PROF. (DR.) SARFARAZ AHMED KHAN

WELCOME ADDRESS DELIVERED DURING VALEDICTORY SESSION OF THE WEEK LONG INDUCTION PROGRAMME FOR BA LLB AND BBA LLB STUDENT AT SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL HYDERABAD ON 3^RD OCTOBER 2020.

Hon’ble Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, Respected Prof. (Dr.) Srikrishna Deva Rao, Respected Mr Sri Jayesh Ranjan, Prof. Rick Glofcheski, Respected Mr Vikramjit Banerjee, Respected Mr Santhosh Janakiram, , my colleagues  from faculty and administration, all parents and guardians and all my dear students, a very warm Good Morning to all of you.

It is indeed a great Honour and Privilege to have Hon’ble Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court. Sir your presence is a blessing for our new students and your guidance will be a treasure for them to preserve throughout their life. We are grateful to you for accepting our invitation to be Chief Guest in the Valedictory function of the Induction Programme. I welcome you , sir.  

I would also like to welcome Prof. (Dr.) Srikrishna Deva Rao, Vice-Chancellor NLU Delhi. May your presence today educate my new batch of young students that law should be studied beyond books and should be practised for a greater purpose. I welcome you, sir.

I would like to welcome Mr Sri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS Principal Secretary to Government of India. Dear sir may your presence today instil in this young students the truest form of administrative skills and the disciple imbibed in it. I welcome you, Sir.

I now would like to welcome Prof. Rick Glofcheski, University of Hong Kong. Your presence today again reminds me that COVID has brought people so closer to each other, may your presence today help this new batch understand the international spectrum and scope of the law. I welcome you, sir.

I welcome Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, Additional Solicitor General of India. May your presence today enlighten my student about the true sense of a court and the happiness of fighting for the underprivileged. I welcome you, Sir.

I now would like to welcome sir, Mr Santhosh Janakiram, Senior Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. May your presence today enlighten my students about the most lucrative and challenging arena of the field. May your story enlighten them about the real pros and cons of being a corporate lawyer. I welcome you, sir.

I also welcome my colleagues, all our faculty members and administrative staff present today.

Dear Students, the most famous line I see nowadays treading on the internet is from the Netflix series “Dark” I have not watched it but I am sure you all have, the line reads as follows “The end is the beginning and the beginning is the end”. Dear Students, today you have reached the end of your induction week, but you are about to begin your classes next week and within a span of five years, you will graduate. The cycle of end and beginning continues. Dear student, today I want to tell you again “Congratulation for getting selected for SLS-H and becoming part of Symbiosis Family.”

How many of you remember the golden key of goal setting that I gave you in your first day of the induction week. Can I see a quick raise of hands?

Great, thank you so much for your attention. Today I will give you one more important key- I call it the silver key of Success. Success is a word that is subjected to various interpretations. When we talk about 5 years of your life here, let me tell you that apart from your regular studying you must do a lot of extracurricular and become an all-rounder and along with that I want all of you to follow a path of self-actualization. I want you to learn self-love, inculcate self-confidence, improve your self-belief, take some time out and understand your self-worth, realize that you have self-esteem read with self-dignity and that you are made for more. Each one of you has the potential to excel. By the end of the five years when I will be delivering you your farewell speech, I want to see that all of you have reached the epitome of self- realization. Let me tell you, dear students, once you do what I have asked you today you unlock the key of success and find your true potential and desire and I know that wherever you go and whatever you do, you will achieve success.

Today, dear students I want to give you a reality check. They say, “Success and Failure are different side of one coin called life”. If you utilize my golden key of goal setting you will reach success but, in the process, you will encounter this personality known as Failure. When you meet failure tell him/ her a hello and thank him/her for coming to your life. Dear students, it is important that you understand the concept of failing because it is part and parcel of success and if you can learn from your failures and remember them half your job is done. All of you know Thomas Edison, he had more than 1,000 U.S. patents to his name.  However, as a young boy in school, his mind often wandered, and his teachers told him that he was “too stupid to learn anything”.  He was eventually home-schooled by his mother. However, after his invention, he said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” You can make mistake, but what you are not allowed to do is forget the mistake you have made and the lessons you have learned. There is always this concept of more successful and less successful and it is on you to decide what kind of success you want in your life. However, I promise that if you listen to what I say you will be amongst the more successful people.

I also tell you that you enter this world in times when the most pronounced words are COVID, Quarantine, Lockdown and I know you feel that you are losing a lot. However, I want to assure you as Sundar Pichai says “ You will Prevail” as there was the batch of 1920 which graduated at the end of a deadly pandemic the Spanish flu and several other batches in different difficult circumstances they all prevailed. Remember you will prevail because God is putting you through hot fire to make you the best steel. I belief, you will make us feel proud.

Before I leave and end my speech, I am aware that this being a law school and a fresher orientation of law students, I have not spoken anything about the subject. I also don’t intend to because I know for the next 5 years you will be only learning that, but being the director of this esteemed institution I want to take this opportunity to give you one of your first law lesson, never forget this lesson irrespective of whatever career path you choose. Look at this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5aRzXUzJo-

I hope my message is loud and clear. Being a lawyer is a noble profession. In law, it is not what you tell the judge, once you enter the learning experience you will understand there are many laws and further there are many exceptions to those laws. Thus, if you want to protect your client the way you present your case and the words that you use in communicating the facts and issues to the judge is particularly important.

Thank you, have a wonderful 5 years journey.

PROF. (DR.) SARFARAZ AHMED KHAN

WELCOME ADDRESS  AT THE INAUGURAL FUNCTION OF WEEK LONG INDUCTION PROGRAMME FOR BA LLB AND BBA LLB STUDENTS AT SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL HYDERABAD ON 28TH SEPTEMBER 2020

Hon’ble Justice A. K. Sikri Sir, Respected Prof. (Dr.) Dilip Ukey  Sir, Respected Madam Swati Lakra, Prof. Kris Gledhill, Respected Madam Vibha Datta Makhija, Respected Mr Shailendra Komatreddy sir, my colleagues Prof. (Dr.) Ravi Kumar Jain, Col. S.S. Joshi, Dr Anuradha Binnuri, Dr Srinivas B, my colleagues from faculty and administration, all parents and guardians and all my dear students, a very warm Good Morning to all of you.

It is indeed a great Honour and Privilege to have Hon’ble Justice A. K. Sikri Sir, Judge, Singapore International Commercial Court and Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, amidst us today. Sir your presence is a blessing for our new students and your guidance will be a treasure for them to preserve throughout their life. We are grateful to you for accepting our invitation to be Chief Guest in the Inauguration function of the Induction Programme. I welcome you, sir.  

 I would also like to welcome Prof. (Dr.) Dilip Ukey, Vice-Chancellor MNLU. Sir these students are entering a new journey to study law. May your presence today mentor them to enhance their educational skills and utilize them for best interest. I welcome you, sir.

I would like to welcome Madam Swati Lakra, ADGP Women's Safety Wing Telangana police, dear ma'am may your presence make all students hearing you today aspire to stand for the rights and empowerment of women in the country with the help of legal instrumentalities which they will gather in this institution. I welcome you, Ma’am.

I now would like to Welcome Prof. Kris Gledhill, Auckland  University of Technology Law School, New Zealand your presence here today makes me think that COVID has brought people closer to each other, may your presence today help this new batch understand the international spectrum and scope of law. I welcome you, sir.

I welcome Madam Vibha Datta Makhija, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India. May your presence enlighten my student today to be a great litigator and give them real motivation to become a Zealous Advocate which the country needs today. I welcome you, Ma’am.

I now would like to welcome Mr Shailendra Komatreddy sir, Managing Partner, Tatva Legal, Hyderabad. May your presence today instil in my students the confidence to become a great corporate lawyer and understand the importance of deadline and time. I welcome you, sir.

I also welcome my colleagues Prof. (Dr.) Ravi Kr. Jain, Director SIBM Hyderabad, our campus administrator Col. S. S. Joshi, our Dy. Director Dr Anuradha Binnauri, our Examination Head Dr Srinivas Bandameedi, and all our faculty members and administrative staff present today. We welcome you all.

I am delighted to welcome all the parents and want to thank all of you for choosing SLS-H as a partner for educating and shaping the career of your children. Dear parents, please be rest assured that you have made the right choice and we at SLS-H always strive to make the best out of each student. We welcome you all.    

Dear Students, we congratulate you for getting selected for SLS-H and becoming part of Symbiosis Family.

Today is a big day. I would say today is a day of celebration to mark the beginning of a new journey to a new world. Dear students, now for the next few minutes I speak directly to you. During this interaction, I intend to give you one important key to unlock this new world and to sustain it–I call it the golden key of goal setting.

John Maxwell[1]once said “Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.” I must agree that 5 years is a long time and enough time to generate and understand potential and excel in your desired field if you fix your goal appropriately. The golden key that I now present to you is all about how you set the goal. I want you all to be SMART. I know you all are smart, intelligent, and good students for a fact that you have crossed the competitive selection procedure and today you are sitting before me to hear your induction week welcome address.

But what I meant from SMART here is established Management Goal Setting Theory, explained by G. T. Doran, it consists of five alphabets SMART[2] and for you, this is the golden key to unlock your success. These 5 pointers will help you develop a smart goal. Let us see what SMART stands for-

The First alphabet ‘S’ stands for Specific. Your goal must be specific which ideally means that it should be simple, sensible, significant. Make sure that you are extremely specific with your goal. Do not dream of a thousand goal. Just aim a bullseye.

The second alphabet ‘M’ stand for Measurable. It might be difficult to always measure your goal but there must be some meaningful or motivating measurable objects that you design to measure accessibility to your goal . Make sure you can track the progress of your goals.

Before going to the third alphabet, let me quote Rudyard Kipling, who in the year 1912 said, ‘I keep six honest serving men. They taught me all I know; Their names are What, Why,  When How, Where, Who? Utilize these six men well dear students, utilize them when you are fixing your goal or at any stage you need to raise questions to utilize any of the six words and seek the answer. This will help in not only fixing goal but attaining it too.

The third alphabet is ‘A’ stand for Achievable. This implies that try  to have a goal which stretches your ability but remains possible

The fourth alphabet is ‘R’ stand for Relevant. This implies it should be reasonable, realistic, resourced and results-based. Make sure your plan drives you forward and keeps you authentic. That is to say, your goal must be realistic.

The last alphabet T stand for Time-bound. This implies time-based, time-limited, time/cost limited, timely and/or time-sensitive. Fix some deadlines to reach it, do not procrastinate.

Remember this Golden Key and always be SMART in fixing your goal.

Let me now give you some idea about the place where you will spend a precious half-decade of your life so that you and your parent feel much comfortable. The SLS-H campus where you will be coming soon is a robust and plentiful boasting world-class state of the art infrastructure and an environment-friendly atmosphere with lush green fields spread across the periphery of the campus. This provides for vibrant student life and adequate space for stimulating student activities thereby creating a conducive academic environment and encouraging personality development. The SLS-H since inception, become a pioneer in conducting research and establishing various Cells and Centres and it now boasts of about 28 functional and active Cells and Centres. It has also signed several Memorandum of Understandings with key governmental and non-governmental institutions including Memorandum of Understanding between the Legal Aid Cell and The Women Safety Wing of the Telangana State Police. It has also organized more than 9 National and International Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums, around 9 training programs and capsule courses, more than 25 webinars, numerous guest lectures and various other special events and celebrations in the recent academic cycle. The current year newsletter ‘Stride’ is a testimonial to such gigantic activities, both curricular and extra-curricular activities at SLS-H.

I welcome you all again to enjoy the campus and prove yourself an asset for the university.

Thank you, have a wonderful 5 years journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1]John Calvin Maxwell is an American author, speaker, and pastor who has written many books, primarily focusing on leadership.

[2]In 1960’s, Edwin Locke put forward the Goal-setting theory of motivation, available at <https://www.managementstudyguide.com/goal-setting-theory-motivation.htm> access 27-9-2020. In the year 1981 G. T. Doran explain it elaborately in his article; Doran, G. T. (1981). "There's a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives", Management Review, Vol. 70, Issue 11, pp. 35-36. See for more information: <https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/brief-history-of-smart-goals.php> access 27-9-2020.