The 20th Foundation Day celebrations of Jaipuria Institute of Management turned out to be an extravaganza on the Lucknow campus, with a ‘who’s who’ from industry and academia attending the festivities. Amongst them was the much beloved Dr. N. K. Dhooper, Founder Director, Jaipuria, Lucknow. It was definitely a proud moment for him to see the institute come a long way and become a bastion of high quality management education in India. At the celebration, he offered thoughtful words of advice and encouragement to the students in the gathering.

According to Dr. Dhooper, today’s students can do well by following the example set by seniors in various academic and extracurricular activities. He also urged them to build their careers on a solid foundation by offering an example from the Mahabharata: “The answer given by Yudhishtra to Yaksha to his question, ‘What is the path?’ was ‘Path is that on which great people have gone’. Therefore, you have to go the way of your seniors who have been successful in their career thus far.”

Dr. Dhooper also urged the students to look at how their seniors conducted themselves in their academic years at the institute. He believed that the knowledge of the environment they had studied in and the challenges they faced and surmounted could offer them much guidance. “You have the glorious example of Mr. Anand Narain Kapoor – co-founder, Midcom Group, which employs 2500 people – in front of you. He has not only made a place for himself, but has created jobs for others, as well.” Mr. Ravinder Dubey,” he continued “is another example.”

He reflected on his conversation with Mr. Kapoor, who reminded Mr. Dhooper that when he approached him with problems, he was asked to come up with solutions, too. Mr. Kapoor recounts it as one of the most important aspects of the learning process. “That’s why I would ask you to not get bogged down by various problems you might face because they actually make us stronger,” he said, encouraging the students to achieve greater heights of success. “You have the responsibility not only to make your career, but that of others, too. If you aim for that, then the sky is the limit for you.”

Mr. Dhooper was touched by the honor of being recognized on the 20th Foundation Day. And, he graciously shared his gratitude with everyone who was involved in creating this Centre of Excellence. He believes that it was their dedication that grew the Jaipuria brand and resulted in the development of other centres across the country. “The campuses have emerged so well and the faculty members are highly rated. It would be great if makes it to the top 5 B Schools in the country by the Silver Jubilee year. Of course, the other campuses would follow the Mother institution in a short span and that would be a fantastic achievement,” he said, filled with pride and a lot of emotion.

Student Contributors: Akansha Mishra and Anirban