Anand Mahindra urges graduates to be citizens 'Of' and 'For' a better world at Mahindra University's 4th convocation

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], August 3 : At the fourth convocation of Mahindra University in Hyderabad, Chairman of the Mahindra Group and Chancellor of the University, on Sunday urged graduating students to step into the world with a strong sense of identity and purpose, encouraging them to not only preserve the present but also shape a better future.

A total of 943 students graduated from various programs, including B.Tech, MBA, LLB, MA, and Nanotechnology, along with 13 PhD scholars.

In his convocation address, Anand Mahindra emphasised the varsity's mission, stating, "The purpose of Mahindra University is 'To educate future citizens FOR and OF a better world.'"

"Educating you to be citizens of a better world means training you to be a model citizen of the world here and now, as it exists today," he explained.

"Imagine the world of today as a beautiful garden. You would, as a model citizen of it, ensure that it is watered, tended, kept spotless and looked after for all to enjoy. But as a citizen FOR a better world, you would be doing the hard work of creating the garden of the future. You would roll up your sleeves, plan a beautiful eco-friendly design, plant the seeds, pull out the weeds, nurture the soil, so that that garden will bloom for everyone, even those who will come after you."

Mahindra invoked the analogy of a garden to illustrate how the two ideas "of" and "for" capture both the need to preserve and to innovate.

He quoted an ancient Greek proverb, "A society grows great when men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit."

Further, he defined the distinction as spanning "the spectrum between Preparation and Action," noting that students' time at the university has shaped who they are today, while their future ambitions will shape who they become.

"If we have done our job, you should have the capability to turn the ideals of today into the realities of tomorrow," he said.

"Being a citizen OF a better world gives you an identity," he said, "but when you are a citizen FOR a better world, you move from inheritor to architect and builder."

He concluded the address by drawing from Indian philosophical thought. Quoting the Upanishads, he said, "Yad bhāvaḥ, tat bhavati As you believe, so it becomes," urging graduates, in a way, to live by their values and act on them to shape the world around them.

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