Bennett University Honours Business Icons with Doctorates (My Article in Times Now)

Bennett University honored industry titans Nadir B. Godrej and Ritesh Agarwal, emphasising that India's rise requires combining wisdom with vision

By Prof Dhiraj Singh

The message at Bennett University’s 7th convocation was clear. If India wants to truly become the Vishwa Guru then it will have to make sure that wisdom and vision go hand in hand. The convocation held on November 15th at the university’s Greater Noida campus also awarded honorary doctorates to two distinguished business leaders both of whom have had very different journeys. One was Mr Nadir B. Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director of Godrej Industries Ltd. and Chairman of Godrej Agrovet Ltd and the other was Mr Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of PRISM, the hospitality chain that owns OYO rooms.

Speaking at the event Bennett University Chancellor Mr Vineet Jain called them two remarkable individuals who stood out for their leadership style that combined “vision and purpose”. The university has been known to award honoris causa doctorates to people who are often overlooked by the noise of online engagement and social media traffic. Describing this year’s chosen awardees, Mr Jain said: “Their stories remind us that there’s no single path to success only the courage to start, the conviction to persist and the humility to learn along the way.”

The citation for the award described Mr Godrej as “a visionary industrialist, poet and environmentalist” under whom the Godrej Group has accumulated over 1.1billion consumers across the world. The more lowkey of the Godrej brothers, Mr Nadir Godrej has been a recipient of the ‘Hurun Most Respected Industrialist of the Year 2023’. At 74 years, Mr Godrej’s vision continues to define the future of Indian enterprise. Under his leadership the Godrej group has expanded in more than 90 countries and diversified into high-impact sectors like chemicals, agriculture, consumer goods and animal nutrition.

Mr Ritesh Agarwal, now 32, transformed the global hospitality landscape through his bold idea, grit and an unrelenting belief in innovation. Starting out at 19 by the time he was 25, he had become one of the world's youngest self-made billionaires. In a short span of time, Mr Agarwal went on to scale Oyo into the world’s largest hospitality ecosystems. Today it operates in over 35 countries and has partnerships with over 1.7 lakh hotels and homes across the world. Mr Ritesh Agarwal’s citation also noted the “imagination and courage” with which he moved ahead in his entrepreneurial journey.

What came out as a total surprise was when Mr Godrej came to the podium to deliver his acceptance speech, because it was entirely in rhyming verse. What was even more surprising was that he had written it himself. At times suffused with self-deprecating humour Mr Godrej brought on many smiles in the audience as he began:

“The need of the hour for our nation
Is a comprehensive education
And just like you as one can see
I will also get a degree
For yours, you worked tirelessly
Mine is of course, honorary!”

In his 16-plus minute speech Mr Godrej also gave a peek into the Godrej family’s contribution to sustainable business as he read out:

“Doing good isn’t just a cost
The gain outweighs all that’s lost
My grandfather probably saw
These examples and found no flaw
He bought far away marshy lands
His critics just couldn’t understand
They concluded that he’d gone quite mad
But today we’re glad, not sad
A township then slowly arose
And this is where our business grows
We provided every needed tool
Housing, hospital and school
My uncle known as SPG
Way back could clearly see
The environment was under stress
Neglect he knew would be a mess
Our creek-side land was reserved
The mangroves there, well-preserved
And from my office I gaze out there
A Mumbai view that’s very rare
With greenery all the way
Until you sight New Bombay.”

Even though it was a difficult act to follow, Mr Ritesh Agarwal’s connect with Gen Z—especially through his part in Shark Tank India—had the everyone in the audience listening in rapt attention. He began with a note of caution to the graduating students. “Until today the test came with answer keys, from tomorrow they will come disguised as obstacles, as challenges, as self-doubts… and opportunities which will feel like chaos at first.” Mr Agarwal’s words were not lost on the students as his company has grown in leaps and bounds in the less than a decade. With his out-of-the-box thinking, he has been able to get more than 2 billion USD in Foreign Direct Investment. In 2024, he acquired the US-based popular Motel 6 chain and partnered with over 1,00,000 summer homes across Europe.

“Thinking big is free of cost,” Mr Agarwal advises his audience. “Don’t dream small because the cost of dreaming is zero. Don’t listen to people who say: ‘Ye kabhi nahi hua toh tumse bhi nahi hoga’ (this has never been done, so you cannot do it either).”

Despite their differences in experience and background, both the honorees agreed that India’s moment had come but it was no fluke or coincidence. Perhaps, Mr Agarwal summed it up best when he said: “The first generation tried to survive. The second generation focused on education and making sure we had a stable country. This generation is benefitting from the hard work of two generations before us.”

(Prof Dhiraj Singh is Head, Centre for Media & Technology, Bennett University & Deputy Dean, Times School of Media)

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