Dr. Surya Tahora is a Professor of Science of Spirituality at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, India and Head of CWIL (Centre for Wisdom and Leadership) Before entering into the academic domain, Surya worked for several years for multinational organizations in marketing and strategic planning at a global level in Europe and Asia. His areas of competence and interest are Eastern Philosophy, Contemplative Practices, Cognitive Neurosciences, Personal Growth and Ethics and their applications for organisations and society.
He has co-authored a book titled ‘Living the Vision of Oneness: exploring realities and growing as an individual’ on the relevance of Indian wisdom tradition for the modern world, translated several books of traditional Vedanta from Sanskrit and English to French, written cases, articles and chapters for books in the field of Wisdom and Leadership. He is regularly invited to give talks, seminars and retreats on Indian Philosophy and Human Development around the world.
Some of the popular courses and corporate trainings he is conducting are Leading with Wisdom; Insights & Practices for Lasting Success; Journey to Self-Mastery; The Quest for Meaning and Fulfillment, Practices to anchor yourself in a chaotic world, Contemplative Practices for Leaders, freeing yourself from limiting mental models, Navigating intelligently through ups and downs of life
Dr. Dinyar Patel is a historian of modern India, focusing on Indian nationalism, the city of Bombay/Mumbai, and the Parsi Zoroastrian community. He is interested in biography as a tool for understanding political and economic leadership and decision-making processes. He is currently Assistant Professor of History at the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) in Mumbai, where he is developing courses on the history of capitalism and Indian economic and business history. Prior to joining SPJIMR, he was Assistant Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, where he received Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships. Patel earned his PhD in History from Harvard University in 2015 and his BA in International Relations from Stanford University in 2004.
Patel’s first book, Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism, was published by Harvard University Press and HarperCollins India in May 2020. The book is a biography of Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917), India’s first nationalist leader, the first Asian elected to the British Parliament, and one of the most innovative economic thinkers from the colonial world. It demonstrates how Naoroji contributed to the growth of global anti-colonialism by putting Indian nationalism in touch with Irish nationalism, British and European socialism, American Progressives, and African-American and West Indian political activists.
Patel is the co-editor of two published volumes: From Ghalib’s Dilli to Lutyens’ New Delhi, with Mushirul Hasan (Oxford University Press, 2014); and Dadabhai Naoroji: Selected Private Papers with S.R. Mehrotra (Oxford University Press, 2016). He has written for the New York Times online, BBC News, Atlantic, Indian Express, Hindu, India Today, Scroll.in, and Himal Southasian. At the moment, he is researching and writing a book on Indian nationalism through 1920.
Publication
The following book chapter by Dr. Dinyar Patel is published in Srinath Raghavan and Venu Madhav Govindu, eds., The Fourth Lion: Essays for Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Delhi: Aleph, 2021, pp. 57-67.
Chapter Title: "Pa Rishi': Gandhi's Constructive Critiques of Parsi Culture and Society"
During the Non-Cooperation Movement, Mohandas K. Gandhi initiated a sustained engagement with the Parsis of India. In spite of his quip about a Parsi being a ‘pa rishi' (one-fourth a sage), Gandhi was an insightful and objective commentator on the community’s internal affairs, poking holes in Parsis’ self-assuredness and calling into question their self-congratulatory demeanour. This article delves into his specific critiques and investigates why Gandhi became so involved in the affairs of the Parsi community during the early 1920s. It forms a chapter in a festschrift volume for Gopalkrishna Gandhi, scholar, administrator, diplomat, and former governor of West Bengal.
Dr. Dinyar Patel's book, 'Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism' has been reviewed by the London Review of Books.
Dr Tanvi Mankodi
Dr Mankodi has worked in the corporate sector as well as in academia. She has been a facilitator of several faculty development as well as management development programs in the areas of communication, goal setting, time management, virtual facilitation, stress management, collaboration and trust, and leadership with the employees of Mumbai Police, Insurance Institute of India, Reliance, Power Grid Corporation, MERC, and many others. She has worked as a consultant with a few start-ups in designing their people management philosophy and values as well as key HR systems such as talent planning and acquisition, performance management, rewards management, and socialization processes. She has presented her research work in international conferences as well as published her articles in relevant publications in her area. As a part of the Corporate HR team of a public limited organization, Dr Mankodi was involved in organizational restructuring and development activities, leading the setup of the L&D team, as well as designing and delivering several employee engagement activities. She was also a key part of the compensation restructuring activity for the managerial cadre of the company.
Dr Mankodi is a curious soul and believes in continuous learning. She has an engaging style of teaching and training, using a variety of pedagogical tools including story-telling, videos, games, case discussions, and interactive activities. She is also certified in ‘facilitating interactive and engaging virtual sessions’ as well as ‘instructional design.’
Ajinkya is an assistant professor in the Science of Spirituality area. Ajinkya holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from IIT – Bombay. His Ph.D. research is on ‘Karma Yoga at the Workplace and its impact on positive psychological outcomes’. His doctoral work has garnered awards like ‘Best Paper of the Conference Award’ at Biennial Conference of INDAM – 2020 and ‘Best Paper in HR track Award’ at COSMAR – 2018 (COSMAR) held at IISc, Bangalore. His research interests include Karma Yoga, workplace spirituality, Indian management thought, and positive organizational scholarship.
Ajinkya has worked as an assistant professor in the OB-HRM area at IIM Jammu for 1.5 years. Ajinkya established ‘Ānandam: The Center for Happiness’ at IIM Jammu. It was inaugurated by then Hon’ble Union Minister of Education and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji in March 2021. Through this center, he offered courses on Maximizing Happiness for students of all long-term programs at IIM Jammu. He has mentored more than 350 participants across age groups and professions through the Happiness course at IIM Jammu.
Ajinkya is the core affiliate of the Center for Wisdom and Leadership and is working in the area of developing insights from wisdom traditions.
Shalini is an Assistant Professor in the People & Performance Area at the S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, India. She had earlier completed her PhD with a major in Human Resource Management and a minor in Organizational Behavior from IIM Calcutta, India. Her thesis work was on "Gig workers in the Platform Economy". Her research interests include labor-management dynamics in the platform economy, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable consumption and production. Her work has appeared in the journals European Journal of Marketing, and New Technology, Work and Employment. She has done graduation BSc. (Hons.) in Physics and masters (MA) in Psychology from Delhi University.
Shalini has received the following awards for her research:
- Best Doctoral Student Paper Award in the Academy of Management (AoM) Conference 2019
- One of the Best Papers in the Academy of Management (AoM) Conference 2019
- Sethuraman-NASMEI Research Grant Award, NASMEI, 2018 (research grant award of ₹75000)
- Bala and Vasantha Balachandran Research Grant Award, NASMEI, 2018 (research grant award of ₹100000)
The journey thus far has been from qualifying as a Chartered Accountant to running her own business of Publishing for 2 decades. She further moved on to certify and practice as a Life Coach. Now with SPJIMR, she is a part of the CWIL Centre as Senior Consultant- Leadership Interventions. Recently she has taken up a Masters study in Transpersonal Psychology as well as Vedanta teacher training. She continues to be nourished by Music, Beauty, Personal development and Contributing to People’s Journey of Development.
Aside from his board and trust memberships, Anant Talaulicar is engaged as an advisor to three companies and a start-up. He is also a part time advisor and lecturer at the S P Jain Institute of Management & Research. He is funding the Usha Jaivant Foundation to educate financially disadvantaged rural youth through college and providing them with important aspects of spirituality, values and life skills. Anant was a member of the Cummins Inc. global leadership team from August 2009 till October 2017. He was also the President of the Cummins Inc. Components Group from 2010 through 2014. He was the Chairman and Managing Director of the Cummins Group in India from March 2004 through October 2017.During this timeframe, he also served as the Managing Director of Tata Cummins Pvt. Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture between Cummins Inc. and Tata Motors Limited. He also chaired the boards of four other Cummins legal entities in India.
Talaulicar started his career with Cummins in the U.S. in 1986 as an intern and subsequently held a number of positions both in the United States and in India. He worked in the U.S. for 16 years as financial analyst, manufacturing engineer, project manager, product manager, strategy manager before taking one various general management positions there. He returned to India in March 2003 as Joint Managing Director of Cummins India Limited and was responsible for the Cummins Power Generation and Distribution Businesses in India for a year and then became the Chairman and Managing Director for Cummins India Limited and the other group companies.
Since 2004, Talaulicar has also led the Cummins India Foundation which has implemented sustainable community initiatives such as model villages and higher education. He served as a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers and Automobile Components Manufacturers Association.
Talaulicar earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Mysore University in India. He received a Master's degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1985 and an MBA from Tulane University in 1987.
Dr. Shah has 18 years of work experience in the areas of Organization Behavior and Strategic HR across three domains - Teaching, Research and Consulting. A Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked with companies such as Bank of America and Nortel Networks in the US. After spending 17 years in academia and corporate America, she returned to India. She continued her teaching and consulting career at the School of Inspired Leadership, Gurgaon and lead the HR Specialization for MBA students. Under her leadership, the HR Leadership Program won the Game changer & Most Innovative award presented by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). Subsequently, she joined SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) in Mumbai. Currently she is the Chairperson of the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), Head Research Initiatives and Professor of Organization Behavior.
Gisha Crispin is an Administrative Assistant with the Science of Spirituality at S P Jain Institute of Management and Research. She has over 8 years of experience in the sectors of Hospital, Academic Institute and Interior Designing across three areas- Administrator, IT Admin, HR Coordinator. She has completed her graduation in Bachelor of Commerce from University of Mumbai and GNIIT certified from NIIT.
Ranjani Arvind is an Associate with the Science of Spirituality Department at SPJIMR. She has completed her Masters in Applied Psychology from University of Delhi, and M.Phil in Educational Studies (with a major in Psychology) from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Her diverse work experience of 9 years ranges across the domains of social science research, teaching and training of students in academic institutions, social media consultancy and content writing.
Rachna Wadhwa is a Faculty Associate (Research) at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, India, and currently pursuing a Doctorate of Business Administration from Manipal GlobalNxt University, Malaysia. Before joining SPJIMR, Rachna was Asst. Professor at Manipal University Bangalore Campus training probationary officers from public & private sector banks and conducting faculty development programs.
Her academic achievements include MBA (HRM), MA (Edu), MCom, BCom & BEd. She has over 12 years of experience working as a Trainer/Facilitator, Content writer, Instructional Designer and Researcher. Rachna has published papers in National & International journals on topics such as Emotional Intelligence, Human Capital Management and Organisational Culture. Her research interests include Leadership, Spirituality in Management, Training & Development, Emotional intelligence, Organizational Culture & Diversity.