Feedback Series - Arts Management at The Department of Dance 2024-25

This was an interesting year with a batch of 13 students - Samrat Kundu, Moumita, Srija Vaishnavi, Divya Sri, Aparna, Swetha, Sneha, Mathumitha, Gautam, Bhargavi, Vaishnavi, Akshara, Krithi.

Standing L to R: Samrat Kundu, Moumitha, Srija, Divya Sri, Me, Aparna, Swetha, Sneha, Mathumitha, Gautham

Sitting: Bhargavi, Vaishnavi, Akshara and Krithi

Samrat is a highly spiritual person from Bengal who wants to use his art to connect to the higher power. Moumita is from Bangladesh and is very clear about what she wants to do. Srija has a background in Sociology from Delhi University. Divya dabbles in a professional course and dance. Aparna is from Kerala and is clear about a corporate or a government job as her main focus and dance as a side stream. Swetha is from Kerala too and has aspirations in the field of dance and performance. Mathumitha is from Pondicherry and plans to join the University of Pondicherry as a Professor of Dance. Gautam is from Trivandrum and has a huge body of work and works hard at many jobs. Bhargavi is from Reva University in Bangalore and is now settling in Hyderabad - she worked in dance studios with Gautam. Vaishnavi is from Kalakshetra and has many interests such as marathon running, teaching Japanese and other skills. Akshara is from Thrissur and is part of a startup which would print hit dialogues from Malayalam films on T shirts and wants to turn entrepreneur. Krithi comes from a family with a long legacy in dance and has performed extensively - a professional. This is more or less what I remember from memory.

Aparna, Swetha, Mathumitha, Divya, Vaishnavi, Me, Sneha, Bhargavi, Srija, Moumitha

Kneeling: Samrat, Akshara, Krithi, Gautham

Gifting me a plant - lovely gesture

On our last class they decided to gift me a potted plant for me to nurture and Akshara would check on the plant every now and then so I really started to care about it. Classes were interspersed with acitvities which the students enjoyed such as the one below where they experience the power of using the energy they have by setting themselves high energy contexts.

Activity in class

Feedback from Students:

Vaishnavi Narasimhan

Dear sir,
This email is a small note of gratitude.
Sir, your sincerity and discipline towards your vision of crafting leaders, and your passion for teaching, has truly made me see you in high regard.
1. You have inspired us to dream much bigger
2. You have broken down key process-oriented concepts from N number of books into small digestible pieces. (which is no simple task!)
3. Your decision to stay with us and see through that we take responsibility, design a process for ourselves, and start taking action shows how responsible you are as a teacher, motivating me to follow your guidelines and to relook at my methods and duties as an aspiring educationist myself.
Personally, you have also helped me in bringing about a few changes in my life. Small changes that are sure to have a domino effect!
1. Taking responsibility for big decisions is something I have ALWAYS avoided. So much so, that I had never put down my dreams into writing. I always had them in the back of my head, but refused to write them down, I tried it before but gave myself excuses and avoided it. I tried to not make it too obvious, just so I would not feel bad about it. BUT you made it our first internal and I had no choice. Looking back I do not understand why I even had that block in my path. Regardless, taking the time to document it made me realise the seriousness of what I vision for, how badly I desire it, and the amount of responsibility and action that my dream demands of me. No more running away from it now!
2. Handling money -your session on money management was something I was waiting for! I knew that my knowledge on finances was zero , handling more than 4 monetary digits was completely out of my comfort zone, and deep down I also knew that if I didn't at the very least start to figure things out now, then I would not be able to step out into the world independently. There have been many decisions and actions that I have not taken due to my financial dependence on my parents and my lack of understanding on finance. The day you took the session; was the day I decided to make changes. And, I'd like to proudly say that, today was the day, that I made my very first investment (a very small one, as I'm still a bit scared and I need more knowledge on the subject matter) But the amount of courage that this first step has given me, I cannot put in words. I am very grateful to you for your teachings on this matter
3. My third take away is on people skill, network, and marketing. I have for the longest time wondered why my efforts were not yielding results and why I am not getting enough opportunities. While I worked hard in developing my skills, I have come to realise that I have neglected everything else. I realise that I have not put any effort at all in networking with the right people, marketing myself and what telling the world about the things I can offer. While the introverted side of me is still struggling to put myself out there, I have come to an understanding that I have no choice. I'm gonna go with "setting the good energy" that you taught us and I'm going to muster up all my courage and start networking, while this is soo out of my comfort zone, I am still going to go for it and I am going to fake it till I make it!
In the email, while I have only mentioned the 3 most important takeaways for me, your teachings go way beyond and have given me much more than just that. I'm truly grateful for all your time and effort (Respect!). Would love to update to you from time to time on my journey towards my dream. Hope we can keep in touch. And one day, when I set up my institute, I hope to have you there, interacting, inspiring, and guiding my students, just as you have with me.

Thank you very much sir
Yours sincerely
Vaishnavi N
Namaste


Feedback from Akshara

I am truly grateful for your insightful and engaging arts management classes. As an MBA grad, first class cricketer, speaker and author, brought a unique and refreshing perspective to our learning experience. I really enjoyed how you blended management principles with the artistic world, making the subject more practical and inspiring. Your lectures were well structured, interactive, filled with real world examples that made complex concepts easier to understand.

What I appreciate the most is your passion for teaching, mentoring and your openness to discussions. You always encouraged us to think critically and explore new possibilities in our respective artistic fields. Your guidance has truly broadened my understanding of arts management and its real world applications.

Thank you so much sir, for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us. It has been an absolute honor to learn from you!! (Sir, I disagree with one thing you said, MONEY DOES GIVE HAPPINESS sir!!!) 🙉

Sir, can you be my MENTOR? 🪴

Feedback form Mathumitha

Hi good afternoon sir
How are you sir? I hope you are doing well I'm so happy to share my thoughts about you sir you are such a inspiring person I met in my life , as a student we all have confusion in studies, career choice, and are we going in right path especially for art students extra stuff . You had cleared all stuff & given a clear path thank you so much sir, we miss you sir

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As far as I remember this was the feedback I received which I could find on my mails. I'll add more if I find them.

Thank you all for teaching me so much - after all teaching is as much learning as sharing. It has been a truly wonderful year and I hope you all benefited from our sessions. Wishing you all the best of luck in future.