Vishwanathan Anand graces JECRC University Orientation Programme ‘21

Mr Anand emphasised on students’ reaction to failure and how they perceive success

New Delhi: Indian Chess Grandmaster and Padma Vibhushan Mr. Vishwanathan Anand graced as the chief guest of the Jaipur Engineering College and Research Centre (JECRC) University Orientation Programme 2021. Mr. Anand, along with several other speakers and moderators, discussed on how to ‘Learn to Lead’ with the fresher students. The orientation session is conducted to acclimatise the new batch of students to university life for their next academic year.
Mr. Vishwanathan Anand said the reaction to failure and perception of success was very crucial. “Failure is not what happened to you but how you felt after it happened. Only when you fail you have a memory of it and it is the same memory that will stop you from repeating the mistake in future. Everyone experiences failure in one way or the other, but recognising how you feel or behave during failure is important,” he said.
While cheering up the students, the Grandmaster further said, “One should enjoy success because it comes rare. But never take it for granted because things tend to get wrong when you least expect it. No matter how hard you try there is always one scenario which you never saw coming. Success doesn’t mean you did everything right.”
Mr. Anand also said while everyone should follow their passion, they should not turn their backs on everything else. “If possible, do what you really enjoy doing and where your passion really lies, but do not ignore things that are of no interest to you. It may come handy in future. A university is the best place to learn this because of so many professors and staff at your support and friends to stay connected with. This is your network for the future,” he said. He also said that the learning never stops and that the novel COVID-19 pandemic was a whole new learning experience. Mr. Anand has won several honours including Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Khel Ratna Award. He has also won Chess Oscar six times in his career.

The virtual conclave was inaugurated by Mr Muniinder K Anand, Managing Director, India and South Asia at Center for Creative Leadership, who delivered a keynote address on this year’s theme, ‘Learn to Lead’. The programme will have over 125 sessions over five days. Orientation Programme 2021 commenced on September 21 and will go on till September 25. Over the course of five days, around 3,500 students, along with their parents, are expected to virtually attend the 2021 session. The programme will also have around 30 alumni, around eight departments and seven initiatives. The admission session 2021-22 is now open until October 15, 2021.
Commenting on the JECRC Orient ’21, Arpit Agarwal, Director, Vice-President, JECRC Foundation, said, “This is an outstanding opportunity for students to get used to the university campus along with champions and masters of the country. I thank Mr. Vishwanathan Anand and all the speakers for sparing their valuable time to inspire learning and career development of the students. His motivational words will surely help students have a clearer vision of the future. Such first-hand experience gives valuable inputs to students’ perceptions and outlook. We, at JECRC, do not just teach students but we groom them to be the future leaders in their respective fields.”
Through the programme, the new batch of students discovered the ecosystem of innovation, coding, entrepreneurship, international internships, and social work. The freshers also got an opportunity to interact with university’s alumni, expert faculty members and experts across industries.
Along with Mr Vishwanathan Anand, around 45 speakers will grace the five-day virtual conclave including Mr. Raghav Gupta (Managing Director India and APAC, CourseEra), Advocate Ashwini Dubey (Supreme Court of India), Advocate Gautam Jasraj Jain, Advocate Madhur Verma, Rajiv Palanki from IBM, Sandeep Joshi from TCS, Shilpa Tyagi (Legal Research Associate at Legislative Law Ministry New Delhi), and Psychotherapist Paul Smith (Manchester, UK) among others. The speakers delivered addresses on various other topics related to academics.