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IIM Indore community celebrated the 73rd Independence Day on August 15, 2019 with full fervour and patriotism. The event began with the assembly of all the participants, faculty members, staff and their family members in the Central Lawn of the Institute for flag hoisting. Professor Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore & Col. Gururaj Gopinath Pamidi then hoisted the tricolour. This was followed by the National Anthem which echoed in the Academic Block, enhancing the patriotic zeal among all the gathered.
Professor Rai then gave the Independence Day speech. He began his speech discussing about the importance of the tricolour and what it means to the nation. He said that the national flag is the symbol of sovereignty for the nation. ‘We as humans are born free. We are intelligent living beings with brains. What we need is liberty. The tricolour is the symbol of liberty’, he said. He then also shared that the three colours of the tricolour denote duty, light and relationship between the living beings, for saffron, white and green colours respectively.
He said that humans and living beings thrive on hope, aspiration and inspirations. ‘If we don’t have any hope or inspiration, the human tribe would come to an end. The tricolour is the hope, aspiration and inspiration for all of us. It’s the hope of the nation, for the citizens and for all the Indians across the globe’, he said.
He then also discussed about the climate change and encouraged the IIM Indore community to take steps to ensure that the future generation lives in a good environment. ‘There has been a tremendous change in climate in a negative way. The apples which used to grow at 6000-7000 feet now require a height of 8000-9000 feet. The ground water levels have dropped and the ramifications of this change are humongous. We have to face global warming, there’s no escape, for even the reduction in the green house emission gases might not help- the gases take around 80-90 years to disseminate’, he said. He encouraged the community to take a pledge to protect the environment and make the campus totally plastic free.
On this occasion, the Institute also felicitated the winners of the various competitions held on the International Yoga Day. These participants received the prizes:
- Article Writing: Reetu Ganjewar, Shubita Garg, Shreyan Chatterjee
- Slogan Writing: Anusha Soni, Devshree Narware, Harshit Lahoti
- Poster Marking: Biman Barai, Mohammed Shahid, Shreyashi Deept
A few housekeeping staff members were also felicitated on this occasion for their outstanding work.
This year, the celebrations also had a cultural programme wherein the participants gave various dance and singing performances, which were appreciated by the IIM Indore community members.
In accordance with the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Institute this year also conducted a CHANGE150 Workshop—a unique project by Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti (GSDS) and the non-profit LetterFarms. The project aims to bring to life the iconic change mantra by Mahatma Gandhi—‘Be the change you wish to be in the world’ by asking students across the nation to handwrite one social change for the nation they passionately want to see and be. The event saw a huge participation from the students from all the programmes at the Institute, sharing their views in the form of slogans, poetry, letters, sketches, etc. These post cards would now be posted to LetterFarms, and the best decisions would be handpicked and presented to the key decision makers of the nation.
The day concluded with a high tea for all.