Ghaziabad: Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, held its Annual Convocation on Wednesday, March 18, 2015, at the IMT Ghaziabad Campus, to confer diplomas on the 703 students of three programmes: PGDM, PGDM (Executive) and PGDM (Part-time).

Mr Rahul Bajaj, Chairman of the Bajaj Group and a Member of the Parliament, was the Chief Guest and delivered the convocation address. Mr Bajaj, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001, is an alumnus of Harvard Business School in U.S.A., St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, Government Law College, Mumbai and Cathedral and John Connon School.

The event was presided over by Shri Kamal Nath, President of the Governing Council of IMT Ghaziabad, and the Protem Speaker of the current 16th Lok Sabha in India. A member of the Indian National Congress, he is an alumnus of the Doon School and a graduate of St. Xaviers College of the University of Calcutta. He addressed the convocants and advised, “As managers and leaders, you would propound a value-system which is firmly engrained in management education philosophy and also daring to go beyond the conventional. I wish all the convocants of 2015 a bright future marked by their individual brilliance and collective vision of India as business destination and an egalitarian society for all.”

The Director of IMT Ghaziabad, Dr. Bibek Banerjee addressed the outgoing batch said, “My dear students of the 2015 batch of IMT Ghaziabad: During your stay at IMT, my team worked hard to arm you with relevant concepts and research insights that you can apply to real world business situations. As you go out and make your mark, remember to be street smart. Practice emotional intelligence and balance. Be ethical in whatever you do. Don’t be wary of unleashing your entrepreneurial skills. Take risks. Spread your wings. Carve your own destiny and those of others working with you. But most important of all, don’t forget to chase your dreams with passion. My best wishes to each one of you. Do come back and visit your alma mater whenever you can.”

In the words of the esteemed chief guest of the ceremony, Mr. Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto Limited, “Our country’s economy is at a much lower level than its potential. It is your privilege that you will have an opportunity to build it. In our tradition, one is expected to add value to society in the course of one’s life. When pursuing your dreams, be mindful of your obligations to the society.”

The theme of the Convocation, “Unleashing Enterprise” emphasised on the fact that in professional careers as in the endeavour for excellence, the tried and tested path is no longer the most desirable, the definition of success itself has altered and the pinnacle of professional achievement, that is thus desirable, requires dedicated and continuous enterprise. An appetite for risk and a desire for initiative is the pre-requisite; Rabindranath Tagore’s words are an apt message for the graduating batch: “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”

The theme “Unleashing Enterprise” propagates creation and promotion of next breed of Indian entrepreneurs, while shaping up their aptitude to combat challenges and grab the emergent opportunities. In this new age of global business education there is an urgent need to create global partnerships in the education sector, which IMT seeks to address with its world-class course curriculum.

Noted lyricist and AdGuru Prasoon Joshi said, “I thank IMT for giving me this Special Lifetime IMT Community Award. I would like to thank all my teachers & professors who shaped me in a particular way and it is because of them that I am what I am today. I also thank all my batch mates who have been indulgent with me.  I believe that an institution is definitely about inculcating certain value system and shaping you in a certain way. More importantly it is to unleash the very authentic you from you. This is what IMT has done for me. It has unleashed the very me. I did not have any idea as to how my crazy ideas will find meaning in this world. I would look at communication and advertising but had no idea how to go about it and had no idea about the business aspect to it. IMT taught me to look for that destiny. It taught me to create my own world, and I am thankful to all those years that I have spent here”.

The event was also marked with the traditional IMT Ghaziabad way of felicitating the distinguished alumnus of the year, Mr. Debashis Das, Vice- President, Marketing (Asia Pac & MENA), VKL Seasonings and Keya Food International. The highlight of the event was the ‘Special Lifetime IMT-Community Award’ to one of the most distinguished alumnus, the Padma Shri recipient, Shri Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, Asia Pacific & CEO of McCann Worldgroup India and the much acclaimed Bollywood film lyricist.