This eclectic course kindles latent creativity in IIM-B students

For nearly a decade, literary, cinematic, musical and dramatic renditions have been finding their way into the busy schedules of post-graduate program (PGP) students of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. With students hooked to Creativity in Arts and Science (CARTS), a credit-based course for three hours every week, the class size has grown from 30 in 2008 to 170 in 2017.

According to Prof B Shekar, who offers this course, IIMB is the only management institute in India to get arts and science into its curriculum.

Driven by an objective to inspire students to ask more questions, Shekar has come up with an eclectic course content that includes the works of littérateurs like Leo Tolstoy and Victor Hugo, classic songs of Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi, movies like Masoom and Dr Zhivago, and oeuvre of artists like M C Escher and JMV Turner.

“This course in short looks at classic artefacts. Creativity can never be taught. Fortunately, everyone is creative in this world. However, inspiration to bring it out can be sought from anywhere and everywhere. Questioning and delving deeper into the mind of the creator of a classic, and connecting the theoretical elements cutting across a variety of domains of arts and science to identify the underlying thread is what we try to achieve,” said Prof Shekar.

This methodology of questioning, Shekar explained, can have a lasting impact on a student’s personality. “Each class is positioned in such a way that when one comes out of the course, there’s a lot of difference in outlook. It’s a life-oriented course that aims at initiating refinement of thought, approach and emotional involvement in the person taking it,” he added.

Highlighting the fact that one has to experience something to appreciate it, Sushil Kumar Gautham, an IIMB alumnus, said: “ I think it’s among the ‘must take’ courses at IIMB for someone who is really looking forward to be creative, to appreciate life and its beauty. The course is admirably designed, kindling the latent creativity within each one of us.”

Added Somnath Das, another former student of the institute, “Prof Shekar, owing to his infectious passion and insights, creates what I can call, a neuron distortion field. The course makes you think in ways that fundamentally alters the neurons in your brain and powers you to see the world in a whole new light.”

“Rather than just enjoy a song or piece of art, I now have an idea about how to go beyond the lyrics and colours to understand the mind of the artist and to identify concepts that went into the creation of such masterpieces. Also, what’s wonderful about the course is that one needn’t have prior understanding of art or music. It is just interest and love for art that matters,” said Shweta Kannan, another former student.

The man who steers it all

A graduate of Regional Engineering College, Trichy and a PhD from IISc Bangalore, Prof Shekar said: “This course has given me unalloyed joy. I have come across some great teachers and have always been inspired to try to be one.” Quoting writer William Arthur Ward, he added: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

Source : Times Of India | Author : Deepika Burli