The IIMA Hyderabad Chapter recently hosted A Get-Together with Books, an evening that brought together alumni, families, authors and, most importantly, some great conversations. Held at Windmills Craftworks in Hyderabad, the event was an attempt to do something a little different from our regular alumni gatherings, with books and learning at the centre of the evening.
We were joined by two authors from the IIMA community, N. S. Vijaya Kumar, author of The Fascination Station: Journeys into the Extraordinary Ordinary, and Priya Soni Pandit, author of All the Pieces Click: Achieve Real Success. Grow Holistically. Align from Within.
The evening started with alumni and their families catching up over high tea, browsing the books and interacting with the authors. Windmills, with its library setting and shelves of books, turned out to be a great venue for the occasion and gave the gathering a relaxed and intimate feel.
The main session was a conversation with the two authors, moderated by journalist Deepika Amirapu. The discussion went beyond the books themselves and explored the stories behind them, the authors’ writing journeys, what prompted them to write, and the experiences that shaped their thinking. It was followed by readings from both books and an engaging interaction with the audience.
One of the highlights was a reading by Lata from The Fascination Station, which brought one of the stories from the book alive for everyone in the room. The questions and conversations that followed made the session both a wonderful learning experience and a joyous one.
Nearly forty alumni and family members attended the event. Even after the formal session ended, many stayed back to continue the conversations over refreshments, book signings and photographs.
Vijaya Kumar later described the evening as “beautifully produced and thoroughly unpretentious”, which captured the spirit of the gathering quite well. It was thoughtfully put together, but remained informal and warm throughout.
More than anything, the evening was a reminder of how much we can learn from each other’s journeys and experiences. Books provided the context, but it was the conversations around them that made the evening memorable.
For the Hyderabad Chapter, it was a simple experiment with a different format for an alumni gathering, and one that we hope to build on. An evening of books, learning, laughter, and conversations, and a lovely way to bring the IIMA community together.
