Mihir Shukla (l) and Pranav Mistry (r)
at Vidyamandir 75th Anniversary Celebrations

Two highly-respected names from the world of technology Mihir S. Shukla and Pranav Mistry, both former students of Vidyamandir, made inspiring presentations to the students, alumni and guests from across the world who had gathered at Palanpur on January 7th and 8th for the 75th Anniversary celebrations of the Vidyamandir Trust Palanpur.
 

Mihir Shukla is CEO and Co-Founder of Automation Anywhere, leader in Robotics Process Automation (RPA) and Pranav Mistry is a renowned scientist and inventor, Founder and CEO of TWO - working on Artificial Reality. Both spoke briefly at the main event of the celebrations on January 8 and also independently addressed Town Hall gatherings for the students and invitees.
 

Shukla, who started by saying that the visit to VMT brought back many pleasant memories – “the campus was my childhood playground” – said that this was where he was first ‘introduced’ to Vikram Sarabhai and the ‘encounter’ “opened my mind”. There was no looking back after that. He urged the students to follow the path shown by a wise man who said, ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it’. His message to the students was to “Dream Big” ad bring about change that impacted lives. “In the next 15-20 years, everything can be different whether it is in retail or healthcare. We can even dream of eliminating poverty on a global scale. Big ideas must be followed by hard work and meticulous attention to details.” Anything could be possible with such an approach, he concluded.
 

Mistry said that Vidyamandir had provided him the foundation of “curiosity, confidence and knowledge” which propelled him forward to working at the frontiers of technology. He said that his origins were a matter of pride and he was confident that many more individuals working on developing technology to new levels were there among the current and future generations of students from the city. “My dream is that Palanpur will provide a number of persons who will be leading the next wave of technological developments – in AI, Robotics, the Metaverse and more”.