IIIT Hyderabad: Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi delivers 22nd convocation address

Hyderabad: Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi called upon the youth to globalize compassion. Everything is being globalized and it is time for globalizing compassion too, he said.

Delivering the 22 Convocation at IIIT Hyderabad on Saturday, Kailash said that convocation is the day to remember not because you have graduated. It is the day of gratitude. It is the day to say thank you to all those who brought you here—your parents, teachers, relatives, plumbers and carpenters, and all those involved in your life. It is the day to remember all of those, he told the students.

When you are stepping out of the college now and entering a competitive world, leave all your inhibitions, worries, and fears and step into the world with confidence, he added.

His advice to the youth was, “Don’t chase packages, don’t go beyond packages.” Satyarthi said Engineers mean problem solvers. He said there are four pillars of humanity namely people, planet, prosperity and peace. Use technology to save the planet, he told them. Inner peace is essential, he said

Expressing concern over mental health which is ravaging society, he said it is not an illness. It is growing like wildfire. WHO (World Health Organisation) says about one trillion US dollars is spent on it. 89 million die of depression, he said. If half of that is spent on education, health care and other related areas we would not reach such a mental health condition, he said. Hence, we need compassionate people from all walks of life. We need compassionate political leaders.

Commending the graduating students, Prof. P J Narayanan, Director, IIITH said, “The graduating students of 2023 are joining the professional world formally today, out to chart their own paths in this increasingly competitive and complicated world. I am confident you possess highly useful skills in your area and immense creativity to apply those to different problems. Above all, I urge you to travel your life’s journey with deep concern and caring toward the society around you. We expect the best from you in the coming years and are confident you will exceed our expectations”.

Over 37.5% of today’s graduates – 195 out of 519 – earned their degree based on a high-quality thesis. Graduates of IIITH’s Dual-Degree, Master of Science and Ph.D programmes continue to make their mark in top universities and product groups globally.

Pratyanshu Pandey, B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) was awarded the IIITH gold medal in recognition of his outstanding academic performance. Kandala Savitha Viswanadh (Dual Degree in ECE) was awarded Best All-rounder for his notable contributions to academics, extracurricular activities and IIITH services. Gangavarapu Vigneswara Ihita was awarded Masters in Security for IoT enabled smart cities. She is also a Co-founder of the United Nations recognized platform Youth Internet Governance.