Best wishes, and warm greetings. Hearty congratulations are due to all of us as we are part and parcel of the amazing transformational journey of Karunya from a startup Engineering college established in the mid-eighties, to the A++ accredited institution by NAAC, that it is today.
It gives me immense pride to write the foreword to this much awaited edition of “The Missing Link”, especially as I had the honor of writing the foreword to our college magazine “The Voice of Karunya” in 1990.
Time does fly. It seems not so long ago that we, a bunch of shy and diffident youngsters, entered Karunya as the Beta batch. The total strength of our college was around 300 at that time and we were indeed privileged to be part of this pristine environment that has molded us into engineers with a vision to transform society.
The word “Transformation” has a strong Karunyan connotation to it. An education was acquired, and lives were transformed, especially as many students heeded altar calls in our worship and healing services. Hence, I was quite intrigued, when in my corporate world at Ashok Leyland, I encountered this term gaining topmost focus. An organizational announcement from our chairman elucidated the need for a “Business Transformation”, especially as the Automotive Industry was most impacted by the pandemic & also had to leapfrog into a new emission era. This new function for Business Transformation was headed by the senior-most person in the organization who was now made the Chief Business Transformation Officer (CBTO). This made me realize that the need to transform is universal. It is personal, spiritual & now official too.
Change is the only constant and how we embrace it determines our transformation and success. In this edition of The Missing Link, you will find many articles focusing on “Transformation”. The imminent roll out of 5G mobile technology will usher in another round of transformation of our digital space. But amidst all this transformation, the underlying thread is the need to physically and emotionally connect & network which emphasizes the need for digital detox.
The automotive industry I am in is also undergoing transformation with the influx of electric vehicles (EV) rapidly replacing Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered vehicles. While EV technology called “the clean power train” has its pros & cons, we must prepare and participate in this transformation to remain relevant.
I conclude by turning the spotlight on my batch mate & Mechanical Engineering topper – D. Thomas – who has taken voluntary retirement from his high-profile job as a leading scientist in DRDO, to bring about societal transformation in the backward regions of Jharkhand.
That, in essence, is what we as Karunyans and engineers who are called to Arise & Shine must strive for.
