Light & Life Academy – Graduation day – Speech by Mr. D. Shivakumar, Group Executive President – Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Group.

March 21, 2019:

This year, the Chief Guest and Keynote speaker was Mr. D. Shivakumar, Group Executive President – Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Group. Mr. Shivakumar is an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta and is one of the few people to receive the ‘distinguished alumnus’ award from both these institutions.

As a management expert Mr. Shivakumar typically addresses graduating students of Management every year. He was particularly thrilled to be at Light & Life Academy, addressing for the first time, students graduating in professional photography. Having spent more than two decades in marketing and brand building he brought in a very different perspective of how one looks at the visual medium in general and photography in particular in brand building.

He dwelt on how a visual was the most important part of all communication and how LLA’s students were best placed to benefit from it as students of photography. He interspersed his presentation with interesting anecdotes and visuals to convey the power of the picture.

Among other things, the most important takeaways from his speech for the new graduates dreaming of making a mark as professional photographers were:

– Stay connected with one another and also with the Academy at all points of time. This, he said, was the best way to ensure professional and career growth.

– Be positive. Not look back and regret the decisions taken, but to look ahead and move forward.

The students, parents, guests and Staff gave a standing ovation when the speech ended. This was a speech that they won’t forget all their lives.