MSU gold medallists thank their alma mater

VADODARA: It was a day when M S University (MSU) had organized a special function - 'We are Proud of You' - to felicitate its gold medalist. But, Friday turned out to be an evening for many gold medalists to thank their alma mater.
From a Faculty of Fine Arts student - Roshan Chhabria - who had first failed in his bachelors of commerce, to a masters of commerce student, Shweta Gupta, from a small town of UP, most gold medalists shared their journey of how they had battled to get the gold medals.
Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III had laid down a tradition of organizing informal get-together of gold medalists at vice-chancellor's official residence 'Dhanvantri' on the eve of annual convocation. Here chancellor and vice-chancellor (VC) not only felicitate gold medalists but also give them a chance to speak their heart out for their alma mater.
On the eve of MSU's 60th annual convocation, a total of 147 students who will bag 242 gold medals on Saturday, were felicitated by MSU chancellor Mrunalini Devi Puar and VC professor Yogesh Singh, both of whom inspired the young minds to take up future challenges.
"When I had selected physics as a subject many had warned me against my choice. Now, I think they would agree that it was the right decision," said Tasneem Painter, a gold medalist from Faculty of Science.
As a B Com student, Roshan had failed in all subjects, but he decided to follow his passion - painting. "Now, I have won a gold medal!" said this Bachelor of Visual Arts student. With three gold medals Paritosh Bhole, a student of electronics engineering department from Faculty of Technology and Engineering (FTE), thanked his teachers for adopting innovative ways in their teaching. "My third year teacher was so creative in his teaching methodology that he explained the subject of transformers through a poster of Bollywood flick 'Jab We Met'," he said.
Monaz Chinoy, a gold medalist from Faculty of Social Work compared the get-together nothing less than "Oscars" for the gold medalists.
"In fact, I was ninth in the waiting list of candidates during admission in MHRM course. Now, I have topped," she said.
Along with experiences, there were suggestions too that the academically elite students gave to their alma mater. "We need to make our website interactive for alumni-university interaction," suggested Sanjana Pandey, a gold medalist from FTE's electric engineering department.
"Our laboratory of nuclear science should be developed and we should introduce projects on a grander scale," suggested Pooja Peeka from Faculty of Science.
Aiswarya Iyengar, another gold medalist from the same faculty, suggested that MSU should introduce some basic course on first-aid training.