military aviation played a small but important role in the Second World War, Partition, the Kashmir war and the Bengal crisis. Furthermore, it deals with the ways in which both the Indian Prince and Pakistan dealt with aviation. It is the first major academic history of Indian aviation and part of a wider trend of histories of aviation in the global south. The Aeroplane and the Making of Modern India is available both online and in bookstores.

Dr John Mathew, Divisional Chair, Humanities & Social Sciences and Associate Professor of History of Science at SIAS, spoke at the History Literature Festival (HLF) held at the Ahmedabad University campus in Ahmedabad on 18–19 March 2023.

India’s first and only literature festival on History, HLF saw the participation of India’s eminent historians, authors, academicians and archeologists, “coming together to weave the thread of the India story through lucid stories”.

In a panel discussion named Science, Technology and the Making of Modern India Dr John Mathew, Dr Dinesh C Sharma and Dr Aparajith Ramnath addressed questions at the intersections of history, science and technology. 

The University of Mumbai's Department of Linguistics recently organised a workshop titled A Palette for Attentive Reading and Writing on academic writing. Led by Dr Anannya Dasgupta, Sayantan Datta, and Neha Mishra, faculty members of Centre for Writing & Pedagogy at Krea University, the session focused on how to pay attention to texts we read and write, while learning the different aspects of this process - summary, analysis, sentence construction, asking and answering questions, writing in response to text and revision.

The workshop was attended by research scholars from the Linguistics department, as well as PhD students from TISS Mumbai's Education Department.

David Thomas, Founder of the NGO India Nirman Sangh delivered a talk on 30 March titled Life and Times Today in Small Town India – A Revalidation of Gandhi?’ at Krea University. In this talk, David Thomas looked at some of Gandhi’s basic principles and at his understanding of India. He walked us through the lens of his own experiences, working with the poor in rural and small-town India. he finds in his interactions with the poor today that, while Gandhi was unusually prescient and perceptive on most issues, there were perhaps a few areas where he was ambiguous and indefinite. He explored current attitudes towards materialism, truth, poverty, ahimsa, spirituality, morality, tolerance, diet, dress, and humour among others.

Dr Ramachandra Guha, Distinguished Professor of History, Krea University, delivered a talk titled The Challenge of Contemporary History on 28 March at Krea University campus. This talk was part of the Krea History Talk series. Dr Guha spoke on the challenges confronting a historian documenting the relatively recent past. Historians of India have traditionally only looked at events and processes prior to 15 August 1947, treating that as a sort of lakshman rekha they must not cross. Guha narrated his own experiences in breaching this disciplinary taboo, by speaking of the primary sources available to the student of contemporary history, and the biases one must be aware of.

This week, Dr Vidya Bharathi Rajkumar, Assistant Professor of Economics, SIAS recommends How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman

A self-help book by Katy Milkman, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, this is a collection of simple yet effective insights from Behavioural Science that can be used to overcome internal barriers that sabotage us from fulfilling our personal and professional goals. From procrastination to impulsivity, the book shows how each of these internal impulses can be understood and then used as a driving force for achieving a lasting personal transformation.

The Theatre of Veenapani Chawla: Theory, Practice, and Performance
by Shanta Gokhale

A book that traces the journey of Veenapani Chawla, a self-taught artiste and renowned pioneer in experimental theatre in India. Known as the founder of the Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research in Puducherry, Veenapani Chawla combined traditional and modern forms of theatre, and created a unique, multidimensional fusion of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy and folk art. Chawla’s distinctive theatre performance methodology produces contemporary forms that resonate both with the legacy and the contemporary reality.

Thank you, Allu Akhil, IFMR GSB, Cohort of 2024, for this serene snapshot of the sunset.