Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurates BIMTECH’s Business Literature Fest, lauds the initiative

Greater Noida : Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) in association with Penguin Random House today inaugurated the Third edition of its annual BIMTECH Business Literature Festival 2023. The niche literary meet is bringing together leading business authors, industry experts, management students and business professionals to engage in thought-provoking discussions on the latest trends and developments in the world of business.

The festival was inaugurated by, Bhupender Yadav, co-author of the book “The Rise of the BJP: The Making of the World’s Largest Political Party”, and the Union Minister of Labour and Employment and Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. While delivering the keynote address on the importance of literature in shaping and influencing modern business practice, Chief Guest, Bhupender Yadav said, “Books play a key role in developing business modules. It is a great initiative on a management institute’s part to have organized a business literature festival as it boosts education and learning. In today’s date, most bestselling books on personality development as well as books of different course curriculum stress on inner wisdom and personal journey. Essentially, it leads to the topic of mindfulness. Mindfulness is all about being aware of different components of life and in my opinion the best book on mindfulness is Yoga Sutra. The first Sutra “Atha Yoga Anushasanam”, talks about refining one’s attitude while adopting the practice of yoga. The second Sutra “Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodah”, refers to everything moving through the space of the heart and says that distractions are of five types. The management of all these five stages of emotions is what yoga is about. We cannot manifest outer success unless we have inner peace. Management is not just about climbing the ladder of success, but it’s about navigating through relationships patiently. Hope that in coming times there will be more discussions on books that talk about Eastern life philosophies.”

The two-days festival brings together some of the brightest minds in the industry for a series of candid talks, panel discussions, book-launches, reviews and informative masterclasses. There are also exclusive author signing sessions and book stalls that have been set up by prominent publishing houses such as Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Kunzum Books, and Rupa Publications. The festival is graced by eminent personalities such as Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian-Tata Sons, author of #TataStories and TataLog, Kiran Karnik, Author of Decisive Decade, Christine Amour-Levar, Author of Wild Wisdom, Bharat Wakhlu, Founder, The Wakhlu Advisory TWA, Parmesh Shahani, Author of Queeristan; LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace, Founder of Godrej India Culture Lab, LGBTQ Inclusion consultant, and author of Tata’s Leadership Experiment, among others. The dignitaries are sharing insights and experiences on a range of topics, from innovation and entrepreneurship to corporate strategy and leadership.

Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director of BIMTECH, said, “Reading is an integral part of a student’s and academicians’ life. An opportunity for them to listen, discuss and absorb the ideas from the best of business literary minds through this festival is a huge learning experience. The initiative started during the pandemic in a virtual mode and this year in its third edition, we have hosted it in the campus, in order to offer a bigger platform for discussion and collaboration and bring invaluable insights and perspectives to the table. We are proud to have hosted this festival and are grateful to all who participated, making it an unforgettable experience.”

This one-of-a-kind literature festival emphasizes on going beyond textbooks and case-studies in B-schools to learn through stories and experiences of others. The aim is to encourage the habit of reading business literature amongst students and professionals. Part of this year’s lineup featured authors PKD Nambiar, Ankit Jhamb and Prof. Bharat H. Desai unveiling their books You, Too, can be a brand, The Most Negative Book of Positivity and Envisioning Our Environmental Future respectively.

BIMTECH in collaboration with Radhika Marwah, Executive Editor of Penguin Random House conducted an informative Masterclass on ‘Write that book! A masterclass on writing and publishing’. Another intellectual takeaway was the Masterclass on ‘Happily Insured: Guide to Understanding Insurance and Leading a Stress-free Life’ with Kapil Mehta, who is an author and a Co-Founder at SecureNow Insurance Broker.

R. N. Bhaskar, author of “Gautam Adani: Reimagining Business in India and the World,” and Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian at Tata Sons and author of “#TataStories” and “TataLog” bridged the gap between the business and academic worlds through their insightful industry-related presentations.

In the Fireside Chat, Kiran Karnik, author of “Decisive Decade,” and Hardayal Singh, author of “The Moral Compass: Finding Balance and Purpose in an Imperfect World,” delved into a thought-provoking discussion on “India: The Road Ahead” and offered valuable insights on India’s potential role in an evolving global landscape.

The Valedictory Address was by Bharat Wakhlu, Founder of The Wakhlu Advisory TWA, Co-Founder of Resilient Leadership & Change Master and Ex-Tata Administrative Services and Bestselling Author.