Indian Institute of Finance hosted the 8th IIF Webinar series on “Essence of Life and Growth” by Dr. Manoj Agrawal, Managing Editor, Banking Frontiers, Mumbai, India. The Webinar was moderated by Prof. Aman Agarwal, Professor of Finance & Dean (IR) Indian Institute of Finance ( www.iif.edu) and Executive Editor, Finance India ( www.financeindia.org). The Webinar was attended by over 59 global participants from Japan, Turkey, UAE, Belgium, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and others.
Highlighting the key elements of Life and Growth, Dr. Agarwal said that happiness does not have a shape, is difficult to measure and has a dynamic nature. Humans have access to unlimited source of happiness while the Human brain is very agile. If one source gets cut off, it switches to the other source. That is why the Corona Virus has not been able reduce happiness amongst humans. Infact, as I read and see stories around, the happiness index for most of us has gone up. Growth is bound to happen, as it is the force of nature. Just as every plant and animal grows naturally and adapts, so will our economy having different paces and shades of life. The analogy of doubling the GDP is synonymous to that of the baby growing from the age of 0 to 1, mentally, emotionally and physically. The focus of life today has shifted from survival to – Curiosity and Ability.
Growth is expansion without transformation, while progress is transformation that makes one better. The World would have to find new ways to explore happiness. According to Dr. Agrawal, wisdom is power tool. Parents should encourage wisdom in their children and cultivate them to live life to the fullest and not being lost in minor petty things in life like money and career. Though these are important, however one must grow above these to understand the real meaning of life and growth. Youth must enjoy there youthfulness and live life to the fullest said Dr. Agrawal. Each human knows that we are mortal, death is in-evitable, which does not mean that one must not enjoy the fruits of happiness in life. As one gets older, focus shift from self to society, however one must look at progress and not merely growth. Educational institutes must introduce some life activities like leadership, spiritual discourse and subject like this webinar “The Essence of Life and Growth” empowering them to emerge as fundamentally good human being and not mechanised robots.
Large number of Questions from amongst 59 participants were asked by Prof. Dr. Junzo Watada (Japan & Malaysia); Dr. T Murthy Pandian (India); Dr. Ismail (Turkey); Prof. Manju Agarwal (India); and many others.
Indian Institute of Finance has initiated the interactive IIF Webinar Series on “Essence of Life and Growth” with the prime objective to bring forth positivity of life based on the life experiences one has gained over 3-4 decades of personal life experiences, professional life, the nation, the economy and the world at large, having seen different colours of life based on ups and downs one has witnessed.