Professor Chetan Subramanian, Professor of Economics and Dean Faculty, had some life lessons to share with the PGP and PGPBA Class of 2023 a few weeks before their graduation: Network and build strong relationships with your peers, remain polite in all your interactions – professional and personal, choose your travelling companion on life’s journey wisely and well, and enjoy the glorious uncertainty and unpredictability of life.
Opening his address at the ‘Last Lecture’ for the Class of 2023, on a beautiful evening at the Open-Air Theatre, tongue-firmly-in-cheek he asked: “What advice can I – a career academic – offer you who have aced your placements and landed your dream jobs?!” When students broke into appreciative applause, he quipped: “Here’s your first lesson: whatever you achieve, you will still fall short of parental expectations. My PhD and my years of research, publication and teaching later, my father wants to know when I will get myself a real job!”
Prof. Chetan Subramanian, Dean, Faculty, IIMB, shares his experience on how to strike a balance between personal and professional lives, during Pragnya 2023.
The ‘Last Lecture’ series, a unique and much-loved tradition at IIMB, now formalized and rebranded as ‘Pragnya’, had three invited lectures by Prof. Varun Jindal, Prof. Chetan Subramanian and Prof. Anshuman Tripathy, this year. The professors were welcomed with loud cheers from the audience and their lectures, peppered with witty asides, were received with much enthusiasm.
Prof. Rahul Dé, Dean, Programmes, IIMB, speaks during Pragnya 2023, on 2nd March 2023.
The mood for the evening of warmth and wisdom was set by Professor Rahul De, who traded his hat of Dean Programmes for that of a raconteur sharing a story of his very own. Reflecting on pigeons and kites, both denizens of IIMB’s corridors and canopies, Prof. De encouraged students to adapt the qualities of both birds: live and thrive in the present like the pigeon but take regular breaks to coast the thermals and get a unique view of the world below, like the soaring kite.
Prof. R Srinivasan, Chairperson of the two-year full time MBA: Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and Post Graduate Programme in Business Analytics (PGP-BA) at IIMB, addresses the outgoing students during ‘Pragnya 2023’, on 2nd March 2023. The soon-to-be-graduate PGP and PGP-BA students invited some of their professors to share life advice beyond the classroom at ‘Pragnya’ – as part of the Last Lecture series.
The PGP & PGPBA Chairperson, Professor R Srinivasan, who opened proceedings set the context for the talk by comparing the journey of a soon-to-graduate student to that of a river as it prepares to join the ocean. “Like the river, you will not have the safety of the banks. As you carve your own identity and become your own brand, remember to keep the identity of your alma mater shining.”
Prof. Varun Jindal, Finance & Accounting area, IIMB, shares his experience of how he started his career at IIMB, while addressing second-year PGP and PGP-BA students at Pragnya 2023, on 2nd March 2023.
The opening lecture was delivered by Prof. Varun Jindal, from the Finance & Accounting area. Drawing from his lessons in Corporate Finance, he chose to illustrate the meaning of risk and reward – in the context of life. Encouraging his young audience to dream big and never fear failure, he urged them to constantly renew and reinvent themselves.
Prof. Anshuman Tripathy, Chairperson, Production & Operations Management area, IIMB, advises the students to make IIMB proud by grooming themselves to be able to create jobs for the people of our country.
In his lecture, Prof. Anshuman Tripathy, from the Production and Operations Management area, drew from movies and cricket – which he described as being “the two absolutely necessary passions for one to qualify for Indian citizenship”, to make his point on how not to take oneself too seriously, how to cherish campus friendships, how to bat on a slow wicket and how to treat failure. In closing, he urged the students to become entrepreneurs and create jobs.
The audience at Pragnya 2023, on 2nd March 2023.
Some of the students clarify doubts during the Q&A session at Pragnya.
(L-R) IIMB faculty members Prof. Anshuman Tripathy, Chairperson, Production & Operations Management; Prof. Varun Jindal, Finance & Accounting; Prof. Chetan Subramanian, Dean, Faculty; Prof. Rahul Dé, Dean, Programmes, and Prof. R Srinivasan, Chairperson, PGP and PGP-BA, during the Q&A session at Pragnya 2023, on 2nd March 2023.
