“What could be a better way to start the New Year than with a bunch of fully motivated and charged people who have gone though a year of through training and the pain of spending every other weekend to learn new things?” These were the opening lines of Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce as he gave the welcome address at the Certificate Awarding Ceremony, 4th Pune Batch 2017 on 5th January 2018. He continued by emphasizing on the theme of change, advising them to continue on the learning path as the world keeps evolving and changing continuously.
An evening unlike any other, this year’s Certificate Awarding Ceremony was quite different as two of the participants – Anmol Sahore from Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. and Saurabh Khera from Wirtgen India Pvt. Ltd. – hosted the ceremony as the largest batch of 58 managers graduated from the programme.
The evening commenced with Master Om Khera, 4-year old son of Saurabh Khera, giving adulation to the faculty by singing the ‘Guru Vandana’.
The first German in the EBMP programme, Frank Hoffman, Regional Director, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Pune, then took to the stage, saying “Last year I could not join the batch, as the batch was full and that is a testimony to the success of the batch” He praised the course on its relevance in industry and also on how it helped him put things in an Indian perspective.
Rahul Raj, Senior Manager, ThyssenKrupp Industries India Pvt. Ltd., then addressed the audience explaining how the course helped him gain a 360 degree view of business for his international assignment in Germany. He thanked IGTC profusely for shaping the rough uncut stones for the future.
Jayesh Sule, Senior Manager and Murtuza Kothawala, Manager from Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. gave the audience a glimpse of the time that they spent as a part of the Business Environment Germany, an intercultural study programme organized by IGTC in synergy with DHBW Karlsruhe, Germany.
Abhimanyu Bartwal, Country Sales Manager, Oemeta India Pvt. Ltd. created a stir among the audience with his passionate speech “I must congratulate all of you including myself for successfully completing the course. It has been an amazing journey and we have transformed ourselves as future ready managers.” He then continued by beautifully encapsulating all that was taught during the course. He ended his address to the audience by resonating the one feeling that had overcome everyone “phenomenal we were, phenomenal we are, IGTCians at heart…phenomenal we will be”.
In continuation to Abhimanyu’s address, Ashwini Potinis, Senior Engineer, A Raymond Fasteners India Pvt. Ltd. addressed the audience and revealed that she and her colleague Nitin Walhekar were the first guinea pigs nominated from their organization for the EBMP programme. However, on witnessing their transformation, their company has nominated 5 participants for the next EBMP Batch.
After the participants it was time for the faculty to steal the limelight as Dr. Mankad, faculty for Managerial Economics; Jaya Joshi, faculty for Individuals and Organizational Effectiveness; Sagar Narsian and Rajeev Chawla, our two faculty for Marketing Management; and Anant Amdekar, faculty for Business Law gave their powerful but short parting messages to the graduating students, imploring them to never stop learning and also discovering themselves.
Ensuing the outstanding speeches by the managers, it was time for the family members, the ones who sacrificed their weekends, to share their experiences. Rajalaxmi Venkatnarayanan, wife of Venkatanarayanan S., General Manager, Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd. was grateful to IGTC saying “Saturdays and Sundays initially were very boring as he was charged up every morning for class and I couldn’t understand why. However as the classes continued we started discussing what was taught in class over a cup of tea, something which would not happen prior to him joining the programme.”
After a wife, it was time for a husband to share his experience. Narhar Gosavi, husband of Rupali Gosavi, Senior Manager, INA Bearings India Pvt. Ltd., “I am extremely happy that my wife was part of this course so I do not mind being the minority gender in spouses here today. When I did my MBA she gave me immense support so this was my time to reciprocate. This was a great opportunity for her and has completely transformed her.”
However the highlight of the evening was the daughter of Shailendra singh Bajaj, AGM – Logistics, Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd., Jasleen Kaur Bajaj. “I don’t know what has happened to my Papa” she asked the audience as she innocently narrated changes she observed in her father during the course “After the start of the programme, he has changed all our names at home. My mother is management, I am the shareholder and my younger sister is the future. Not only had this, during dinner ROTI became Return on Time Invested and ROSE as Return on Shareholder Equity”. She ended her sweet speech by thanking IGTC on behalf of all the little children for making their fathers future CEOs and MDs.”
Maria Arunalayam, daughter of Anil Arunalayam, Senior Manager, Bosch Ltd., proudly stated that she is happy as her dad has achieved this significant milestone in his professional life. She continued “Going back to studies after a long time is difficult and as children we could relate to them in searching through books and last minute projects that they had to put in. I was happy to see my father go through the pain that I go through every day. The course helped him evolve intellectually and emotionally”.
After a nostalgic video made by IGTC for the batch, it was time for the dignitaries to finally take the stage. Dr. Juergen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General in Mumbai addressed the audience saying “I come here because seeing the graduating ceremonies of the batches of IGTC is one of the best shows I could ever see in this country. It makes me proud how the IGTC team and the chamber really put together groups, who only meet 50 times a year, but at these ceremonies I am touched to see the spirit which has been developed over this short span of time. In the end you do this for yourself, to transform your personalities so now you have to encourage your colleague sand peers to do the course. That way everyone will progress in the same pace”.
Dharmesh Arora, President and CEO, Schaeffler India and Guest of Honour, nostalgically reminisced when he finished his executive programme six years ago. Accentuating on the ever changing world, he said “The pace of change has definitely quickened but change has been a continuum forever. The future generation will always be faced with the dilemma of changes that are yet to come. And you will be the inventors for changes to come. I congratulate you for undertaking the change in your life and coming back to education as you will be the ones creating the new world”.
Ramesh Palagiri, Managing Director and CEO, Wirtgen India and Guest of Honour was impressed with the passion, energy and team work that each one had brought to the class. He then stated “You completed the course out of sheer passion and because you wanted to become knowledgeable and make a difference in your companies. My advice to you is – find something you are passionate about at the earliest and even if it takes time but keep looking for it”.
After the speeches it was finally time for the most awaited moment of the evening. The distribution of the certificates. Each participant was greeted with a title that best described them. The evening ended with Radhieka R. Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre, giving the Vote of Thanks “In today’s days and age where everyone wants to look into their smart phones instead of each other eyes, it takes a lot to keep the batch connected. Every year, we feel daunted by the challenge as every batch comes with expectations. However, over a period of one year we bond, change and develop a relationship that will last. It has given us the greatest satisfaction to bond with you and have you as our brand ambassadors”.
The final icing on the cake was the singing of the IGTC anthem which truly resonates what IGTC stand for encouraging every alumni to hum ‘IGTCians at heart, phenomenal we will be!!’
