“Don’t chase money, chase making a difference. A sense of accomplishment is what drives human beings”, were the golden words shared by Zscaler Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chairman, and Founder, Jay Chaudhry with graduating students as he delivered the 104th Convocation address at Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
The illustrious alumnus exhorted students to strive with a positive attitude towards life and look for their area of passion and fall in love with learning, stated a press release from the institute.
Sharing his personal journey from a humble background to becoming a global tech icon, Chaudhry underscored the importance of finding opportunities out of adversities. He recalled how his parents, from a small scale farming family, struggled to make sure that their children got a good education.
“Adversity is a wonderful thing. Adversity makes you figure things out, what to do and how to do?” said Chaudhry while mentioning how adversities in his childhood helped him develop the work ethic.
“We always come across opportunities. If you work hard, you do good things, good things happen to you. They may not happen every time, but nine out of ten times, people who work hard and go the extra mile, good things happen to them,” he added.
Chaudhry advised the students to embrace resilience, and continuous learning as they step into their futures. Emphasising that success comes from dedication, adaptability, and taking risks, he urged them to be bold and not fear challenges but view them as opportunities to grow.
"Your future is in your hands," reminding them that life is full of ups and downs and figuring out the areas of weakness and improving on them is very, very important.
Reflecting on his own experiences at BHU, Jay Chaudhry spoke about his fond memories on the campus, walks across Banaras Ghats, and strolls in the Lanka area. Crediting Banaras Hindu University for the success he got in his life, the 1980 Bachelor of Technology in Electronics Engineering pass-out inspired students to work hard, be diligent, honest, and strive with a positive outlook in life in order to achieve excellence.
The chief guest said that the day of graduation marks a new beginning for students, and it is up to them to choose the direction they wish to head, while having an adapting nature as life demands them to be.
Noting the technological advancements made by India in the recent decades, Chaudhary said that students are future leaders and will be taking the on-going journey forward. “There will be ups and downs, but there are tons of opportunities that will come along. Those of you who grab them, work on them, figure out, will do extremely well,” he said.
The Zscaler founder acknowledged a greater number of girl students being conferred gold medals, mentioning that India needs to realise the power of women.
In his address, Vice-Chancellor Prof Sudhir Kumar Jain shared the significant progress made by the university for its Growth by hiring and nurturing talent, deployment of resources and building culture and governance. He listed the university’s initiatives for holistic development of students, empowering faculty members, infrastructure development and promoting excellence in education and research.
The vice-chancellor mentioned the progress made by the university in strengthening its alumni engagement and informed that it now has a database of nearly 62,000 alumni records, stated the press release from the institute.
He said that BHU’s initiatives in resource mobilisation and income optimization have proven highly effective, enabling higher budgetary allocations for academics, research and student activities.
The vice-chancellor informed that the university has decided to continue with high-impact initiatives demonstrating measurable academic and research benefits, continuing these beyond IoE tenure through internal resources to ensure alignment with our long-term vision.
Prof Jain said the university community is exuberant in celebrating the academic success, personal growth and start of a new journey of graduating students. The world you are stepping into is one of immense opportunity but also unprecedented complexity. The challenges ahead require not only technical expertise but also a commitment to ethics, collaboration and lifelong learning.
He reminded students to be mindful of two fundamental traits throughout their lives: values and gratitude.
"Always remember that values and ethics will be your greatest partners in your personal and professional growth and never forget to express your gratitude — to not just to your teachers and families but also to the society. Let this gratitude motivate you to give back to te society,” Prof Jain told students.
A total of 34 medals were conferred on 30 students from the dais during the convocation ceremony at Swatantrata Bhawan.
These included Chancellor’s Medals, Maharaja Vibhuti Narayan Singh Gold Medals, and BHU medals. As part of the 104th convocation, 14072 degrees are being presented to students across institutes and faculties. These comprise 867 PhD, 21 MPhil, 5,074 postgraduate and 8,110 undergraduate degrees.
Besides, 544 medals are being conferred upon students at various degree distribution programs. Institutes and faculties are holding their degree distribution programs at different venues across BHU campus.
The graduating students were sworn the pledges by the Vice-Chancellor. Registrar Prof Arun Kumar Singh announced the names of the students who were presented the medals. Rector Prof. Sanjay Kumar welcomed the guests and the gathering. The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks by the Registrar.
Prof Padmini Ravindranath conducted the program while Prof Patanjali Mishra recited the mangalacharan at the beginning of the program.
