Activities & Organizations

Speaker combines Hinduism, business

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Devdutt Pattanaik, best known for his TED talk East vs. West, hopes that students will gain an “Indian Perspective” from his talk on Tuesday. | Courtesy of Khyati Vaidya

Devdutt Pattanaik, international speaker and author of more than 25 books, came to the University on Tuesday to give a lecture on combining both Hindu mythology and business practices to give presentations on leadership, business and the awareness of different cultures.

Pattanaik wanted to make students aware of different cultures and their “patterns.”

“More often than not, most people compare their patterns with other things and judge. I feel the new business practice in the next 10 years (will be) people who are very good at understanding patterns,” Pattanaik said.

Pattanaik used different images and illustrations to compare and contrast different cultures.

Two images caught the crowd’s attention: One was a street in India filled with heavy traffic, and the second was a street in Korea where there was a greater sense of order. He used this illustration to point out that just because something is different, one does not have the excuse to judge.

While the talk remained relatable to all students, it had an emphasis on business and international relations.

“I think international business is a very big thing, especially with globalization and everything. So we hope that students gain a since of Indian perspective from this talk,” said sociology graduate student Khyati Vaidya, who is president of Hindu YUVA (a Hindu youth group).

Hinduism has existed for thousands of years, but the members of Hindu YUVA believe that it is still relevant for today’s culture.

“Hindu mythology has been around for quite a long time, so I hope that the students that were not aware of it can grab some principles (so) that they can use it in their own business models,” said second-year technology graduate student Parth Gala.

Hindu YUVA hopes to show students, through this event and the other events and activities they have, that Hinduism is more than just a religion and can spread throughout all parts of life.

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1 Comment

  • Excellent news. Good to know this kind of useful presentation on campus, which was missing when I was student at U of H.

    Congratulations to Hindu Yuva at U of H for organizing the event.

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