Kiran Bedi, leading academic lights in Symbiosis of unity and transformation

It was brainstorming at its best on Thursday morning at Taj Business Bay, Dubai, at an event organised by Symbiosis Dubai.  Symbiosis Dubai, the international campus of India’s prestigious Symbiosis International (Deemed University), had hosted its flagship HR Conclave, The Power of People.

The ballroom of the hotel was bubbling with joy as students, faculty members and invited guests, had assembled to listen to India's first woman police officer and former Lt. Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi, filmmaker Kabir Khan and other experts from different walks of life.

Bedi spoke on “The power of one: Uniting people for Transformation,” regaling the audience with her thoughts and inspirational words. Her journey itself is an inspiration for people. She has dared to do what she felt was right throughout her celebrated career. 

She spoke about her journey of becoming India’s first woman police officer to being at the helm of Tihar prison, to discharging her duty as Lt. Governor of Puducherry. She showed through her presentation how she used her position to transform the lives of ordinary people wherever she worked. She concluded: “This is how a leader can transform society.”

Her audio-visual presentation showed how she has touched the minds and hearts of common people through her inclusive style of leadership. Addressing the audience, she said that “all those who are sitting here in this room have the capacity to transform the society.”

She cited the example of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Mother Teresa and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, to narrate how one person could change the course of history.

Dr. Bedi has been working tirelessly for the benefit of society. When asked what keeps her going even after all these years, she said: “It is the growth mindset. You need to give purpose to life. If you continue with a growth mindset, you keep growing — then you look for the areas of growth and then opportunities for growth will keep coming, and you don’t reject those opportunities, you take them. It is with the growth mindset you pick up opportunties.”

Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro-Chancellor of Symbiosis International University, said: “Symbiosis Dubai is incredibly proud to be among the top five Indian institutions selected under the India-UAE bilateral education agreement, and the first fully CAA-accredited Indian university to be established under the UAE Ministry of Education in Dubai.” She underlined the vital role of education in bridging nations and cultures and nurturing globally competent citizens.

Taking Symbiosis Dubai as an example, Dr. Bedi said that “students should take full advantage of this facility which has come here. I am very happy; it is now up to them to value it. Indian students who are studying here in Indian schools, instead of going back to India for higher education — here is an opportunity for you.”

Talking about the role of corporates in creating leaders for tomorrow, she said: “They should collaborate and encourage students to become leaders. Groom them for the next level of leadership. If you upskill youth, they are going to come back and work with you. I think you should give them learning experience on the job. That is the role of seniors for juniors. It is like a pipeline of leadership.”

Talking about her time at Puducherry, she said: “I showed you through my presentation how I used power of my position to make a difference in common people’s lives.  What I did was to use my position; rather than restricting myself, I expanded my work to people — and that’s what you saw in my presentation.

Symbiosis is one of the top five academic institutions from India to establish a presence in Dubai under the bilateral agreement between the Governments of India and the UAE (alongside IIT, IIM among others).

Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International University, while talking to Gulf Today, said that “when my father had started Symbiosis in 1971, the education scenario was very different in India.

There were limited number of universities in India and they were mostly single discipline institutions like management or law. But now you see the number of institutions have increased in India. We have 1,000 universities and more than 50,000 colleges; so the competition has increased."

She added that “with the new education policy, an education reform has taken place in India. That also encourages us to set up our international campus.”

“In 2020, the new education policy was rolled out by the Indian Government and very select Indian universities were supported by the Indian Government to open their offshore campuses and I am glad that Symbiosis is part of this journey of Indian Government. 

Along with IIT Delhi (Abu Dhabi), Symbiosis has also set up its campus in Dubai. I am glad IIM Ahmedabad is also coming.”

When asked what makes Symbiosis different from other Indian Institutes, she said: “Our value system in Symbiosis has not changed. So, whether its campuses in different part of India like Pune, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Noida, Delhi or even Dubai, the Symbiosis culture remains the same.

This culture rests on a very strong foundation of ethics, honesty, diversity and inclusion. So, with the philosophy of Vasudev Kutumbakam (the whole world is one family), I think Dubai is just the ideal place, since it is a melting pot of many cultures. I think Symbiosis is at the right place at the right time.”