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Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon held its 11^th Annual Convocation on 27 August, 2022. In total, 284 students from the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) 2020-22 and Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM) 2021-22, graduated successfully. This was the largest ever convocation of the Gurgaon campus of Great Lakes.

The ceremony was graced by Chief Guest, Mr. Dhruv Agarwala, Founder, and CEO, REA India, the owner of digital real estate platforms Housing.com, Makaan.com, and PropTiger.com. An alumnus of Northwestern, Stanford, and Harvard Universities, he is also an avid supporter of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India and has been helping startups in the capacity of a mentor, angel investor, and advisor.

The graduating classes were elated to receive their convocation address from Mr. Agarwala, a serial entrepreneur and one of the pioneers of the PropTech industry in India.

Delivering an inspiring convocation address, Mr. Dhruv Agarwala, stated “Through discipline and measured steps, your biggest failure can be your biggest success. Never give up on yourself because you can change everything.”

Sharing some life hacks, Mr Agarwala said, “The first hack is making decisions with the right mental model. Whenever you are faced with two choices in life, always pick the one that is more arduous and seems riskier. At the end of it, you will be rewarded much more for that than the path that seemed easier and obvious. The second hack is being persistent. Even if you fail, you must go out in a blaze of glory. Age is only a number; ultimately it’s all about your health. This is another big hack. Manage your health on a daily basis and never fall off the wagon.”

Presenting the Director’s Report, Dr. Debashis Sanyal, Director, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, listed the highlights of the institute’s developments throughout the years and recent ones. Prominent among those were Great Lakes, Gurgaon being the first to introduce Analytics, AI, Machine Learning & Digital Strategy in MBA curriculum, ranking among the top 5 emerging B-Schools by the National HRD Network in 2019, and being ranked 52^nd among management institutions all over India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

Paying homage to Padma Shri awardee Late Dr. Bala V Balachandran, Founder and Former Chairman & Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management, one of his video messages was played for the graduating batches. “Aptitude combined with attitude and values along with commitment to your organization is extremely important. Your aptitude combined with this attitude decides the altitude that you can reach. The sky’s the limit and there are horizons for you to conquer,” said Dr. Bala in the message. It also touched upon the importance of compassion and added, “Passion is important, but passion with compassion is more important. Abilities are important, but abilities with mobility are more important. Likewise, success alone is not important, success with integrity is more important.”

Concluding the day’s proceedings, a congratulatory message from Mr. Mohan Lakhamraju, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Great Lakes Institute of Management, was conveyed by Dr. Jones Mathew, Professor, Marketing. Addressing the graduates, he said, “This will be a cherished occasion as it marks the culmination of a very intense spirit of learning and personal growth for all of you. He gave two valuable lessons: Play the long game: that is to optimize for the long term and own your future and your destiny: that is you should always take responsibility for what happens to you.”

As a part of the convocation ceremony, academic honors were announced for the meritorious students. The gold medalists from PGDM 2022 were Harkiran Chhabra, Academic Topper, and Pujan Das, Best Outgoing Student. The gold medalists from PGPM 2022 were Symphony Satpathy, Academic Topper, and Surva V, Best Outgoing Student.