My attempt at ghost writing
Respected Director & Faculty, Administration & Staff members, My Dear fellow IITians, Ladies & Gentlemen,
When I first heard that I have been chosen for this honour, I thought, “Oh surely, there must have been a mistake somewhere! We public sector types cannot be in that coveted list, can we?” And I secretly wondered whether they would find out their mistake in time and, when I land up at IIT Kanpur, wearing my freshly ironed suit and tie, shoes spit polished and the Palmolive-close shave, the dean would smile at me and say, “Sorry Mahesh, actually the dispatch department got mixed up with the name and address…”
Actually there is a bit of history in this. I almost did not make it to IIT, thanks but no thanks to the postal department, which had decided to wrongly deliver my letter of admission to the house of a neighbour whose name also was Mahesh. It was only after my religious pilgrimage to the post office for ten days that they were convinced by my steadfast desire to pursue my studies at IIT and the mystery was cleared.
Well, very honestly, this event is a momentous one for me and, standing here in this sacrosanct space, my eyes misty as much with sentiments, as with possibly age, the mind rushes back to those vivid images from about three and a half decades back as if “It’s yesterday once more….”
I had the rare privilege of seeing IIT Kanpur come up from the ground in front of my eyes and also, those of you who have had the pleasure of enjoying a summer-time dip or two in the swimming pool would do well to remember that somewhere it contains a bit of my hard labour and sweat…. We contributed our mite to the digging of the pool as a part of our NCC duties. The boys would enthusiastically keep digging out only to find the mud slipping back overnight and the trudge started once again. We fervently prayed that the pool will be functional in our time but, alas, it was not to be. However I had the privilege of being the first occupant of Room no. 353 in Hall II, which was inaugurated in my time. But it was not just about the buildings but also about all those people whose labour, sweat and, sometimes lives, went into building this edifice of excellence that is IIT Kanpur. I remember the time when, walking back from one of the lectures we heard a loud noise and, on rushing to the scene, found that the structure of one of the parts of the Lecture Hall complex, then under construction, had collapsed, trapping many workmen beneath it and there was chaos all around. We all got involved in the rescue efforts and saved whatever or whomever we could but the whole experience shook us quite a bit.
Sometimes I think back and wonder as to what was that special bit of learning that our alma mater has provided to us. Surely it is not just those double and triple differentials, the thermodynamics or the carbon cycles. It taught us about life and it taught us about approaching an unknown problem with the simplicity of the first principles and the confidence undeterred by lack of inadequate information. It also taught us the importance of the basic values of honesty, integrity and humility. But most importantly, I think it taught us to dream big because, “To dream big is the first step to do big…”. All of us who graduated from here followed our own different dreams but every one of us strived to do things differently and more often than not, produce our own unique brand equity. I am yet to come across an IITian who did not do this though in differing circumstances and to differing degrees. It has also taught us how to differ in a healthy way and how it adds to overall creativity and productivity and helps us all to reach a better solution. I recently read somewhere that, "We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed." I think we learnt how to take the difference of opinion in the right spirit and draw the right lessons from it.
I stand here to acknowledge all the good and rare things that I received from our institute and, if I have reached anywhere in life today, it is entirely owing to the lesson of life I learnt here. I wish to emphasize to all the budding engineers today gracing these hallowed precincts to become aware of the unique environment they have been blessed with and to make the best use of what is available to them so that tomorrow, when they go out, they are ready to conquer the world and carry the legacy of IIT Kanpur forward so that we return in some small way to the society and the country which has invested in building for us this unique temple of learning and proving us with this opportunity to be a part of this peerless experiment in providing world-class education which was launched by our leaders of modern India who had the necessary vision and will to make this happen.
Thank you IIT and thank you India. Although I cannot possibly repay what I have received here yet, as a humble gesture of acknowledging my debt I am announcing the....
When I first heard that I have been chosen for this honour, I thought, “Oh surely, there must have been a mistake somewhere! We public sector types cannot be in that coveted list, can we?” And I secretly wondered whether they would find out their mistake in time and, when I land up at IIT Kanpur, wearing my freshly ironed suit and tie, shoes spit polished and the Palmolive-close shave, the dean would smile at me and say, “Sorry Mahesh, actually the dispatch department got mixed up with the name and address…”
Actually there is a bit of history in this. I almost did not make it to IIT, thanks but no thanks to the postal department, which had decided to wrongly deliver my letter of admission to the house of a neighbour whose name also was Mahesh. It was only after my religious pilgrimage to the post office for ten days that they were convinced by my steadfast desire to pursue my studies at IIT and the mystery was cleared.
Well, very honestly, this event is a momentous one for me and, standing here in this sacrosanct space, my eyes misty as much with sentiments, as with possibly age, the mind rushes back to those vivid images from about three and a half decades back as if “It’s yesterday once more….”
I had the rare privilege of seeing IIT Kanpur come up from the ground in front of my eyes and also, those of you who have had the pleasure of enjoying a summer-time dip or two in the swimming pool would do well to remember that somewhere it contains a bit of my hard labour and sweat…. We contributed our mite to the digging of the pool as a part of our NCC duties. The boys would enthusiastically keep digging out only to find the mud slipping back overnight and the trudge started once again. We fervently prayed that the pool will be functional in our time but, alas, it was not to be. However I had the privilege of being the first occupant of Room no. 353 in Hall II, which was inaugurated in my time. But it was not just about the buildings but also about all those people whose labour, sweat and, sometimes lives, went into building this edifice of excellence that is IIT Kanpur. I remember the time when, walking back from one of the lectures we heard a loud noise and, on rushing to the scene, found that the structure of one of the parts of the Lecture Hall complex, then under construction, had collapsed, trapping many workmen beneath it and there was chaos all around. We all got involved in the rescue efforts and saved whatever or whomever we could but the whole experience shook us quite a bit.
Sometimes I think back and wonder as to what was that special bit of learning that our alma mater has provided to us. Surely it is not just those double and triple differentials, the thermodynamics or the carbon cycles. It taught us about life and it taught us about approaching an unknown problem with the simplicity of the first principles and the confidence undeterred by lack of inadequate information. It also taught us the importance of the basic values of honesty, integrity and humility. But most importantly, I think it taught us to dream big because, “To dream big is the first step to do big…”. All of us who graduated from here followed our own different dreams but every one of us strived to do things differently and more often than not, produce our own unique brand equity. I am yet to come across an IITian who did not do this though in differing circumstances and to differing degrees. It has also taught us how to differ in a healthy way and how it adds to overall creativity and productivity and helps us all to reach a better solution. I recently read somewhere that, "We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed." I think we learnt how to take the difference of opinion in the right spirit and draw the right lessons from it.
I stand here to acknowledge all the good and rare things that I received from our institute and, if I have reached anywhere in life today, it is entirely owing to the lesson of life I learnt here. I wish to emphasize to all the budding engineers today gracing these hallowed precincts to become aware of the unique environment they have been blessed with and to make the best use of what is available to them so that tomorrow, when they go out, they are ready to conquer the world and carry the legacy of IIT Kanpur forward so that we return in some small way to the society and the country which has invested in building for us this unique temple of learning and proving us with this opportunity to be a part of this peerless experiment in providing world-class education which was launched by our leaders of modern India who had the necessary vision and will to make this happen.
Thank you IIT and thank you India. Although I cannot possibly repay what I have received here yet, as a humble gesture of acknowledging my debt I am announcing the....
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