Mr Anand Mahindra, Chairman Mahindra Group and Chancellor, Mahindra University speaks at the launch

Thank you and thank you, Malvika. Honourable Minister Sri Keti Rama Rao, Special Chief Secretary Srimati Chittor Ramchandran, Dr. Ronin Srivatsa, all our colleagues at Mahindra University and Tech Mahindra, I want to thank you all for joining us today.

Now, I've lost count of the number of launches I've had the privilege of attending, but never before have I felt the sense of momentousness, the sense of embarking on a great new adventure that I feel today, because we are truly opening a new page in the story of higher education in our country.

Which is why it's an absolute honor and a great privilege for me to tell you that we have received this morning a message of good wishes and congratulations from our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and I have the honor of reading it out to you, if I may. The Prime Minister says that the launch of a university by the Mahindra Group is an admirable initiative. Parties congratulations and best wishes on this occasion. Education and knowledge are the cornerstones of growth and progress of any nation or society. The university does not merely impart education; it lays the foundation of character building, nation-building among the future citizens of this country. It expands the thinking horizons of students and enables them to make a meaningful contribution to society and the nation. Today, technology and innovation have become the driving force in every field of activity. The leveraging of technology to take education to the people will lead to the true empowerment of the people, particularly the underprivileged and disadvantaged sections of society. This noble gesture of the Mahindra Group will surely go a long way in providing quality and value-based education to students and also equip them for the larger battles in life. Greetings and best wishes to the Mahindra Group for the online launch of the university at a time when the world is overcoming the challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic. The online launch of the university is a thoughtful and enterprising initiative. May the university grow from strength to strength and contribute to nation building. Signed, Narendra Modi, Honorable Prime Minister of India.

Thank you again, Honorable Prime Minister, on behalf of all of us at Mahindra University. I hope this is going to be a page that will bring global standards of excellence to Telangana and to India, and give our bright people the education they deserve. I have to say this is an emotional moment for me because, like Vineet and CP, I am also witnessing a dream coming true. And it's a dream that spans three generations. At the turn of the 20th century, two young men dreamed very big dreams in a very small town in Punjab. My grandfather, JC Mahindra, and his brother, K.C. Mahindra, prospered, but they never forgot that it was their education that was the very foundation of their success. They saw education as vital to the future of independent India and, quote unquote, paid it forward by embedding a passion for education in the philosophy and activities of the company they founded. The Mahindra Education Trust, later known as the K.C. Mahindra Education Trust, was founded in 1953 by K.C. Mahindra with the objective of promoting and encouraging engineering education among Indians by awarding scholarships to Indians to undertake engineering studies abroad. Later, my father, Harish Mahindra, and my uncle, Keshav Mahindra, continued the good work. In fact, I have to say my uncle Keshav Mahindra has long been an inspiration and a mentor in all our educational endeavors. Even today, at the age of 96, he takes a lively interest in all things educational. He continues to serve as the chairman of the United World College Mahindra College Board. He enjoys the KCMEP scholarship interviews every year and has never missed any session. So if anyone's more excited than I am about the Mahindra University, it is my uncle Keshav. I'm honored therefore to convey his blessings and good wishes as well today. And I must also remember another passionate educationist, my mother Indira.

She was a feminist, a writer, and a teacher. Before marriage, she taught at the Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow, and for her, education was a magic monster, particularly in changing the lives of women. That belief in the value of education was passed on to me and has influenced not just me but all my colleagues in the Mahindra Group. Now we run schools ranging from conventional schools to the International Mahindra United World College. We impart vocational life skills through our Pride Schools and the programs of the Tech Mahindra Foundation. We have supported four and a half lakh girls to pursue their school education through the Nanhi Kali initiative, and we've helped hundreds of bright students to pursue their studies abroad. And each time I sat through those interviews, I would wonder why it was necessary to send our brightest young people abroad. I would envision a time when we would offer them an education worthy of their talents right here in India. So it's a delightful irony that an educational effort that started by encouraging students to study abroad is today endeavoring to keep them at home by bringing them the best that the world has to offer right at their own doorstep.

Now, there have been many midwives in the birth of Mahindra University. The Honourable Chief Minister of Telangana, Shri K. Chandrashekar Rao, and his government are pursuing a far-sighted and enlightened policy in enabling the creation of five fully funded autonomous universities in the state. And I'm proud to say that Mahindra University is the first of these universities to see the light today. I want to thank the Chief Minister, KTR, and your colleagues, and assure you that the Mahindra University will add luster to the educational achievements of the state of Telangana. I must pay tribute to my colleague of many years, Vineet Nair, who one day many years ago barged into my office, jumped on the table, and convinced me that Mahindra's duty, given its long history of educational philanthropy, is to contribute to India's quality education needs in a big way. And really, it's thanks to his vision and his perseverance that the Mahindra Ecole was established in 2014, which frankly will form the nucleus of Mahindra University. It, of course, will continue to be deeply engaged with Mahindra University. And I must thank my colleague and Vineet's accomplice, the dynamic CP Gurnani, whose enthusiasm, energy, and implementation skills have brought us to this game. CP, I owe you a deep debt of gratitude.

The next three years is going to see the Mahindra University grow apace, and we plan to add many new schools specializing in a wide range of disciplines. But if Mahindra University is to be a truly outstanding 21st century philosophy, its whole must be greater than the sum of its parts. The word university comes from a combination of two Latin words: 'universus' meaning whole, W-H-O-L-E, and not W-H-O-L-E one would think but W-H-O-L-E, and 'veritas' meaning truth. It can be elegantly translated as 'seeking truth together.' That's what I believe the Mahindra University will be: a community of teachers and scholars who seek truth together. If 'universus' means whole, then an ideal education must nurture the whole person.