IISc convocation 2023

“The lessons you learnt here at the Institute, within the classroom, and more importantly I believe, outside of it have prepared you to face the world outside with confidence and a deep sense of conviction. Never lose that spirit! This campus and your teachers have nurtured you. I hope all of you will, through your work, your conduct, your career, represent this great institution in the best possible manner”, said Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Axis Bank. In his convocation address to the 2023 batch of graduating students from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), he shared lessons from his own life.

“The easiest person to fool is your own self! You can always kid yourself! You can have a list of reasons and excuses on why things didn’t happen the way you wanted them to unfold or why what you have done is the best you could have done given the circumstances or why you did not bring the best of you to every transaction, every interaction… Being honest to yourself is often tough. It can force you to confront some real, uncomfortable truths about yourself. But it’s the one thing that will give you credibility… Whatever work you do—a work project, a research effort, or a personal pursuit—set for yourself clear targets of what efforts will be needed, what will success mean, and most importantly, what will you bring to the table. If you do this well, at the end of the pursuit, you will know with no ambiguity if you have truly succeeded or not and whether you made all the efforts that you had to make”, said Chaudhry. He spoke of the importance of setting personal benchmarks, of not being afraid to ask a stupid question in the quest for knowledge, of striving to make a difference, of showing up, and of cultivating resilience through acceptance.

Chaudhry also highlighted five things to think about in the next five decades when the graduating students would be in a position to influence what would be happening with these things: (1) Science will have to deal with how to be used for good instead of bad more than ever. (2) Average skills like coding, basic research, writing, making art or music, will get automated. Creativity will be at a premium. (3) Climate change is real, and an alternate to Earth is not a far-fetched idea. (4) What will we do with capable human beings who have long lives but no work? (5) Empathy and human touch will become scarce, but will therefore, matter a lot. It will be the most expensive thing.

He concluded his convocation address with a translated song by Rabindranath Tagore: “If no one heeds your call to action, well then, make your own way! Walk on alone, walk on your own, make your own way! If no one dares to speak, if people look the other way for fear has made them weak, stand up and speak, lay bare your soul, and speak your mind! And if everyone retreats because the path is too hard for them to follow where you lead, keep on with bleeding feet though the path be thorny, create your own way! And if no one shines a light, caught out in the night, and as the storm beats down on you, the doors are all shut tight, let lightning bolts burst from your heart as you blaze your own trail!”

The Director of IISc, Govindan Rangarajan, spoke of the legacy of excellence that has been the hallmark of IISc. “We are very proud of all of you, of what you have accomplished during your time here. But I’m sure we will be even prouder of what you achieve once you leave the Institute and go out to the world and make your mark on the world”, he said to the graduating students. The Chair of the IISc Council, Senapathy ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, said to the graduates: “This Institute has prepared you for greater laurels in the future. You are now following the footsteps of many illustrious alumni of the past… Hence, there are high expectations from each one of you. We hope that you will make your family and friends and IISc proud of your future accomplishments.” He wished that as graduates, the students would keep three principles in mind: (1) Create a purpose or goal for your career. (2) Pursue a win-win path to achieve these goals. (3) Focus on hard work, dedication, discipline, time, and effort. [The entire convocation ceremony can be viewed here.]

A total of 848 degrees were awarded during the convocation ceremony, with 360 Research degrees (including PhDs), 369 Master’s degrees, and 119 undergraduate degrees. Fifty-three students received gold medals for academic excellence. Among the gold medallists who received their awards in-person from the Chief Guest, Amitabh Chaudhry, were graduating students from the Division of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Sciences (EECS): Tanay Narshana, Jatin, Anurag Chhetri, Anna Elizabeth Tom, Sajin S, Mondal Saankhya Subrata, and Pokala Praveenkumar.

Tanay Narshana, MTech (Computer Science and Engineering), was awarded The Computer Society of India (Bangalore Chapter) Medal.

Jatin, MTech (Microelectronics and VLSI Design), was awarded The Alumni Medal.

Anurag Chhetri, MTech (Signal Processing), was awarded the Prof. I S N Murthy Medal.

Anna Elizabeth Tom, MTech (Communication and Networks), was awarded the Prof. S V C Aiya Medal.

Sajin S, MTech (Electronic Systems Engineering), was awarded the DESE Design Medal.

Mondal Saankhya Subrata, MTech (Artificial Intelligence), was awarded the Prof. Sargur N Srihari Medal.

Pokala Praveenkumar, PhD (Electrical Engineering), was awarded the Prof. D J Badkas Medal.