India's ace shuttle and Olympic medal winner PV Sindhu told students at IIT Madras that they can be their own role models. A role model and a youth icon, Sindhu said that all one needs to do is work hard and stay dedicated. “I believe everyone can be their own role model. It's not so tough and you will also become a role model to a lot of people in the future. You need to keep doing your work and keep achieving your goals in life. You have the power to create, to become a role model, and to inspire a lot of people,” Sindhu told the graduates. “IIT students are doing a great job for themselves and you just have to continue this tempo even outside the institute,” she added.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras hosted its 58th Convocation on November 20. Olympic medallist and ace badminton player PV Sindhu was the chief guest. The convocation was inaugurated by IIT Madras Director Bhaskar Ramamurthi.
Addressing the students virtually, Sindhu stated how being bold and aggressive at certain points in her life helped her achieve her goals. “Sometimes you have to take a step forward, you have to take chances. It doesn't matter if you fail, you'll always have a second chance. Every time you fall, you have to get up. Every day is a learning process and you’ll have to always keep learning and keep moving forward,” she said.
Pawan Kumar Goenka, former Managing Director of Mahindra, also addressed the graduating students. “As you make this transition from an IIT student to IIT alumni, please know that it is a privilege and a legacy that you must live up to. You are not engineers and PhDs with high skills but you are truly global citizens,” he said. Goenka also spoke about how the road to achieving an Atmanirbhar Bharat looks like. “It will come from technology and innovation and this is where the class of 2021 can play a big role. You can create building blocks of inclusive growth,” he added.
Congratulating the graduating students, Ramamurthi said, “You can take quiet satisfaction in a job well done under very trying circumstances.” Speaking about conducting the convocation online, Ramamurthi added, “This is the second year in a row that we had to conduct a virtual convocation. The institute has been conducting its classes online since March 2020. We are trying to bring back our undergraduate students to the campus, batch by batch, next year. We are hoping that the pandemic allows us to do so.”
A total of 1,962 graduates received their degrees during the convocation. This includes 399 BTech degrees, 379 BTech and MTech dual degrees, 366 MTech degrees and 311 PhD degrees, among others.
