A message to graduating students

Last week, I was requested to deliver a speech to the graduating students at Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay at the Department Valedictory Function.

I prepared a speech, using help from ChatGPT to eloquently present ideas and thoughts I wanted to share with the graduating students. However, my online drive files did not sync and I realized a few minutes before it was my time to speak that I did not actually have the draft that I intended to present! So I had to improvise and speak ad lib.

I feel I covered most of the points I wished to convey. Here is the draft that I had originally prepared.

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Firstly, let me express my utmost pride in each and every one of you for reaching this significant milestone. Your time at IIT Bombay has been a journey of growth, learning, and transformation, and today marks the culmination of your hard work and dedication. I've had the pleasure of interacting with many of you over the past few years, and I look forward to getting to know those I haven't yet had the chance to meet, when you visit us as alumni in the future.

As you embark on this next phase of your journey, I want to draw your attention to a crucial aspect that is often overlooked — the importance of embracing discomfort and pushing beyond your comfort zones. I want to emphasize to you the significance of stepping out of your comfort zones. As you enter the professional world, you may find yourselves in environments that feel comfortable and familiar. But I urge you to resist the temptation of the familiar, which could breed complacency.

“I hope suffering happens to you”, said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang while addressing students recently at Stanford. He stressed the importance of suffering and hardships to achieve success in life. “I don’t know how to do it […], I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering,” he said. “Greatness comes from character and character isn’t formed out of smart people, it is formed out of people who suffered,” he added. He said that coming from such a great school and surrounded by such incredible batch mates, you are bound to have high expectations. But people with high expectations typically do not have high resilience.

Take a moment to observe the landscape around you when you start your new jobs in a few days. How many individuals above the age of 50 will you see in your organization? If you fail to find a lot of experienced colleagues, this scarcity may speak volumes about the value placed on experience in certain fields. Remember, not all careers may prioritize the wisdom that comes with years of experience.

Try to continuously reinvent yourself, pushing the boundaries of your capabilities, and striving for continual improvement. However, do not change jobs like you would change clothes, trying to keep up with the latest trends and higher pay. While the jobs you're about to embark on may offer lucrative rewards, remember that true success is not measured solely by monetary gains. True success is measured by the impact you create through your work. For others and for yourself. Explore. Find your purpose. And when you have found something that offers you immense sense of job satisfaction, aim to go deep and create a lot of value. Always strive to add value wherever you go. Let the extraction of value from being associated with the organization’s brand come to you as a side-effect of being there. True success is not measured solely by the rewards we reap but by the impact we make on the world around us.

In a society that often seeks validation from external sources, it is important that you trust your own judgment and take pride in living life on your own terms. Do not be swayed by the opinions of others; instead, chart your own course with confidence and conviction.

However, I do also offer a word of caution. Keep in mind that a career marked by stagnation is a career at risk. If you become too comfortable, too complacent, you may find yourself sidelined as the years pass by. I urge you to embrace a mindset of continual reinvention. Life beyond this institute will not come with a user manual or a guiding hand to steer you in the right direction. It will be up to you to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, to decide when to step out of your comfort zone and reinvent yourself.

But fear not. Within each of you lies the resilience, the determination, and the grit to overcome any obstacle that comes your way. You have been through the COVID-19 pandemic as students, so you know what I mean. So, as you venture into the unknown, I wish you ample doses of pain and suffering. It is through these trials that you will discover your true strength and emerge stronger than ever before. May you find within you the courage to embrace discomfort, the wisdom to navigate challenges, and the perseverance to keep pushing forward, no matter what lies ahead.

Congratulations, graduates. We all await your greatness.