5 Takeaways from the Chief Guest address at ‘Prarambh 2021’
We have just wrapped up ‘Prarambh 2021’ – the three-day orientation programme for the incoming MBA batch of 2023 at IFMR Graduate School of Business, Krea University – and we are excited to share 5 brilliant takeaways from the inaugural address delivered by our Chief Guest – Mr TT Srinivasaraghavan, former MD of Sundaram Finance.
- “We need to be good human beings, now more than ever.”
A power house in the world of finance, Mr Srinivasaraghavan lauded Krea’s effort in re-imagining management education with an emphasis on humility and compassion. “ The imperativeness of humanitarianism has taken on a completely different dimension. I am delighted that here is an institution which seems to privilege and prioritise humanity and compassion above the hard grind of business, numbers, ratios, and whatnot,” he shared.
- “We live today in a world where financial inclusion is very much the buzzword.”
Speaking about his association with Sundaram Finance, Mr Srinivasaraghavan shed light on the need to be financially inclusive, something that Mr TS Santhanam (Founder of Sundaram Finance) thought of over 60 years ago. Sharing the humble beginnings of Sundaram Finance, Mr Srinivasaraghavan’s anecdote reflected on how, even today, the company still stays true to its ideals of catering to people from all sectors and backgrounds.
- “The sum total of what any human being knows is a miniscule fraction of what they don’t know.”
Quoting from American novelist Erich Segal’s popular work of fiction ‘Doctors’, Mr Srinivasaraghavan emphasised on how everybody, irrespective of their years of experience and education, will always struggle to fill pages of things they know as opposed to things they don’t know.
- “Humility is the mother of all virtues.”
Sharing one of the biggest lessons he has learnt in life, Mr Srinivasaraghavan shared why of all the virtues, humility is perhaps the most valued. “Humility allows us to listen to another point of view. Even sometimes an unacceptable point of view. And, unsurprisingly, listening is the thing that opens the door to all learning,” he shared.
- “This doctrine of ‘at any cost’ is something I would urge you to shun.”
Elaborating on how learning has a lot to do with knowing what not to do, Mr Srinivasaraghavan further made an appeal to the new batch of students to not fall for a commonly used philosophy in today’s world – doing things at any cost, familiar words in the Indian context when it comes to getting work done at the expense of one’s values, health, and conscience.
Watch the full video of Mr Srinivasaraghavan’s inspiring address to the MBA batch of 2023 here:
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