Students at the Goa Institute of Management (GIM) learnt the finer nuances of art along with important life lessons from Smriti Rajgarhia, Director of Serendipity Arts Foundation and Serendipity Arts Festival.
Rajgarhia visited the GIM campus at Sanquelim to address students on the conceptualisation of the Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) as part of a special interactive session, which was organised by the dean (Academics) Dr Venkatesh Naga to foster collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach of incorporating art for holistic development of management students.
In her address on “Perspective building in arts: The experience of creating Serendipity Arts Festival”, Rajgarhia touched upon various aspects of the Serendipity Arts Festival, emphasising its interdisciplinary nature and the profound impact of culture on society.
“Show empathy towards others, prioritise doing good, bearing in mind that the definition of ‘good’ can vary. Break free from stereotypes and avoid confining yourself to society's preconceived rules and expectations,” said Rajgarhia while addressing students at GIM.
Before the address, Dr Ajit Parulekar, Director of GIM, discussed ways to collaborate with the Serendipity Arts Foundation and Serendipity Arts Festival and to use the GIM campus as a space that appreciates art along with exploring cutting-edge practices of incorporating art in management pedagogy.
“Art plays an important role in building perspectives. Some of the courses at GIM help students understand the principles of art concerning management. We at GIM are happy to have Smriti Rajgarhia address our students, and we look forward to collaborating with the Serendipity Arts Foundation and Serendipity Arts Festival and exploring various other aspects,” Dr Parulekar said.
Dr Divya Singhal, a professor and the chairperson of the Centre for Social Sensitivity and Action (CSSA) at GIM, expressed enthusiasm at the institute’s collaboration with SAF while emphasising that art provides diverse perspectives and deeper understanding of life as well as management.
“GIM is committed to fostering a style of learning that transcends the classroom, encouraging deeper community involvement and broader connections. We strongly believe that art plays a pivotal role in education, which is why we reached out to Smriti and extended an invitation to her to address our faculty and students,” Singhal said.
Faculty, staff and students attended the interactive session. “We are inspired to know about the nuances of art and the life story of Rajgarhia, and we are absolutely thrilled and filled with anticipation for the upcoming festival,” said Kishore Kumar T V, a postgraduate student specialising in Big Data Analytics (PGDM - BDA).