)
The 40th annual convocation of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB), held on Friday witnessed graduation of 592 students.
There are seven gold medal winners at the convocation of which two are government officials.
Delivering the convocation address, renowned heart surgeon Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Group of Hospitals, advised students not to give up in life but to pursue their dreams without the fear of failure.
“Dream big, do not fear failure and do not ever give up. Always learn from others, preferably from their mistakes. Watching other surgeons operating, either you learn how to operate or how not to operate,” Dr Shetty said.
Pointing out that charity is not scalable, he advised students to steer clear of negativity and needless criticism. “Accept the world as it is; not as it should be. When things are going wrong remember, things are never as bad as they look and when things are looking great things are never as good as they look,” he pointed out, ending with, “The world is not ruined by the activity of bad people but by the inactivity of good people.” IIMB Director Sushil Vachani emphasised the importance of students needing to develop a global perspective in today’s interconnected world. “An important area of focus for IIM Bangalore has been an increasing emphasis on globalisation of our programmes, our research and our impact,” he pointed out.
The launch of new international field courses has raised the number of PGP students who travelled abroad for study from 34 per cent of the previous batch, to 64 per cent. Similarly, from the Executive PGP and the Public Policy and Management programmes, 100 per cent of students spend time abroad. Such exposure prepares them for leadership in the world economy, he added.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman, Board of Governors, IIMB, and CMD, Biocon, highlighted the the academic year 2014-15 achievements of IIMB.
She spoke on how technology and globalisation are creating a world that is a “boundary-less bazaar” of equitable opportunities. “IIM Bangalore is cognisant of these changes and has ensured that the Institution is in sync with what’s happening globally,” she added.
