Mumbai University's comparative mythology course aims for new heights

Tie-ups with business schools, corporates on anvil to teach management through mythological characters

Mumbai University's Department of Sanskrit has been busy for the the past several weeks for its first edition of the festival of Comparative Mythology, a course that is the only one available in the country. Apart from offering data to production houses coming out with mythological shows, the university is also looking to partner with business schools and corporates to offer management related content from mythology.

The comparative mythology course is a postgraduate diploma programme and also offered as an advanced diploma course post completion of the PG course at the Mumbai University. Dr Madhavi Narsalay, Assistance Professor, Department of Sanskrit, University of Mumbai said that this course was introduced to look into the similarities and differences in the mythological believes in India and other countries.

"We are looking at popularising this course and now have several more students pursuing the programme," said Narsalay, adding that there has been an increase in the number if individuals taking up this course. An allied course on mysticism is also offered by this department, which delves into the lives of mystics and their philosophies and believes.

Professors of this course have also partnered with television channels to provide factual data for their mythological shows. Further, students have also worked with authors like Amish Tripathi in offering authentic content on Indian mythological characters for his books. Also, they are working with the makers of 'Amar Chitra Katha' comics to provide stories from the ancient texts with accuracy, so that they can be presented appropriately.

Going forward, the department is also looking to provide opportunity for research and PhD in this domain. Industry experts believe that there is an increasing interest among corporates for such programmes. Eika Chaturvedi Banerjee, Director at Finsutra, a leadership and HR firm that uses mythology to explain leadership concepts from students and has engaged with the University for relevant content explained that a lot of insights about leaders and their traits can be drawn from characters of ancient texts like Arjun or Bhishma.

Prof Narsalay added that business schools have expressed interest in having some modules on mythology in their management programmes to explain concept in a better manner. "We are exploring tie-ups with several reputed business schools and also companies so that they could be offered course modules and training module content on mythology which is applicable in today's management too," she added.

The Department of Sanskrit, University of Mumbai organising its first ever Annual Festival on Comparative Mythology-Aakhyaan 2014 today, which has both corporate, film and education sector representatives. In the next few years, the university may expand this festival to other cities as well.

Some management schools have already begun to adopt mythology in their management curriculum. At SP Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR) in Mumbai, students are being taught management on the lines of the ideals of Indian philosophy by at the 'Gita Shibir'.

'Gita Shibir' is an effort to provide participants with a usable road map to help them identify, appreciate and imbibe appropriate attitudes to stand up and face challenges of the corporate world and life, in general. The course is offered to highlight viewpoints from the Bhagavat Gita and to integrate ancient insights from the Vedanta philosophy with modern thinking for day-to-day living generally and draw lessons to execute management tasks deftly. The Gita Shibir is for both students of post graduate diploma in management and the post graduate programme in management. It runs throughout the semester and is taught by dedicated team of faculty members, including the Dean of the institute.