The FINANCIAL — The Indian School of Business celebrated the Graduation Day of its 12th Graduating Class of the Post Graduate Programme in Management, Class of 2013 and the Post Graduate Programme in Management for Senior Executives Class of 2012 at the Hyderabad campus.
The Chief Guest for the Day was Ramachandra Guha, noted historian, writer and biographer (Environmental, Social, Political and Cricket), Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the London School of Economics (LSE) and Padma Bhushan recipient. He was joined by Kishore Mahbubani, Dean and Professor in the Practice of Public Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore as the Guest of Honour. Also, gracing the occasion were Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ISB, Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB, members of the ISB Executive Board, Faculty, Staff and several business leaders.
Historian Ramachandra Guha’s commencement speech was a paean to India, according to ISB. He spoke about the nation’s past, present and how the graduating class can make a difference to its future.
“I am an Indian patriot,” he began marking the tenor of the speech that stayed true to its opening line. “India is the most interesting place in the world” for a historian, he added. The country was “cobbled together with 500 different parts (princely states),” making it “a least likely nation, a least likely democracy.” Yet, in contradiction to the popular western opinion, the nation has survived all odds. Taking jibes at India’s less stable neighbours, Guha remarked, “In some neighbouring countries, it is elections of generals, we still have general elections.” While other countries witness staggered revolutions, India is “undergoing five revolutions simultaneously: national, democratic, urban, industrial and social.”
Guha’s speech, punctuated with personal anecdotes and stories, received a thunderous applause from the audience.
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