IIM Indore celebrated the 74th Independence Day on August 15, 2020 ‘digitally’. Professor Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore hoisted the tri-color at the central lawn. Following the guidelines of safe distancing, only a few members of the community attended the event physically.
Professor Rai in his Independence Day speech mentioned that we need to be patriotic from the heart and focus on nation building. ‘We need to understand the difference between a country and a nation. A country has a geographical landmass, population and sovereignty. However, to build a nation, we have to add the fourth element—culture and civilisation to it’, he said. We need to introspect and reflect to make our nation an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Professor Rai noted that the frequency of natural calamities has increased over the last few months—which is a signal from the nature to be more cautious and vigilant. ‘A small step taken by us might help this nation to become Atmanirbhar. So, let us take a pledge to leave the environment cleaner than how it was before you found it; and a person happier than how he or she was before you met him—then you have effectively contributed towards building an Atmanirbhar nation’, he said.
He advised that the foundations of nation building need to be stronger to build an Atmanirbhar nation. ‘Remember that if we plan to build an Atmanirbhar Bharat, we also need to realise that no job is small and every job needs respect and full dedication’, he concluded.
The IIM Indore community members had shared their song, dance and poetry videos on various patriotic songs on this occasion. These videos were then shared on social media as a part of Digital Independence Day celebrations.