Mukesh Ambani,
Chairman, Board of Members,
IIM Bangalore,
Bangalore - 19:15 pm, 30th March, 2012
37th Convocation, IIM, Bangalore
With these simple words, 96 heads bowed and many spirits rose, a thunderous cheer pierced through the heart of poised air and thus came the "finale moment" for many "Raw Material" who embarked their journey on 19th June 2009 to become "Finished Products" last night.
I am not emphasizing that this is something as earth shattering to be discussed at urgent meeting of G-20 heads, but to all of us, it is not less either.
This article it dedicated to those with whom I was sitting in Robes. Unlike some of my previous articles this is not a pat on the back kind. I guess I have written enough of that. The tone is going to be different, as having crossed the cradle of classrooms, the ruthless world outside is welcoming us with mischievous smile and with taunting wry looks as if saying- " You Nuts, So What?". Well I do not have an answer, but hell, I am gonna find one.
I guess now onward, the journey is going to be uphill, testing not only our stamina but or perseverance but our character too. Uphill not because things will get tougher than they were already, but our character demands us not to make easier choices and recede to cozy corner ensconced in blind and short lived bliss. Don't get me wrong, I am not asking you to jump off the cliff without parachute just to tamely prove that we are not "Rajnikanth".
I am imploring all of us, that " In order to prove ourselves worthy of the award conferred upon us last night", We cannot afford to "Meekly Keep Living for the fear of failure".
Life unexplored is a terrible waste, and the ghosts of un-ticked items in our bucket list are going to ravel and the deafening noise will be too cruel to bear. We may have come thus far, but borrowing the words from Legendary J Ramachandran, " What got us this far, may not take us further".
We may not have a new job and typical campus life leads to at many premier colleges, but we already had a job, and a good one. We all have proven ourselves at our work and outside. But if it were merely a better job, many of us would not have cared to head back to college. I sensed, we head back to classroom, because we felt a gaping void within between our reality and our aspirations. I know that this gap have yielded to new-found confidence armed with knowledge.
This journey has jolted us at times of our crazy, untested beliefs, has knocked us out at time when we thought " ye to easily ho jaayega", but finally we know that , "Even if we don't know who is behind a successful person, but certainly it is not the magic". One may not have been born in Richest of families but the purpose of global world class education is not only to teach few books but to instill this very feeling that "yes I too can do it".
I guess our true learning starts now, now has come the time to say to same ruthless world which is challenging us "So What" that " bring it on". We used to be " I can but I won't", and now is the time to declare that " I can and I will".
Please do not let your inner stokes of languishing dreams douse, do not let yourself crushed under others expectations, do not let you start living someone else life. Let the gang we formed hang around, let us be our ideas keeper, let our be match-sticks to each other's candles, let us be fiercest critiques to our own kite flying.
Let the fun continue, it is merely the venue which is shifting.
Beloved IIM-B, so long.
सफर में धूप तो होगी जो चल सको तो चलो
सभी हैं भीड़ में तुम भी निकाल सको तो चलो
इधर उधर की मंज़िल हैं चल सको तो चलो
बने बनाए हैं साँचे तो ढाल सको तो चलो
किसी के वास्ते राहें कहाँ बदलती हैं
तुम अपने आपको खुद ही बादल सको तो चलो
यहा किसी को कोई रास्ते नहीं देता
मुझे गिरा के तुम भी संभल सको तो चलो
यही हैं ज़िंदगी कुछ ख्वाब चंद उम्मीदें
इनही खिलोनों से तुम भी बहाल सको तो चलो
कहीं नहीं कोई सूरज धुआँ धुआँ हैं फिजा
