Mysore/Mysuru: Managing Director of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (India) Pankajam Sridevi has said  that one common factor among all leaders and achievers is ‘Hard Work’ and there is no alternative to it.

She was speaking as a chief guest at the 27th Convocation of Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute for Management Development (SDM-IMD), Mysuru, on Thursday (Mar. 31). Great leaders like Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade, Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw dreamt big and achieved it through hard work. “If you observe closely, it is noticed that hard work is the common factor among all great leaders. You should also dream big and achieve them through the path of hard work,” she  added.

Exhorting students to have the will and commitment along with hard work to achieve their goals, she advised  them to listen to their teacher’s words who work in  the best interests of students and work selflessly.

Teachers are the source of your strength and you should add value to their service through  your achievements  she said and felt that intelligence is like a gift whereas goodness is a choice and both are very important. “Always choose the best in your life  and don’t worry about what  others think and say about you. Assume that you are better than what you think and keep a proper balance between work and personal life. This is important and may pose a challenge to women in particular,” she said and added that women should not back out  when opportunities beckon and instead discuss the matter with family members  to find a solution. She  recalled  that her husband had fully supported her when she left for Switzerland leaving behind her 9-year-old son.

Among 181 Post-Graduate Diploma in Management students,  Sanjana Vijayakumar and Sudeep S. Rao bagged two gold medals each while H. Anirudha Hande, Seethalakshmi Satish Hegde,Yash Sharma Mukund, M. Abhinay  and Prakruti  Vivekananda bagged one gold medal each and received their Degree Certificates from  the dignitaries.

Sri Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade in his Presidential address, asked all educated women to become working women instead of being at home as a housewife. He said that  30 percent of educated women become housewives and stay at home. Talented and educated women can also work apart from managing home affairs and thereby  contribute to the society, he added.

“40 percent of students of our institution are women and all of them have got seats on merit which is an indication that  women have enormous talent. We are now hearing demand for reservation for women but if you notice the talent of women it is possible that in the  next 10 years a situation may come where men ask for reservation,”  he opined and urged the students to have clear goal during the days of their student life and not to suffer from inferior complex.

Apart from achieving through hardwork, students should also imbibe values in life and discharge their social responsibilities, he said and expressed his happiness that a woman achiever has come to the Institution’s Convocation as the  chief guest. Deputy Director of SDM-IMD  proposed the Vote of thanks. Institute Director Dr. N.R. Parsuraman, Deputy Director Dr. S.N. Prasad, Academic Administration Head Dr. M.V. Sunil and others were present.