Page 47 - Issue 01

ALUMNI DISCOURSES IN A

PANDEMIC

ALUM NI CO M M ITTEE

IGIDR Alumni Association’s Alumni Discourses is one of the best initiatives started by our super-senior
batch. We hope it'll continue to increase our span of knowledge, thanks to the overwhelming participation
of our alumni.
I can proudly quote, "If you have a garden and a library and the support of your alumni, then regardless of
an academic or a corporate career, you have everything needed to succeed!" Our alumni have distinguished
themselves in various fields and established their careers in different parts of the world.
This year, we successfully conducted three episodes of Alumni Discourses with an aim to connect with

people from different backgrounds. In the first episode, we had Ms. Sohini Choudhuri (Assistant Vice
President at Credit Suisse) and Ms. Ritu Ghosh (Associate Director at UBS) from the M.Sc. 2016 batch, who
are working extensively in the corporate sector. The two guests gave us an idea of how the corporate world
works, the kind of challenges that one may face, and how to deal with those challenges. However, what was
perhaps the most important lesson that we learnt from the two of them was that we need to know our
value and take a stand for ourselves.

In the second episode, we had Dr. Piyush Tiwari (Professor of Property at University of Melbourne,
Australia) from the Ph.D. 1998 batch. While cognitive learning is encouraged at IGIDR by its renowned
faculties, Dr. Tiwari made us realize the importance of emotive learning through his experiences. Besides,
his subject matter expertise in the field of Housing Economics allowed us to learn about something new. He
also gave us insights on what it is like to pursue a Ph.D.
In the third and final episode, we had Dr. Padma Sharma (Economist at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas
City) from the M.Sc. 2006 batch. She gave a small presentation of her work that she had done at the Federal

Reserve Bank of Kansas City. After the presentation, she gave her thoughts on what it is like to pursue a
Ph.D. abroad and the challenges that one may face. She also gave us an approach of how to go about it. Her
positive attitude and willingness to help was a huge boost for us.
All in all, it was an absolute pleasure to hear from such eminent personalities. In a world where online
classes have become the new norm, the way our guests got nostalgic when talking about their campus life

and what they liked the most about it made us realize what we are missing out on. Having interactions with
such people gives us motivation to aim high and work harder to achieve our goals.

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