The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, celebrated its 63rd foundation day by hosting the Foundation Day Lecture and the Distinguished Alumnus Award ceremony at the campus auditorium on Tuesday.
The event began with a welcome address by IIM Calcutta director Sahadeb Sarkar who began his term this November. In his address, he said: “Today as we celebrate the 63rd foundation day of IIM Calcutta, I extend my warm regards to everybody and our heartfelt gratitude to the board members, faculty, officers, staff, students, alumni and allied stakeholders who have persistently contributed in shaping the reputation of this institution towards becoming a national asset with a premier level of international eminence and excellence.”
(From left) Sahadev Sarkar, Sudheesh Venkatesh, Shrikrishna Kulkarni and Manish Thakur
The Distinguished Alumnus Awards followed wherein the institute felicitated four alumni for their exemplary achievements in their respective careers. This year, the awardees were Dr Narayanan Jayaraman (11th batch), Williams-Wells Fargo professor of finance in the Scheller College of Business; Prabhat K. Bezboruah, (15th batch), board member and director, Bokahola Tea Company Private Limited; Subir Chakraborty (19th batch), managing director and chief executive officer, Exide Industries Limited and Manjari Sharma (51st batch), impact entrepreneur building Farm Didi, a food-tech start-up that aims to empower one million rural women.
Subir Chakraborty
On receiving the award, Subir Chakraborty said: “It feels great to be back to the campus. I would like to thank all my teachers today, especially those at IIMC for building in me a modicum of conceptual clarity and a keen sense of purpose. Sadly, many of them are not there. I would also like to thank my parents, who would have been proud to witness this today. And of course, I am thankful to my wife for being my support for the last four decades.”
Chakraborty also spoke on the importance of sustainability and the role of big companies in working towards sustainability.
Manjari Sharma
Manjari Sharma, who is one of the youngest alumnus to receive the institute’s one of the highest prestigious awards, thanked the jury with an emotional speech. She said: “I don't know if I deserve this award but I am very grateful to everyone. IIM taught me to dream bigger. It gave me my vision and I also found my better half here.”
Followed by the awards, Sudheesh Venkatesh, chief communications officer and managing editor, Azim Premji Foundation, delivered the Foundation Day lecture. He spoke about ‘Institutions Building in Modern India’, where he highlighted principles and works of great leaders and institutes of the country post-Independence.
Inauguration of the IIM Calcutta digital archives
He gave examples of founders of institutes like Isro’s Satish Dhawan, Verghese Kurien of Amul and Narayana Murthy of Infosys. Ending his lecture, Venkatesh said: “Institution building cannot be left to chance. It needs design and work. And every one of us is an architect of the institutions we are fortunate to be part of.”
On the occasion, IIM Calcutta also inaugurated its digital archives wherein all photos, information and achievements of the institute will be documented.