IIM Ahmedabad Students Get Schooled In Panchatantra

Prof. N Ravichandran of IIM Ahmedabad with students who participated in course on Panchatantra

Ahmedabad: Over 25 students across PGP (Post Graduate Program) and PGPX (Post Graduate Program for Executives) programs at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad - IIMA - attended a course on Panchatantra in the last 2 weeks. The Panchatantra course was conducted outside the regular curriculum (non-graded) over five 75 minute sessions as an experimental offering by Professor N. Ravichandran, Faculty in Production & Quantitative Methods Area at IIMA and former Director, Indian Institute of Management Indore.

Initiated on popular demand by students from Professor Ravichandran's Capability, Competence and Competitive Strategy (CCCS) course, the conversations generated tremendous interest, and the offering was an instant hit among students of the campus, said a statement from IIM Ahmedabad.

Talking about how the idea for a class on Panchatantra evolved, PV Aditya, 2nd year PGP student and one of the student organizers for the course commented, "Prof. Ravichandran used to reference stories from Panchatantra while teaching us Strategy in CCCS course. We thought a standalone course on Panchatantra would be enriching and initiated conversation with Professor for the same. Enthusiastic participation from the community despite post-dinner schedule reaffirmed our belief in the necessity of such a course."

The course focused on Management Lessons from the understanding and interpretation of Conflict in Panchatantra.

IIM Ahmadabad, Panchatantra, IIM Ahmadabad Course, IIM Ahmadabad Panchatantra Course

Professor N. Ravichandran of IIM Ahmedabad and students in a post-class discussion

"Panchatantra provides an ideal vantage point for understanding conflicts involving individuals, philosophies, organizations or consciousness. Stories in Panchatantra can be leveraged to provide useful clues to resolve all kinds of conflicts," Prof. Ravichandran said about the content of his course.

As more students are demanding an opportunity to attend the course, Prof. Ravichandran is planning to offer an improved and enlarged version of the course to a larger audience in November 2017.

For this year, the course would remain outside regular curriculum (non-graded) and would be scheduled to avoid any conflict with the academic calendar.

Balaji Uppala, Media Secretary, talking about the course said, "Panchatantra is the mother lode of all fables. This course helped us recognize Panchatantra as a useful source of Management lessons. Prof. Ravichandran interwove examples from real life business scenarios to impress on us how stories from Panchatantra can deliver powerful lessons for both personal and professional development."

To not disturb the pre-decided academic calendar, classes were held post-dinner (9:00 pm to 10:15 pm) on 3,4,5,9 and 11'October'2017.