Mysuru: Giving a call to graduating students to develop sensitivity towards the images that one comes across in one’s daily lives and analyse them through the lenses of financial inclusion and economic development in order to bring about societal transformation, Dr. Viral Acharya, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), drew comparisons between the prompt return of micro-loans by poor people while big businesses get greedier and do not repay the loans.

He was speaking at the Fifth Graduation Day of MYRA School of Business held at its premises in Yelwal recently and made the topic of finance, especially micro-loans, simple by weaving a simple collage of the images that he had been observing since his school days in Mumbai some three decades back till now.

He dwelt on images of slum kids playing near helipad in Mumbai aspiring to reach the sky, the homeless woman on the roadside, making sacrifices to ensure her children get food and education, and talking to women entrepreneurs lining up to get micro-loans in Kolkata.

Dr. Acharya, speaking about the importance of finance as an instrument of progress and transformation of livelihoods, drew upon the four different snapshots of his daily scenes that he witnessed over the years in India.

He said, “I saw how a mother tries to eke out her living and help educate the kids and also being a micro-entrepreneur, starts small businesses as sari trader or setting up a small cool drinks parlour or a beauty parlour to augment family income to send kids to English medium schools and better colleges.”

He concluded his talk by reading out a poem called ‘The Invitation’ which touched the souls of students as it highlighted the significance of simple things leading to transformations in one’s life.

MYRA Governing Board member and former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai spoke about the huge potential in the job market today given the growth rate that India is expected to witness by drawing comparisons between India and China. MYRA founder Dr. Shalini Urs also spoke.

Dr. Ambarish Ramasastry, Managing Director of RA & Son Pte Ltd, Singapore was also present. Nearly 80 students were conferred PG Diploma in Business Management.