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On Graduation Day - Saluting the Future-Ready Class of 2008
“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Indian School of Business (ISB) celebrated its Seventh Graduation Day for the Class of 2008. Culminating their one year of experience at the ISB, 421 students were awarded certificates for the Post Graduate Programme in Management. The Chief Guest for the occasion was Kushal Pal Singh, Chairman, DLF Group. Other distinguished guests on the podium were Rajat Gupta, Chairman of the ISB Board, Thomas S Robertson, Dean of Wharton School, Professor M Rammohan Rao, Dean of ISB, ISB Area leaders, Professors Jagmohan Raju, Sri Sridharan, and Madan Pillutla, Deputy Dean and Associate Deans of the ISB, and resident and visiting faculty members.
The memorable day started with the grand parade of an evidently charged up student body, all dressed in academicals, comprising gowns in the School colour of Black and Purple, accompanied with tasselled mortarboards. They took the Graduation Walk toward the venue, making the start of a journey from the world of academe to the real world. The retinue was led by the honourable guests, Deans, and faculty members. As the procession entered the lavishly constructed hangar in the School Lawns, the crowd comprising cheering spouses, proud and moist-eyed parents, friends and well-wishers, all broke into an involuntary applause.
In his welcome address Dean Rao said, “It is a very special moment for us. The students at the ISB have a very pivotal role to play in the progress of the School, and the Class of 2008 has shouldered their responsibility in an excellent manner.” He recounted the important milestones and proud moments of the School during the past one year, the ISB’s FT ranking being one amongst them.
For the outgoing Class Dean Rao kept his best words, “I wish you all the best as you embark on your new careers today. As you set about charting new career paths I want you to remember that learning does not end here, it continues throughout life. You took a chance, a big leap of faith in yourself, when you quit your jobs and decided to spend a year at the ISB. Many of you have transformed your careers, transformed your lives. As you go forward remember ‘when opportunity does not knock on your door, you can build a door.”
In a rousing address to the gathering, the Chief Guest said, “I consider it a great honour to be invited to address this Graduating Class of 2008, of a truly unique institution which has earned international recognition in an incredibly short span of time.” He noted that the ISB’s outstanding achievement has happened only because “both the teachers and the taught here are fired by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and are committed to the pursuit of excellence.” He then shared with the Graduating Class, his own experiences and perceptions as a business leader of India. “Translate chance into opportunities to achieve personal success,” he said.
Singh noted that in spite of phenomenal growth and dramatic progress, we are still a nation in transition, "caught on the razor’s edge between two conflicting mind-sets - one still pushing an old outmoded pattern of development and which is not quite dead yet; and another young and vibrant mind-set which is still struggling to be born, advocating a new model of growth." In such a scenario, he advised the next generation leaders at the ISB to take upon themselves the colossal task of first, making growth inclusive, and second take upon themselves to revamp the housing and urban infrastructure of the country. He felt that India’s strength lied in recognising, harnessing and exploiting its own intellectual potential. “As future captains of the industry it is your collective responsibility to guide the destiny of our country. The challenge is to manage growth, by making it inclusive, and change mindsets. This is where strategic education comes into play,” those were his motivational words.
Dean Robertson brought in some heartfelt drama back into the venue as he first asked the Class of 2008 to turn back and thank their mentors and family. The whole group rose and acknowledged familiar faces in the audience, and it was one poignant moment. “This is a day of triumph for you, as also it is a day of obligation because opportunities come with obligation,” said the Wharton Dean.
“We look up to you as one of the best and brightest MBAs across the world, and we look at you to provide leadership for economic and social enterprises, to help create jobs, to deliver shareholder value, to fulfil consumer needs, to nurture human capital in all its diversity. We look to you to reflect business, not the way it is today but the way it is going to be,” he added. “Combine your natural talent with your unsurpassed educational learning that you have acquired in this superb school. Go and embrace change, constantly reinventing yourself, and reinvent the world of business,” was Dean Robertson’s message.
Finally, it was Chairman Rajat Gupta who in his mobilising message to the outgoing Class said, “It is not a time to rest, but to redouble our efforts and energies.” This was with respect to the recent FT rankings of the ISB. He said that celebrations come with caution, and pride and self-confidence should be balanced with humility.
“We need to re-commit ourselves and work harder to reassure that we really are world class,” he urged. He also shared a few life learnings with the Class of 2008, “It is not important what job you have got, but it is more important to retain a learning mindset. Take initiatives beyond your immediate responsibilities, and work harder at making others successful along with yourselves. Finally give back to society and start early, and finally beyond any success live by your own values.”
After the addresses, the Scholars of Excellence and Students in the Deans List were handed over their certificates of merit by the Chief Guest. This was followed by the handing over of certificates to all the students, who patiently waited for their moment of glory, while the audience cheered each of them. A vote of thanks was proposed by Savita Mahajan, Associate Dean of ISB.
Formalities over, now it was time for emotions to unfurl, and the fresh graduates partook in the quintessential hat-toss ceremony, cheering each other and soaring their hats as high as their aspirations. Graduation is indeed not ending or finishing up, but it is a journey to the next destination. There is fulfillment and a queer sense of loss at letting the familiar go and stepping into the unfamiliar.
The Class of 2008 is future-ready, armed with an experience called the ISB.
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