MYRA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADDS ANOTHER FIRSTS FOR MYSORE

Mysore is known for the Chamundi Hills and temple, the world famous annual Dusshera, the magnificent palaces and the fantastic Brindavan Gardens. This city of many splendors and firsts (from first high school exclusively for girls in 1881 to first Indian city to have city wide Wi-Fi in 2004) added yet another feather in its cap when MYRA School of Business inaugurated the Women Achievers Hall of Fame (WAH!) on March 8, 2014, the International Women’s Day and inducted Rashmi Bansal the celebrated, bestselling author and expert on Indian youth, into it.

The Women Achiever’s Hall of Fame at MYRA School of Business is a first for any B School in India or the world. Dr. Shalini Urs, Chairperson of the MYRA School of Business, explains why it was personally important for her to set up the Women Achiever’s Hall of Fame:

“If we mostly talk about men bullying and brutalizing women, our girls will likely grow up thinking they are second class citizens and our boys will likely grow up thinking that women are indeed second class citizens. What kind of society are we leaving them?

We can and must do better.

We need to and should talk about the brighter side of women too. MYRA’s initiative WAH! is to recognize, salute, and celebrate the achievements of women, and to inspire our youth.

Ours is the land of Lopamudra, Maitreyi, and Gargi—epitome of intellectual and spiritual attainments during the Vedic period (1500 to 1200 BC), and is full of strong, successful women who have done extra-ordinary things in every field of work. We should recognize them. We should celebrate them. We should research their formulas for success and write about them. We should create and teach courses on how women have succeeded in the workplace. We should ensure that they become role models for young girls and women as well as their male counterparts. This is what the Women Achiever’s Hall of Fame (WAH!) at MYRA School of Business is set up to do.” We at MYRA will be weaving gender equality into the institutional culture at MYRA School of Business and spreading the same.

Mr.H. Vishwanath, Honourable Member of Parliament, Government of India and former Minister for Kannada & Culture, Youth & Sports, Forest, Primary & Higher Education, Government of Karnataka was the Chief Guest. Due to announcement of his candidacy for the Loksabha elections from the Congress party, he had to be in Bangalore in the evening. Shri. Vishwanath, kept up his promise and visited the MYRA School of Business earlier than schedule, addressed the gathered audience and left for Bangalore. It is heartening that he honoured his commitment and spent time interacting with students, and also gave a talk on the importance of women in society and the responsibility of youth towards democracy and the elections process.

Mrs. Indrakshi Devi, 4th daughter of His Highness late Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, Maharaja of Mysore (1940-1950) was the Guest of Honour and inducted Mrs. Rashmi Bansal to the Women Achievers Hall of Fame with a shawl and a memento. Dr.William Verdini, Associate Dean welcomed the gathering; Dr.Wolfgang Messner, Professor of International Management, presented the citation and Dr.Sudhendar Rao , Professor of Information Systems, rendered the vote of thanks.

Mrs. Bansal shared with the audience her experiences throughout her entrepreneurial career, her struggles as a budding writer and how she beat the odds to emerge as one of India’s leading youth experts and writers. She shared three nuggets of advice to the students. She advised the students to explore different career paths and pursue knowledge rather than money, which she felt was the norm of the average B-School student. Secondly, she reiterated to the students on why they must be passionate about whatever they pursue. Thirdly, she also advised that if students do not get the career path of their choice, they should learn to be passionate about the choice they have been given.

The induction ceremony involved putting up a plaque in honor of Mrs. Rashmi Bansal on a specially created wall in the MYRA floating class room named MAYA. On this occasion, MYRA also organized the WAM (Women Achievers of Mysore) event as part of the WAH and honoured 22 women from Mysore from different walks of life and across the different sections of the society, as a mark of recognition for their contributions to Mysore.