there’s something very innocent charming
and nostalgic about school bells isn’t
it remember running out of the school
gates happily yeah the days over think
about it we all went to schools and
colleges to learn lessons and yet where
did we learn the most profound lessons
of our lives come on be honest
inside classrooms are outside classrooms
outside classrooms coming from someone
like me who has spent 25 years inside
classrooms doesn’t it sound rich well
life teaches so friends today let me
tell you a small story of a small
experiment which I conducted with mine
students 10 years ago when I sent them
where you got it right outside the
classrooms I wanted them to learn life
lessons so friends we go 10 years back
into the past
it is 2008 remember the global financial
crisis the markets were melting and so
were the fortunes in fact all of us were
realizing that it was not just a
financial crisis in fact it was turning
out to be a crisis of confidence and
then suddenly brutally shockingly came
the Mumbai terror attacks the crisis of
confidence now became the crisis
of hope in my college the classroom
discussions were turning grave and
somber everyone was asking questions and
no one had any answers as an educator I
needed to respond how I did not know so
with no ready answers with me I went
about setting this simple class exercise
this simple assignment which I called
what ends hope harnessing open-minded
perspectives through experience yes yes
I understand you must be thinking in
your mind
typical b-school jargon believe me it
was actually very simple I asked my
students to step out of the classrooms
and say hi to God visit as many temples
as many places of worship as possible of
as many religions as possible God in an
mba class places of worship why friends
the times were desperate the questions
which I was confronted with what equally
desperate how do I teach someone to hope
in hopeless times how do I build bridges
of trust and tolerance in times of
social distress I needed something that
would connect with my students
emotionally I needed something that
would have a sensory appeal something
that would be immersive
and God seemed to be the right answer
you know God and hope there is this
connection which all of us at once
understand and besides all of us know
God isn’t it so I was not introducing a
new concept in the class
besides India is a land of religions and
so there are temples places of worship
everywhere I wanted to make use of this
vast infrastructure of places of worship
and convert them into platforms and
gateways of multicultural multi-faith
experiences and dialogues that is why
hope it all seemed fine it all seemed
set and then I was attacked by all these
doubts I was taking an unfamiliar part
so I started thinking am i improving
upon something intensely personal what
about students who are emotionally
attached with their own religions what
about students who do not believe in God
by asking everyone go visit places of
worship was I being unfair so to make it
all fair I went to the class and I told
look guys feel free to opt out if you
want to if there’s anyone who is not
comfortable taking this assignment I
will give you an alternative for my
doubts sorted actually no I still had
more doubts you know an educator
life is full of doubts so now what was I
thinking
I was thinking am I being politically
correct is there a chance that I am
putting my professional credibility at
stake
should I be even doing that but you know
friends I believed in this idea when I
looked around and I found religion being
used to create barriers in the society
barriers between us and them somewhere I
was convinced that the same religion
could also be used to give to my
students life-affirming
experiences of pluralism they would be
able to somehow understand the beauty of
multiple truths and places of worship
seem to be the right thing for me to do
so despite all these doubts I decided I
will take that risk
now 2008 to 2018 it is ten years more
than 1,500 students have participated in
[Applause]
thank you on an average one student
visits something like six places of
worship one belonging to their own faith
and five belonging to different faiths
and just look at the figures which we
have got something like nine thousand
visits to places of worship and out of
this seven thousand five hundred visits
to places of worship which are not
native to the religion of the student
and Friends not one single student has
ever opted out nobody thank you nobody
has taken that alternative assignment so
thousands of visits thousands of
experiences you know I find it so
fascinating how different things appeal
to different students for some students
it is the simple act of lighting candles
in the church for some students it is
ringing the Munder bells the Buddhist
chants the meditative silences of the
Deir Ezzor the spirit of service in the
Gurudwara all these become promises of
hope and renewal for my students thanks
to this student she was a Jew and thanks
to her efforts a group of my students
got this rare opportunity to visit a
synagogue you know friends when the
rabbi welcomed my students they actually
found doors opening and boundaries
shifting then
I had this beautiful account given by a
student he said for me the most moving
part of the assignment was walking on
that narrow bridge in the middle of the
sea when I went to the Haji Ali dargah
that was my bridge of hope friends the
student belong to a different faith what
after all is hope hope is that trust it
is a trust in life it is a trust in our
innate ability to face crisis my little
assignment was trying to rekindle this
little faith in our own selves in 2008
when I started hope it was based on my
conviction that places of worship can
hold mirrors to the understanding of our
common humanity so when students come
with such beautiful accounts it
validates my belief for example there
was this student who said I was
overwhelmed at the peace and serenity of
the shrine and I was not even in a
shrine of my native faith if their
shrine can give me so much of peace I
conclude that they are good people
friends this is what I was aiming at
this is a definite shift in perspective
and how did this shift in perspective
happened it happened because of a simple
assignment go visit places of worship
that of your own and that of your
friends and after that sit and have a
discussion now
friends when Barack Obama spoke about
this understanding of common humanity at
the Nelson Mandela lecture he said that
it is this ability of ourselves to see
ourselves in others which forms the
bedrock of social progress and then
there was this report based on data from
109 countries released by the
universities of Bristol and Tennessee
which says that social and religious
tolerance is positively correlated with
economic development friends might tiny
little innovation hope works towards
this very goal in 2008 when I started
hope we were dealing with the global
financial crisis and the problem of
terrorism today the debate has shifted
to D globalization the issues change but
the problems remain the same and that is
confronting the issues of fear and
uncertainty hope continues to be as
relevant today as it was in 2008
thanks to hope we have had some
beautiful discussions in the class
leadership teamwork ethics
economics entrepreneurship
cross-cultural sensitization creativity
innovation perspective building
negotiation the list goes on this sets
me thinking hope is such a simple model
visit places of worship and after that
come and have a discussion can hope be
replicated across schools colleges and
universities can organizations make use
of hope in
training programs all of us need a
little bit of hope in our lives isn’t it
the beauty of hope lies not in its
ability to give answers but in giving us
the realization that hope lies somewhere
across the path and this answer can be
accessed if we are willing to trust life
and take this journey friends
this beautiful life lesson we did not
learn inside the class it was taught to
my students by a simple Buddhist monk
who said whenever in doubt look inwards
the best answers come from inside trust
the answer to show itself somewhere
along the path in total humility friends
I could not have spoken so eloquently I
could not have impacted my students as
deeply as that monk in occur robes so
this is what hope does we step out of
the classroom my students learn life
lessons along with them I learn life
lessons there goes the bear move
see where it takes you thank you so much [Applause]
and nostalgic about school bells isn’t
it remember running out of the school
gates happily yeah the days over think
about it we all went to schools and
colleges to learn lessons and yet where
did we learn the most profound lessons
of our lives come on be honest
inside classrooms are outside classrooms
outside classrooms coming from someone
like me who has spent 25 years inside
classrooms doesn’t it sound rich well
life teaches so friends today let me
tell you a small story of a small
experiment which I conducted with mine
students 10 years ago when I sent them
where you got it right outside the
classrooms I wanted them to learn life
lessons so friends we go 10 years back
into the past
it is 2008 remember the global financial
crisis the markets were melting and so
were the fortunes in fact all of us were
realizing that it was not just a
financial crisis in fact it was turning
out to be a crisis of confidence and
then suddenly brutally shockingly came
the Mumbai terror attacks the crisis of
confidence now became the crisis
of hope in my college the classroom
discussions were turning grave and
somber everyone was asking questions and
no one had any answers as an educator I
needed to respond how I did not know so
with no ready answers with me I went
about setting this simple class exercise
this simple assignment which I called
what ends hope harnessing open-minded
perspectives through experience yes yes
I understand you must be thinking in
your mind
typical b-school jargon believe me it
was actually very simple I asked my
students to step out of the classrooms
and say hi to God visit as many temples
as many places of worship as possible of
as many religions as possible God in an
mba class places of worship why friends
the times were desperate the questions
which I was confronted with what equally
desperate how do I teach someone to hope
in hopeless times how do I build bridges
of trust and tolerance in times of
social distress I needed something that
would connect with my students
emotionally I needed something that
would have a sensory appeal something
that would be immersive
and God seemed to be the right answer
you know God and hope there is this
connection which all of us at once
understand and besides all of us know
God isn’t it so I was not introducing a
new concept in the class
besides India is a land of religions and
so there are temples places of worship
everywhere I wanted to make use of this
vast infrastructure of places of worship
and convert them into platforms and
gateways of multicultural multi-faith
experiences and dialogues that is why
hope it all seemed fine it all seemed
set and then I was attacked by all these
doubts I was taking an unfamiliar part
so I started thinking am i improving
upon something intensely personal what
about students who are emotionally
attached with their own religions what
about students who do not believe in God
by asking everyone go visit places of
worship was I being unfair so to make it
all fair I went to the class and I told
look guys feel free to opt out if you
want to if there’s anyone who is not
comfortable taking this assignment I
will give you an alternative for my
doubts sorted actually no I still had
more doubts you know an educator
life is full of doubts so now what was I
thinking
I was thinking am I being politically
correct is there a chance that I am
putting my professional credibility at
stake
should I be even doing that but you know
friends I believed in this idea when I
looked around and I found religion being
used to create barriers in the society
barriers between us and them somewhere I
was convinced that the same religion
could also be used to give to my
students life-affirming
experiences of pluralism they would be
able to somehow understand the beauty of
multiple truths and places of worship
seem to be the right thing for me to do
so despite all these doubts I decided I
will take that risk
now 2008 to 2018 it is ten years more
than 1,500 students have participated in
[Applause]
thank you on an average one student
visits something like six places of
worship one belonging to their own faith
and five belonging to different faiths
and just look at the figures which we
have got something like nine thousand
visits to places of worship and out of
this seven thousand five hundred visits
to places of worship which are not
native to the religion of the student
and Friends not one single student has
ever opted out nobody thank you nobody
has taken that alternative assignment so
thousands of visits thousands of
experiences you know I find it so
fascinating how different things appeal
to different students for some students
it is the simple act of lighting candles
in the church for some students it is
ringing the Munder bells the Buddhist
chants the meditative silences of the
Deir Ezzor the spirit of service in the
Gurudwara all these become promises of
hope and renewal for my students thanks
to this student she was a Jew and thanks
to her efforts a group of my students
got this rare opportunity to visit a
synagogue you know friends when the
rabbi welcomed my students they actually
found doors opening and boundaries
shifting then
I had this beautiful account given by a
student he said for me the most moving
part of the assignment was walking on
that narrow bridge in the middle of the
sea when I went to the Haji Ali dargah
that was my bridge of hope friends the
student belong to a different faith what
after all is hope hope is that trust it
is a trust in life it is a trust in our
innate ability to face crisis my little
assignment was trying to rekindle this
little faith in our own selves in 2008
when I started hope it was based on my
conviction that places of worship can
hold mirrors to the understanding of our
common humanity so when students come
with such beautiful accounts it
validates my belief for example there
was this student who said I was
overwhelmed at the peace and serenity of
the shrine and I was not even in a
shrine of my native faith if their
shrine can give me so much of peace I
conclude that they are good people
friends this is what I was aiming at
this is a definite shift in perspective
and how did this shift in perspective
happened it happened because of a simple
assignment go visit places of worship
that of your own and that of your
friends and after that sit and have a
discussion now
friends when Barack Obama spoke about
this understanding of common humanity at
the Nelson Mandela lecture he said that
it is this ability of ourselves to see
ourselves in others which forms the
bedrock of social progress and then
there was this report based on data from
109 countries released by the
universities of Bristol and Tennessee
which says that social and religious
tolerance is positively correlated with
economic development friends might tiny
little innovation hope works towards
this very goal in 2008 when I started
hope we were dealing with the global
financial crisis and the problem of
terrorism today the debate has shifted
to D globalization the issues change but
the problems remain the same and that is
confronting the issues of fear and
uncertainty hope continues to be as
relevant today as it was in 2008
thanks to hope we have had some
beautiful discussions in the class
leadership teamwork ethics
economics entrepreneurship
cross-cultural sensitization creativity
innovation perspective building
negotiation the list goes on this sets
me thinking hope is such a simple model
visit places of worship and after that
come and have a discussion can hope be
replicated across schools colleges and
universities can organizations make use
of hope in
training programs all of us need a
little bit of hope in our lives isn’t it
the beauty of hope lies not in its
ability to give answers but in giving us
the realization that hope lies somewhere
across the path and this answer can be
accessed if we are willing to trust life
and take this journey friends
this beautiful life lesson we did not
learn inside the class it was taught to
my students by a simple Buddhist monk
who said whenever in doubt look inwards
the best answers come from inside trust
the answer to show itself somewhere
along the path in total humility friends
I could not have spoken so eloquently I
could not have impacted my students as
deeply as that monk in occur robes so
this is what hope does we step out of
the classroom my students learn life
lessons along with them I learn life
lessons there goes the bear move
see where it takes you thank you so much [Applause]
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