Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri

Biography

3 National Film Awards | 9 Films | 16 Books | Initiator of the Global Wage Equality Crusade for a 1.25:1 Wage Ratio | Public Speaker on Leadership & Management | Harvard- & Stanford-Certified Longevity & Public Health Advocate | Antitheism Proponent & Science Rationalist | Disruptor Who Made IIPM the Largest B-School on Earth | Former Advisor to Planning Commission, Govt. of India’s Consultative Committees on Education & Social Sector | Kickboxing 3rd Dan Black Belt

Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri

“The maverick management guru!”
Financial Times, London

“Sets the stage on fire”
“Inspiration personified”
The Times of India

“The intellectual litterateur of the decade”
The Hindustan Times

“The Original Education Entrepreneur of India”
The Print

“Near Evangelical Academic”
Business Barons

“Mega Disruptor and Godfather of Private Education in India”
Elite Magazine

Short Biography

Arindam Chaudhuri is a PhD in Leadership from the University of Buckingham, economist, filmmaker, author of 16 books (including the #1 bestsellers Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch, Discover the Diamond in You & The Great Indian Dream), and winner of 3 National Film Awards for 3 of his 9 features.

An anti-establishment critic, he is a radical egalitarian advocating a 1.25:1 highest-to-lowest wage ratio, an antitheism proponent, science rationalist, Harvard-Stanford-certified longevity and public health advocate, and a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Kickboxing. A public speaker on leadership who built IIPM into the world’s largest B-school, he was a former advisor to the Planning Commission of India, has lectured across the globe, from Harvard Business School to Imperial College to CUHK, and, trained the Indian Army, UN Peacekeeping Officers, CRPF, Delhi Police and IAS Officers. Across various social media handles he reaches 9 million+ followers as a socio-political thinker.

Arindam dreams of a world with free access to education, medicare and justice and a world free of religion, income inequality & gender discrimination.

Key Highlights

Arindam Chaudhuri has been called the Maverick Management Guru (Financial Times, London), India’s Original Education Entrepreneur (The Print) and Godfather of Private Education in India (Elite Magazine) for pioneering private education in India. IIPM, the Institute that he became the face of, not only charged the highest fees in India but also became the largest B-School on earth. With the dream of Education for All, he is currently launching a new venture to shut down colleges in India because he believes no student needs college education anymore.
He believes in the possibilities and desirability of Living Forever and, in 2009, he was the first Indian to write on the scientific possibilities of Living Forever and continues to write and take workshops on this under the aegis of Live Long, Lead Strong. Today he has probably the world’s highest number of certifications from Harvard & Stanford alone (50+) on Longevity Science and is spearheading the Longevity for All movement in India through his initiative, NECTAR: Centre for the Science of Happiness & Longevity.
Judicial reforms & Justice for All have been a recurring theme throughout his speeches, articles and books with detailed chapters. After spending a short time in India’s Tihar Jail, he wrote an article, Surviving Tihar: The Good, the Bad and the Nazi, detailing all that’s wrong with the Indian reformatory system and in his book 2047, he elaborated further on the changes needed.
Arindam maintains that his public personality is merely a brand that caters to the capitalist market system in which he is forced to operate. Thus, despite his flamboyance and the viral videos of him driving Shah Rukh Khan around the IIPM campus in two of his Bentleys, Arindam is a radical 1.25:1 egalitarian—who believes that income inequality is one of the three greatest evils in our society and must be eliminated. He believes that the highest-paid individual in any company should earn no more than 1.25 times as much as the lowest-paid employee—a philosophy on which he has written a book, What Marx Left Unsaid.
He is an antitheist and believes Religion and God are the second greatest evil society needs to eliminate and are the biggest problems facing humanity. In 2019, he wrote his 500-page tome, Beyond God & Capitalism which was launched first in London by the Global icon of Militant Atheism, Prof. Richard Dawkins and in India by the Former President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.
He believes the third greatest evil to be eliminated is gender discrimination and is a strong proponent of property rights for women. He speaks and writes regularly on it and believes the evil of gender inequality can be eliminated by giving compulsory housing to women irrespective of their marital status.
He has presented the alternate budget on Indian TV for 20 years and has written the Trilogy of books on Indian Development— Planning India, The Great Indian Dream & 2047: A Roadmap to Beating USA & China. There is no other economist in India who can systematically show how India can beat China. Sachin Tendulkar volunteered to be the Brand Ambassador of his GID Foundation after reading the book, The Great Indian Dream.
He is the author of the Monster Bestsellers, Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch & Discover the Diamond in You, endorsed by every possible big celebrity of India from Amitabh Bachchan to SRK to Priyanka Chopra to Sridevi. Based on these two books he has taken lectures around the globe to packed houses with crowds often as big as 15,000 to 55,000 in attendance.
He gave Amitabh Bachchan his first and only English-language Film, The Last Lear & won a National Film Award for it. He brought Rishi & Neetu together after 35 years and gave them Do Dooni Chaar and won a National Film Award for it. He is probably the only Indian producer ever whose two films got selected in Cannes in the same year— Dosor & Mithya.
He was an Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Planning Commission, but went and gave a rousing speech at Ramlila grounds on the day Anna Hazare broke his fast, wrote incessantly supporting Modi for 2014, was offered a BJP ticket, refused saying he would rather start his father’s political party —Bharatiya Manavala Vikas Party, and today calls himself a proud Dimagi Naxal.
Among other magazines, for a decade he published the world’s only news weekly in 14 languages, The Sunday Indian, and at his peak wrote columns for 24 newspapers simultaneously. Irrespective of the government in power, his political writings have mostly been anti-establishment and left of centre because he believes that this is the most important role of the media—to question the government and promote humanism.

Detailed Biography

A three-time National Film Award winner and author of more than 15 books, Arindam has spent over three decades positively transforming the lives of hundreds of millions across India and beyond through his classes, books, TV shows on the Alternative Budget, public lectures, films, and articles in leading newspapers. Under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s leadership, he served as an Advisor to the Planning Commission’s Consultative Committees on Education and Social Sector for the Government of India. His public seminars draw thousands, and he has been invited to train and inspire the Indian Armed Forces as well as the Central Armed Police Forces (CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP), UN Peacekeeping Civil Police Officers (over 32 high ranking officials from 18 countries), Delhi Police, and Civil Services officers of the IAS and IFS, among others. Arindam has delivered inspirational lectures to students at prestigious institutions worldwide, from Harvard Business School in the USA to Imperial College in the UK, CUHK in Hong Kong, and IIT-K in India. From CEOs and entrepreneurs to business leaders and celebrities, he has personally trained them in leadership, management, economics, and strategic vision. In 2001, at the age of just 29, he was selected as one of the 50 leading thinkers under the age of 40 to represent South Asia at Wilton Park, an organisation supported by the European Commission and the British Foreign Office, where he was invited to speak as a special speaker. His books and talks have received effusive praise from icons including BBC Actor of the Millennium Amitabh Bachchan, Global Mega Star Shah Rukh Khan, Miss World Priyanka Chopra, Miss Universe Sushmita Sen and Legendary Bollywood Diva, Sridevi.

Arindam’s lifelong vision and work focus on eradicating three evils—religion, income inequality, and gender discrimination—while championing a new order with equal access to health, education, and justice while aiming for a ratio of 1.25:1 between the highest to lowest paid individual in a society.

An anti-establishment critic and a thought leader, Arindam’s greatest strength is helping others see beyond the obvious by blending his original philosophies with academic theories—a hallmark of his subject at IIPM, ‘Beyond Principles of Management & Economics’, and the institute’s mission, ‘Dare to Think Beyond’. Over one million people have attended his lectures over the past three decades, and more than 50,000 have received direct professional training from him. With over 9 million fans across different social media platforms associated with him, he is the most followed economist and management icon globally.

Arindam holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Economics from Madras University, an Honours Diploma in Industrial Engineering and a Post Graduate Diploma in Planning & Management from IIPM, and a Ph.D. in Business from the University of Buckingham. Arindam additionally holds 50+ certificates in three areas of Longevity Science, Public Health & Preventive Care from Harvard & Stanford.

Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Ph.D. thesis, ‘Regional Cultural Influences in Post-Deregulated India: An Empirical Examination of Employees’ Values and Expectations from Leaders’, establishes him as a specialist in India centric leadership. His contribution to management studies includes the iconoclastic ‘Theory ‘i’ Management’, developed in his book ‘Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch’, offering India-centric management ideas with global applicability.

Since 1998, Arindam has been conducting exclusive leadership, comparative management and strategic vision workshops for CEOs, MDs, Directors, and Presidents from India’s corporate sector, training leaders from Hero Motors, Tata Chemicals, A.V. Birla Group, Ernst & Young, NTPC, GAIL, Microsoft, and ABB, among others. Despite being an antitheist, he is the man who single-handedly brought lessons from the Gita to corporate boardrooms through his countless corporate workshops since 1997 and the man who took Krishna-style leadership to the masses and made it popular by virtue of his massive public seminars and best-selling books. He doesn’t find any dichotomy in his disbelief in God and his use of the Gita for his corporate workshops.

He is the author of the #1 bestseller ‘Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch’ and ‘Discover the Diamond in You’, the latter of which earned an unprecedented record advance for an Indian non-fiction title and sold 100,000 copies in its first ten days. He also authored the path-breaking trilogy on the Indian Economy and Politics — Planning India, the #1 bestseller The Great Indian Dream, and 2047. His other books include What Marx Left Unsaid (co authored with his father and son — a rare book written by three generations of the same family), Beyond God & Capitalism, and the #1 bestsellers Thorns to Competition and CULT. He has been the Principal Author and Editor-in Chief for six titles in the Power Brands Coffee Table Book Series, including Bollywood Power Brands, Global Power Brands, and Star Realty, as well as one book in the Power Brands Paperback Success Stories & Inspirational Journey Series, Tiger Roars.

From ‘Hindustan Times’ to ‘The Times of India’ to the Dainik Bhaskar group, leading publications have taken Arindam on cross-country lecture tours to inspire the nation. He has trained the owners and entire top management and editorial teams of India TV & Zee News on Leadership and has been invited frequently on NDTV, Times Now, CNN IBN, Zee, India TV, and Aaj Tak, to speak on topics covering politics, judiciary, education, international relations, lifestyle, fitness, cricket, movies, automobiles, and mobile phones. The iconic Shekhar Suman invited him as a guest for his show, ‘Movers & Shakers’, as have many others for their talk shows/ TedX/ Podcasts. He has also been an RJ with Radio Mirchi.

From 2001 to 2021, he presented an annual ‘Alternative Budget’ program on TV the day before the national budget, aired on channels like Headlines Today, Zee News, and India TV. As a budget specialist, he appeared on nearly every major Indian TV channel on Budget Day. In 2022, with the publication of ‘2047’ outlining policies for the next 25 years, he discontinued his annual budget shows.

Industry associations from CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, and PHDCCI to Rotary Clubs to associations of school principals, and chartered accountants to leading schools like Modern School to DPS, have all invited Arindam as Chief Guest/ Key Note addressee to inspire diverse audiences. Gargi College of Delhi University introduced the special Scholar in Residence program with him. The British Council, Association of British Scholars, and Dubai’s IBPC have organized exclusive seminars to honor him. In the USA, institutions like UC Davis Graduate School of Management, University of California, Daniels School of Business at Denver University, and Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina have hosted his talks. The World HRD Congress invited him across Asia, from Singapore to Colombo to Manila, to deliver keynote addresses on the ‘Global Wage Equality Crusade’, based on his book ‘What Marx Left Unsaid’.

Under his banner of ‘Planman Motion Pictures’, he produced several acclaimed films, including ‘Do Dooni Chaar’, ‘The Last Lear’, and ‘Dosor’, which was selected at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. His nine films have won three National Awards and four Filmfare Awards, with Arindam personally securing three National Awards for ‘Faltu’, ‘The Last Lear’, and ‘Do Dooni Chaar’. He takes credit for giving Amitabh Bachchan his first English film, ‘The Last Lear’, which premiered as the Red Carpet Gala Centerpiece at the Toronto Film Festival, and for reuniting Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh in ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ after 30 years. His filmography includes one English film (‘The Last Lear’), five Hindi films (‘Do Dooni Chaar’, ‘Mithya’, ‘I’m 24’, ‘Rok Sako Toh Rok Lo’, and the upcoming bilingual ‘Sunglass’ in Hindi and Bangla), and three Bangla films (‘Dosar’, ‘Faltu’, ‘Saanjhbaatir Rupkathara’). His films have been selected at festivals in Hamburg, Rome, London, Rotterdam, Spain, Montreal, Edmonton, Melbourne, Abu Dhabi, Madrid, and Singapore.

Arindam was part of the original FICCI committee, led by Yash Chopra, that lobbied for industry status for Bollywood. He delivered the 2010 Key Note Address at the ASSOCHAM and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, "India as a Shooting Destination" Conclave in Cannes India Pavilion and walked the Red Carpet along with global Hollywood icons like Salma Hayek, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Eva Longoria, Helen Mirren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Benicio del Toro.

His directorial debut, ‘Rok Sako To Rok Lo’, was the first film globally to premiere on a mobile phone with live streaming. His films served as India entry vehicles for major studios like Columbia Tristar and Disney. In 2017, he launched the ‘Power Brands Bollywood Film Journalist’s Awards’, the first transparent Bollywood awards with winners selected via open ballot online voting by leading film critics, inaugurated by Rishi Kapoor.

Extremely passionate about media, Arindam started Planman Media in 2005 and for about a decade and half ran it as the Editor-in-Chief of ‘The Sunday Indian’ (the world’s only news weekly in 14 languages), ‘Business & Economy’, ‘4Ps Business & Marketing’, and ‘The Human Factor’. One of India’s most prolific writers on geopolitics, socio-economic issues, business and management, health, and cinema, he has written extensively on China, Africa, and America and has been a columnist for about two dozen Indian newspapers, including ‘The New Indian Express’, ‘Asian Age’, ‘Deccan Chronicle’, ‘Mid Day’, ‘Pioneer’, ‘Central Chronicle’, ‘The Sunday Standard’, ‘The North East Sun Magazine’, ‘Meghalaya Guardian’, ‘Echo of Arunachal’, ‘Nagaland Post’, ‘Sikkim Express’, ‘Kashmir Times’, ‘Millennium Post’, ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ (India’s #1 Hindi daily), ‘Navabharat’ (Hindi), ‘Asomiya Pratidin’ (Assamese), ‘Dharitiri’ (Oriya), ‘Poknapham’ (Manipuri), and Urdu dailies ‘Etemaad’, ‘Kashmir Uzma’, and ‘Sahafat’, making his columns among the most widely read in India. He has also written for ‘Project Syndicate’, ‘Hindustan Times’, ‘The Times of India’, and been a guest columnist for ‘The Economic Times’, ‘The Indian Express’, ‘Business Standard’, ‘The Financial Express’, ‘The Sunday Observer’, ‘India Today Plus’, ‘Dash’, ‘Gentleman’, and ‘Life Positive’.

Through the IIPM Think Tank’s Business & Economy magazine, Arindam Chaudhuri spearheaded a series of global joint research studies with Tuck School of Business and Cornell University, covering Innovation Ecosystems, China’s economic trajectory, Reverse Innovation & Exnovation, CEO performance, and Succession Planning & Leadership Pipelines, with several studies incorporating on-ground primary research by ICMR.

IIPM Think Tank, in collaboration with Yale, also conducted a landmark, first of-its-kind joint research initiative related to a Confidence Index in India, while in October 2011, Arindam came together with Dr. Nitin Nohria, then Dean of Harvard Business School, for Business & Economy magazine’s flagship “Responsible Leadership” cover story, alongside distinguished leaders including Dr. J. J. Irani and Kris Gopalakrishnan, exploring the meaning and practice of responsible leadership.

He continues to write extensively online through his social media pages, his blog, “Passionate About India,” and the online portal dailyindian.com.

Arindam is personally happiest when he is inside a classroom as a teacher. He specialises in teaching Leadership, Humanism, Wage Equity and National Economic Planning. As a teacher Arindam was constantly ranked as the best teacher in IIPM primarily for teaching his trademark original subject, ‘Beyond Principles of Management & Economics’. He started his teaching career with one belief— students with higher EQ would make better leaders as well as human beings. He is proud that over the years, IIPM produced graduates who have entered public life, politics, entertainment, entrepreneurship, consulting, technology, banking, sales leadership, media, social development, and business management across India and around the world. One quick scan through LinkedIn would show that his students are proud IIPM alumni who are thriving at leading organizations like Deloitte, HSBC, Tats Consultancy Services (TCS) and numerous other Fortune 500 companies, banks, consulting firms, and startups.

He served as the Honorary Director of the IIPM Think Tank until the institute ceased operations in 2017. Under his trailblazing leadership, IIPM, in his own words, “Busted the MBA Mafia” and became one of India’s leading entrepreneurial institutions, ranking #1 in Intellectual Impact, Global Exposure, and CSR; #4 overall; and #6 in placements and faculty quality among Indian B-schools, across various rankings published by reputed media houses over the years.

As part of IIPM’s unique and landmark FREE Global Opportunity & Threat Analysis (GOTA) programme, Arindam pioneered partnerships with multiple Top 20 global universities and business schools, creating an international academic immersion experience that was not only highly unusual for Indian students at the time, but remains virtually unmatched even today.

These included Cornell ILR, Haas School of Business, Darden, McCombs, Judge Business School at Cambridge, NYU Stern, Imperial College Business School and SDA Bocconi. Over the years, approximately 25,000+ students received joint certifications through these international academic immersion engagements.

He also helped established arrangements for mini-GOTA programmes in Singapore with NUS and NTU, where undergraduate students undertook a second international GOTA experience as part of their programme.

The scale of IIPM’s Global Outreach Programme (GOP) under Arindam’s visionary leadership is worth emphasising. It went far beyond occasional guest lectures. In several cases, students were taught entire courses by faculty from leading global business schools, while students of its One Year Global Programme received approximately 20% of their courses in India from visiting international faculty.

Through this pioneering initiative, Arindam Chaudhuri brought an extraordinary roster of professors from some of the world’s leading universities and Top 20 business schools to India to teach and interact with IIPM students. They included prominent names such as Ravi Dhar of Yale School of Management; Akash Deep of Harvard; Sunil Gupta, Rajeev Kohli, Partha Mohanram, Kamel Jedidi and Kathryn Rudie Harrigan of Columbia Business School; John A. Czepiel, Priya Raghubir, Russell S. Winer, Susan Douglas and Sunder Narayanan of NYU Stern; Omar Merlo of Cambridge Judge Business School; Joseph Hall of Tuck School of Business; N. Craig Smith of London Business School; and Lakshman Krishnamurthi of Kellogg School of Management, among many other distinguished international academics from MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Wharton, Stanford, Berkeley Haas, Darden, McCombs, Oxford Saïd, London School of Economics, INSEAD, IMD and Imperial College Business School, among others, who conducted courses, classes, executive-development programmes and special sessions at IIPM.

The programme additionally brought some of the world’s most celebrated management thinkers and business personalities, such as Jack Canfield, Zig Ziglar, Joel Stern, Dr. Stephen R. Covey, and Dr. Philip Kotler, into direct interaction with IIPM students. Dr. Ram Charan, the internationally renowned business adviser and author, came as a “Celebrity Speaker” in connection with its corporate programmes. Distinguished international academic Dr. Gita Gopinath, then of the University of Chicago (and subsequently Harvard University), who later served as Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund and subsequently as its First Deputy Managing Director, was also among the visiting professors at IIPM.

This initiative was distinct from GOTA. While GOTA took IIPM students across the world to leading universities, business schools, corporations and international institutions for global exposure, GOP brought leading international faculty and thought leaders to India to teach and engage directly with IIPM students. Together, GOTA and GOP created a two-way model of internationalisation: students travelled to the world, while the world’s leading academic and management minds came to IIPM.

That combination was a defining feature of IIPM’s educational model, envisioned by Arindam Chaudhuri—and a distinctive approach to internationalisation in Indian management education, one that remains without parallel to this day.

Following the closure of IIPM, Arindam took up the voluntary role of Chief Evangelist for the IIPM Alumni Association. A passionate alumnus from the Class of 1994, he has since worked closely with fellow IIPM alumni to promote the institute’s vision and mission globally and to celebrate its enduring legacy through initiatives like IOE: Institute of Entrepreneurship (a Finishing School started in 2018), MYOD: Make Your Own Destiny (his pioneering effort started in 2001 to bring global immersion & world class personality development programs to India) & abillionleaders.com —his online program for masses.

Arindam founded the ‘Aurobindo Chaudhuri Memorial Great Indian Dream Foundation’ in 2002 in memory of his brother, focusing on health, education, employment, and environment. GIDF has supported development in 2,000 villages, impacting millions across 12+ states through primary schools, medical camps, medical vans, low-cost open-heart surgeries, women’s self help groups, sewing machines, check dams, toilets, and schools. Cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar served as GIDF’s ambassador with the tagline, “There’s more to life than cricket.” In 2024, under GIDF, Arindam launched NECTAR: The Zeus Agasthya Krishna Centre for the Science of Happiness & Longevity; an initiative to take Longevity & Happiness to masses at the lowest possible cost.

As an outspoken anti-theist and science rationalist, Arindam believes health crises fuel fraudulent religious practices and belief in God. He envisions a world where universal basic income, covering health, housing, and education, becomes standard, and science enables near-immortal lifespans, rendering God obsolete. The tragic losses of his younger brother, Aurobindo at 19 in a road accident, his elder half-brother, Tom, to a racist attack, his father, whom he wished could live forever, and his beloved 11 year-old nephew, Zeus Agasthya Krishna (Zak), to cancer have profoundly shaped his drive to transform healthcare systems. These experiences have fueled his passion for Public Health & Disease Prevention, Longevity Science & Aging Biology, and Preventive Care & Lifestyle Medicine — intertwined with various aspects of Community Health, Mental Well-Being, Nutrition, and Exercise Physiology. A lifelong learner, Arindam has earned over 60 certifications from top global institutions—50+ from Harvard & Stanford alone— spanning 5 years (260+ weeks/1200+ hrs) of program duration across these passions. He describes this as a ‘self-curated online Medical Specialization in Humanity, Longevity & Lifestyle’ (the exact list of his certifications and the type of program —live online or online etc—can be found in his LinkedIn Certifications & Licences section).

Having completed eight Executive Education programs totalling 52 weeks—5 from Harvard Medical School in ‘Lifestyle & Wellness Coaching’, ‘Nutrition & Wellness Coaching’, ‘Wellness Coaching & Women’s Health’, ‘Health and Wellness: Designing a Sustainable Nutrition Plan’ & ‘Women’s Health & Wellness’ and 3 from Stanford School of Medicine in ‘Nutrition Science’, ‘Exercise Physiology’, and ‘Psychology of Addiction & Recovery’ — Arindam is certified to design evidence-based, bespoke programs across lifestyle medicine, nutrition, fitness, wellness, and women’s health to help slow aging. He also holds a Professional Certificate in Happiness and Managing Stress & Anxiety from Harvard University and three Certificates of Specialization in The Business of Health Care (Penn Medicine & The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, and Food Sustainability, Mindful Eating, and Healthy Cooking (both from Stanford Medicine). He has completed executive programs from Mayo Clinic in ‘AI Foundations & Applications for Emerging Healthcare Leaders’ and from Stanford School of Medicine and Stanford Engineering in ‘The Science of How to Live Forever’. He completed a credit program in Epigenetics & Nutrigenomics — ‘Diet & Gene Expression: You Are What You Eat’ from Stanford Continuing Studies, and completed the programs of Stanford Faculty Development Centre for Medical Teachers in ‘Mastering Medical Teaching’; Johns Hopkins University in ‘The People, Power and Pride of Public Health’; and Yale School of Medicine’s ‘Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers.’ Extending his public health focus to environmental impacts, he has completed focused studies on climate change with certifications from Harvard Business School on climate change and from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in ‘The Health Effects of Climate Change.’ These credentials reflect his commitment and comprehensive expertise in health and wellness.

Inspired by his father Dr. Malay Chaudhuri’s dedication to community health and deeply impacted by his brother’s death, Arindam has written extensively on public health, incorporating it into his lectures since then. He has been invited by Associations of Medical Professionals to deliver leadership programs on public health to doctors and by UNDP-NACO to train PLWHA (People Living with HIV/AIDS). Through The Great Indian Dream Foundation and Manavata Seva Kendras, in memory of his brother, he and his father funded multiple public health initiatives for rural and urban India, including low-cost bypass surgery programs in rural Bengal, ambulances, and night shelter facilities in Delhi. GIDF also supported cremation facilities to ensure dignity in death. His India Trilogy—’Planning India’ (1997), ‘The Great Indian Dream’ (2003), and ‘2047: A Roadmap to Beating USA & China’ (2022) —outlines transformative changes for India’s healthcare system.

Arindam was among the few who foresaw a future pandemic 15 years before COVID, predicting 50 million deaths in a cover story for ‘Business & Economy’ magazine. During COVID, he wrote articles raising awareness and proposing policies, estimating 5 million deaths in India a year before WHO’s 4.5 million figure. He has honored public health pioneers like Dr. Devi Shetty, Dr. Y.K. Hamied, Sramjibi Hospital, Dr. Binayak Sen, Ilina Sen, Arunachalam Muruganantham, Bindeshwar Pathak, Bezwada Wilson, Uma Tuli, Pravin Patkar, Nafisa Ali, Flavia Agnes, Manasi Pradhan, Laxmi Agarwal, You We Can, Prakash Kaur (Unique Homes), Give India, and Smile Foundation with IIPM's 'Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar', awarding prize money between ₹50,000 and ₹5,00,000 to promote public health in India.

His education in public health and disease prevention includes two certifications from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in ‘Improving Global Health: Focusing on Quality and Safety’ & ‘Lessons from Ebola: Preventing the Next Pandemic’ and in ‘Strengthening Community Health Worker Programs from Harvard Medical School. He holds three certifications from Stanford University on ‘International Women’s Health & Human Rights,’ ‘Love as a Force for Social Justice,’ and ‘Teaching LGBTQ+ Health’; one from Johns Hopkins University in ‘COVID-19 Contact Tracing’; and two from the American Museum of Natural History in ‘Genetics & Society: A Course for Educators’ and ‘Evolution: A Course for Educators’. Additionally in the organisational side, he completed two certificate programs from Penn Med and the Wharton School in ‘Health Care Innovation’ and ‘Economics of Health Care Delivery’ and five certificate programs from Stanford Medicine in Introduction to Healthcare, Fundamentals of Machine Learning for Healthcare, Introduction to Clinical Data, Evaluations of Al Applications in Healthcare and in Al in Healthcare Capstone.

Arindam began lecturing on longevity in 2009 with his article ‘The Desirability of Living Forever’, well before it became a trend. In longevity and aging science, he holds amongst others a certificate from Stanford in ‘Your Body Inside and Out: Using Exercise Physiology to Slow Aging’, and another from Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences, HarvardX in ‘Cell Biology: Mitochondria’.

In happiness and well-being, Arindam introduced his original concept of ‘Happy Capitalism’—a theory of emotional well-being in a capitalist society —in his 2003 book ‘The Great Indian Dream’, which he began teaching at IIPM in 1994. ‘Happy Capitalism’ encompasses four iconic contributions: ‘Theory of Increasing Marginal Utility’, ‘Survival of the Weakest’, ‘Trickle Up Theory’, and ‘Theory of Quantity Time’. For him, wellness extends beyond mental health. As a fitness enthusiast, he leads by example as a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Kickboxing and a certificate holder in Advanced Yoga Techniques, having completed Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced courses (75 hours each) in Yoga Sciences & Asanas for Wellness, Fitness, and Flexibility. He has practiced yoga since 2005 and kickboxing since 2014. He has further done three certifications from Harvard Health Online, Harvard Medical School in ‘An Introduction to Tai Chi’, ‘Yoga & You’, and ‘Walking for Health’. To enhance his knowledge of meditation and mindfulness, he has completed a 2-day, in-person certificate program focused purely on the Science of Meditation & Longevity from the Art of Living Foundation.

In preventive care and lifestyle medicine, he holds one certificate from Stanford Continuing Medical Education in Suicide Focused Assessments & Treatment; two certifications from Harvard University in ‘Managing Happiness’ (Harvard Business School and John F. Kennedy School of Government) and ‘Building Personal Resilience: Managing Anxiety and Mental Health’ and, three certifications from Stanford Medicine in Rebuilding Our Relationship with Food, Food & Our Environment and Cooking for Busy Healthy People. He also holds a certificate from Stanford University (Stanford School of Humanities & Sciences) in ‘Your Body in the World: Adapting to Your Next Big Adventure’, a certificate from Yale University in ‘The Science of Well-Being’ and three from Harvard Health Online, Harvard Medical School, in ‘Cognitive Fitness’, ‘Improving Your Memory’, and ‘Understanding Depression’. Further certifications from Harvard Health Online, Harvard Medical School, include ‘Fighting Inflammation’, ‘The Sensitive Gut’, ‘Managing Your Cholesterol’, ‘Healthy Eating for Type 2 Diabetes’, ‘Lose Weight & Keep It Off’, ‘6-Week Plan for Healthy Eating’, ‘Improving Your Sleep’, and ‘Controlling Your Blood Pressure’.

Entrepreneurship runs in Arindam’s blood, making him a unique academic. In 1995, he founded ‘Planman Consulting’, which provides 360-degree consulting solutions to Fortune 500 companies and startups. The Planman Group has interests in IT, media, sports, movies, and charity.

Planman has delivered consulting solutions across HR (Planman HR), Brands, Marketing & Advertising (Planman Marcom), PR (ICPAR) and Market Research (ICMR) to virtually every leading Indian and multinational company operating in India; at its peak, its HR temporary-staffing division had more than 10,000 employees on its rolls, while Planman Marcom’s Advertising & Brand Consulting division was launched with leading advertising guru Alyque Padamsee as its Mentor and Creative Head.

In the technology sphere he started Contentra Technologies in 2003 (sold in 2021) a Content Digitization & Publishing KPO with business in the USA and India that provides Digital Content & Mass Digitization-XML, EPUB, Full service Publishing services for K-12, Children's Publishing, Content Management, Digital Asset Management, Document Management Solutions, Archive/Born Digital Content Strategy, Digital Preservation, Web Archiving, Media Monitoring, and Digital Media Content—Publishing in Media and Large Libraries across the world. Launched as an Intrapreneurship driven Incubation project within the Planman Consulting, Arindam took Contentra from zero to a US$10 million global content-solutions player with 500+ employees and contractors, achieving ISO 27001 and ISO 9000 certifications and building a global footprint of 150+ clients across 30+ countries in India, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas, including large multi-year contracts with the National Libraries of Norway, Singapore and New Zealand, Google, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Pearson, McGraw Hill, HMH and the Government of India, among others.

A sports enthusiast, in 2008, he started ‘Planman Stars’, a leading sports management outfit, introducing virtual advertising to Indian TV through digitized imagery during live broadcasts. Planman Stars managed multiple cricket tournaments globally, including the Indian Cricket Team and several IPL teams. He also owned the Delhi Franchise of the i1 Super Series, India’s first racing league. While nationally he was instrumental in recognising sports icons from Baichung Bhutia (with an award of ₹1,00,000 & a gold medal) to the greats like Virendra Sehwag, Bishen Singh Bedi, Syed Kirmani, Karun Chandhok, Yuki Bhambri, Pankaj Advani and Brand Royal Challengers Bangalore; In 2017 he introduced the ‘Global Sports for Equality Awards’ whose recipients over the years have been icons like Kumar Sangakkara, Gary Lineker, Kashif Siddiqi, Elías Figueroa, Alec Stewart, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Graham Gooch, Tracy Edwards, and organisations like Street Child United & Homeless World Cup Foundation.

In 2009, Arindam launched the biggest international B-School quiz competition in India, the ‘4Ps B&M - IIPM B-School Quiz’, with Shah Rukh Khan as the quiz master.

Arindam has also played a significant role in promoting musical concerts in India, organizing rock concerts featuring Air Supply, MLTR, and Boney M, among others.

In August 2021, he launched ‘A Billion Leaders’, an online education initiative to teach, amongst other topics, “wage equity and humanity” free of cost to the masses.

During Bill Clinton’s historic 2001 India visit, Arindam launched ‘The Great Indian Dream: India Can Beat America’, a seminar series focusing on policies to surpass American per capita income. Beyond ‘Happy Capitalism’ and ‘Theory ‘i’ Management’, he has developed theories like ‘9Ps Success Trilliant Theory’, ‘NECTAR for Living Forever’, and ‘IA (Intellectual Autonomy) in Times of AI’. In ‘Thorns to Competition’, he introduced the ‘THORNS’ theory, flipping marketing by asserting ‘Needs Can Be Created’. In his economics books, he argues economies have one central problem—’for whom to produce’—determining how governments prioritize the marginalized.

In 2017, Dr. Chaudhuri launched ‘Power Brands LIFE’ (London International Forum of Equality) to amplify the need for global equality in education, health, living standards, and justice. Some of the greatest charitable organisations, global leaders and icons of humanity, peace, science & rationale like Richard Dawkins, Laimdota Straujuma—the 12th Prime Minister of Latvia, Laurent Salvador Lamothe—the 16th Prime Minister of Haiti, PETA, Heather Mills—Anti-War Activist, Dr. Zlatko Mateša—6th Prime Minister of Croatia, H.E. Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan—5th President of the Maldives, Cherie Blair Foundation, Leymah Roberta Gbowee—Liberian peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner for women's rights in conflict resolution, have been felicitated with cash awards upto $5000 at PB-LIFE.

A radical 1:1.25 egalitarian, on May 5, 2018, he initiated the ‘Global Wage Equality Crusade’— a global lecture series to advocate for a maximum of 3:1 wage ratio (ideally 1.25:1) between the lowest and highest-paid workers, based on his father Dr. Malay Chaudhuri’s ‘Production of Skills by Means of Skills’ from ‘What Marx Left Unsaid’.

In the last decade of his life at IIPM, Dr. Malay Chaudhuri had personally initiated and awarded some of the highest monetary prizes in independent India’s history (all without sponsors). The recipients who received ₹5 lakh and above included:

₹1 crore Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize in Literature to Ramapada Chowdhury (2010), presented by Nobel Laureate Prof. Mohan Munasinghe and Lord Meghnad Desai
₹51 lakh Rabindranath Tagore International Peace Prize to Irom Chanu Sharmila, the Iron Lady of Manipur (2010)
₹10 lakh each Surama Chowdhury Memorial International Award in Literature to: Syed Mustafa Siraj, Atin Bandopadhyay, Abul Bashar (2008); Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Imdadul Haq Milon, Selina Hossain, Prafulla Roy, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Samaresh Majumdar
₹10 lakh Swami Vivekananda Memorial Prize to Metroman E. Sreedharan
₹5 lakh each Manavata Vikas Awards to: Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar, Gurcharan Das, Mahasweta Devi, Medha Patkar, Dr. Ashok Sanjay Guha, Shuvaprasanna, Sunanda Sanyal, Kiran Bedi, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, T.N. Seshan

Through the Annual ‘Bhartiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar’ whose recipients include the Former President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Arindam has tried to keep his father’s vision of recognising champions of humanity, peace, art and literature alive. Dr. Malay Chaudhuri, who founded IIPM, had also founded the Bhartiya Manavata Vikas Party — a political party dedicated to human development in India. Arindam has not ruled out reviving the party someday.

Media:

Awards

Two decades of Awards and Recognitions

On 22nd October 1998, when Arindam was all of 26 years of age, The Financial Express first spotted him conducting a leadership workshop for senior corporate executives mostly double his age and covered him in an article.
On July 10th 1999, The Hindu called him a Management Guru for the first time - a title that has become synonymous with his name.
On March 5th 2000, The Hindustan Times did a cover story in its Sunday Edition on him calling him "The Guru With The Ponytail" establishing him as one of India's India's leading management voices, as the country moved into the new millennium.
At the age of 28, in the year 2000, Dr. Chaudhuri was awarded "Management Guru 2000 Award" by Chennai based Om Venkatesa Society which annually honours management experts.
In the year 2001 at the age of 29 he was selected amongst one of the 50 leading thinkers under the age of 40 to represent South Asia at Wilton Park (an organisation supported by the European Commission and British foreign office) where he was invited as a special speaker.
In 2002, his film Saanjbathir Roopkathara, after becoming the entry vehicle of Columbia Tristar into regional films and going to some of the leading Film festivals across the world wad selected as one of the 7 best films of the year at the London Film Festival.
In the year 2002 Hindustan Times took Dr. Chaudhuri around multiple states for a Teachers' Day seminar series titled "The Great Indian Dream - Leading India Towards a Better Tomorrow"
In May 2003 Dr. Chaudhuri was awarded the "Personality of the Decade Award" by K.G.Foundation, Coimbatore. This prestigious award had been received in the past by Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, Mrs. Sudha Murthy & Dr. Chritian Bernard.
On 14th February 2004 he was awarded the ‘Example to the Youth Award’ by the Rotaract Council in Chennai.
In 2004 at the age of 32 he was selected as an advisor to the consultative committee of the Planning Commission of India in the areas of education and social sector.
On 15th January 2005 he was awarded the ‘Centennial Service Award for Professional Excellence in Recognition of his significant achievement in the field of Education and Management’ by the Rotary International during its Centennial celebrations in Mumbai.
On 4th June 2006, when he wasn't even 35, The Financial Times called him "The Maverick Management Guru".
On 19th September 2006 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded the Priyadarshini Academy's Biennial Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Management. He was honored along with NR Narayana Murthy & Subir Raha by Kamal Nath, the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry.
On 15th March 2007 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri's films Faltu and Dosor swept away the BFJA awards winning 8 trophies including the best film and second best film.
In May 2007, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri's film Dosor got selected for the 60th Cannes Film Festival in the Les Cinema Du Monde section. It was a rare honor for an Indian film.
On 9th Sept. 2007 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri's film 'The Last Lear' starring the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival where it was selected for the GALA section - the red carpet centerpiece event - of the Toronto Film Festival.
On 23th September 2007 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded the Life Positive Reader's Award in the category of 'Change Agent'by the Chief Minister of Delhi Smt Sheila Dixit in recognition and deep appreciation of his pioneering achievement in bringing about significant attitudinal change in society.
On 28th September 2007 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri & Dr Malay Chaudhuri were awarded the "JJ IRANI AWARD" for the Best Group of Management Institute by the PN Singh Foundation, Mumbai.
On 15th December 2007, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded the prestigeous LOUIS MARCHESI FELLOWSHIP by the Round Table India Foundation - the Indian arm of The World Round Table. The honor in past had been given to Mother Teressa and Deepak Chopra amongst others.
On 10th August ‘08 Dr.. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded the Best B-School Teacher (North), at the Best B-Schools Awards organised by the Deccan Herald Group.
On 2nd September 2008, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri received the National Award from the president of India for The Best Feature Film in the Family Welfare category for the year 2006 for his film FALTU.
On 4th November 2008, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri won the award for the Best Teacher Award in General & Strategic Management at the 16th Business School Affairs and Dewang Mehta Business School Awards, Mumbai
On 4th November 2008, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented the Business School with Best Industry Interface Award for IIPM at the 16th Business School Affairs and Dewang Mehta Business School Awards, Mumbai
On 14th January 2009 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri received the Star Screen Award for Best English Feature Film for The Last Lear.
On 4th February 2009 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented the Star Youth Achiever Award at the Idea Global Youth Marketing Awards.
On 21st October 2009, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri received the National Award from the President of India for The Best Feature Film in English for the year 2007 for his film THE LAST LEAR which starred Amitabh Bachchan in a memorable role of an ageing shakespearean stage actor.
On 4th November 2009, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri won the Thought Leadership Award in Management at the 17th Business School Affairs and Dewang Mehta Business School Awards, Mumbai
On 4th November 2009, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented the Awards for Best B-School in the Non IIM Category, B-School with Best Infrastructure, B- School with Best Industry Interface, B-School with Highest International Placements and B- School with Best Syllabus in International Business in India in 2009 for IIPM at the 17th Business School Affairs and Dewang Mehta Business School Awards, Mumbai
In 2009 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri received for IIPM the Mail Today Award for No.1 Rank in Global Exposure, Faculty, Placements, No.2 Rank for Potential to Network, Student Development, Infrastructure and No 3. Rank for Industry Interface.
On 23rd July 2010 at Suntec Singapore Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was given the 'Management Thought Leadership Award' at Asia's Best B-School Awards.
On 24th November 2010, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented the Hall of Fame Award along with B-School with Highest International Placements Award for IIPM, at the 18th Business School Affairs and Dewang Mehta Business School Awards, Mumbai
On 5th December 2010 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri won The Achievers and Leaders Award for Excellence in Brand Building at the SIAS (Sri Lanka-India-South Africa-Singapore) Partnership Summit in Colombo
On 29th January 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri's film Do Dooni Chaar won 4 Black Ladies at the Filmfare Awards.
On 12th February 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented the B-School with Highest International Placements Award for IIPM at the Star News National B-School Awards 2011
On 11th March 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri won "India's Most Fearless Editor Award" at the 5th Media Federation of India Awards for his scathing editorials in The Sunday Indian.
On 22nd July 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded for IIPM Asia's Best B-School for Global Exposure & Entrepreneurship at the 2nd Asia's Best B-School Awards, Singapore
On 22nd July 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri presented Asia's Best Business Magazine Award for his magazine Business & Economy at the 2nd CMO Asia Awards for Excellence in Branding and Marketing, Singapore
On 9th September 2011, Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri won the National Award for the Best Hindi Film for 2010 for his film Do Dooni Chaar.
On 25th September 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded the Future Leader Award at the Asia Leadership Awards, Dubai
On 25th September 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded for IIPM the B-School with Highest International Placements and Best in Class Industry Interface at the World Education Congress Asia Awards, Dubai
On 25th November 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded the Most Popular Book of the Year Award for 'Thorns to Competition' at the Global Awards for Brand Excellence, Mumbai
On 26th November 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was was given the Edupreneur of the Year Award at the 19th Business School Affairs and Dewang Mehta Business School Awards, Mumbai
On 14th December 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was given the Education Baron Award at the Le Matinal Education Excellence Awards at the Africa India Partnership Summit in Mauritius.
On 14th December 2011 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was given the Outstanding Contribution to Inter Continental Social Integration Award for his charity The Great Indian Dream Foundation at the Africa India Partnership Summit in Mauritius.
On 15th February 2012 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented for IIPM the Best B-School Magazine Award for IIPMs Alumni Magazine, "CULT" at the 6th Indy's Awards for Excellence in Mass Communications & PR, Mumbai
On 18th February 2012 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was given the Visionary Leader Award as well as presented The Best B- School in the Non IIM category for IIPM at the DNA Innovative B-School Awards, Mumbai
On 18th February 2012 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented the Outstanding B-School (North) Award at the Bloomberg UTV B-School Excellence Awards 2012
On 6th April 2012 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was handed over the award for the Most Valuable Business School at the 3rd Annual Leadership Conclave & Indian Affairs Business Leadership Awards, Bangalore
On 19th July 2012 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented the Title of India's Greatest Brand Builder at the 3rd Edition of CMO Asia India's Greatest Brand Builders in Singapore.
On 25th June 2013 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was presented Senatorial Recognition by Senator Dean Heller in recognition of Planman Media's exceptional magazines and contribution during it's visit to Las Vegas for the American launch of Power Brands.
On 10th November 2013 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri's film Sunglass was showcased as the opening film at the Kolkata International Film Festival.
On 19th May 2014 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was invited to showcase his film Sunglass for a special screening at the Habitat Film Festival in Delhi.
On 23rd September 2015 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was honoured by the Forum of Public Schools in Delhi and invited to inspire public school principals of Delhi.
On 24th September 2016 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was awarded the Indywood Media Excellence Award.
On 19th December 2017 Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri was given the title of One of the Finest People of Delhi by Elite Magazine and featured on their Annual Calendar for the year 2018.

Gender: Male

Personal Information

Son of Ratna Chaudhuri and Malay Kisore Chaudhuri

Brother of Arundhati Bannerjee and Late Aurobindo Chaudhuri

Husband of Rajita Chaudhuri

Father of Che Kabir Chaudhuri

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