Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, Vice-President, Reliance Industries, Anil Ambani and superstar Amitabh Bachchan were among a host of eminent personalities who attended the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Kishinchand Chellaram College in Mumbai on Saturday evening.
The country has been taken to great heights in the last five years through close cooperation between the government and people, Advani said after inaugurating the celebrations.
"It is not only that. It is also the jugalbandi between Bharatvasi (resident Indians) and Bharatvanshi (people of Indian origin) that has helped take the country to great heights," he said.
He said the National Democratic Alliance government is not only capable of making policies, but implementing them too.
Advani told students that India's strength is professional excellence. "In fact, excellence should be ingrained into the system of personality of the student."
Remembering the founder principal of the college, the late K M Kundnani, Advani said the credit for India's transformation goes to all educationists and educational institutions.
Today the world looks at India as a superpower, Advani said.
"Once I went to Australia to participant in a particular function, where I was asked, 'Advaniji, is there any university in India?' During those days people around the world had that image of India. I am proud that now India and Indians command great respect.
Ambani, who is also an alumnus of the college, told the students that nowadays it is very easy to go abroad for higher studies. Earlier, it was quite difficult to get foreign exchange clearance from the Reserve Bank of India.
He also talked about the day when he came for his admission interview. Most of college staff was Sindhi, he said, adding since their names end with 'ni', he was also confused for a Sindhi.
Bachchan said he favoured a disciplined society for making the country "classless".
"It is important to have a disciplined society to make India a classless nation and the onus lies on students to bring this about," he said.
He asked students to make it a practice to get up before sunrise. "Lakshmi will go away from those who sleep when the sun is out."
Amid applause, Amitabh said knowledge is eternal and asked students to make the right decisions.
Banga said, "India could remain prosperous if the system allowed progress of innovation and creative persons and it could happen only when we have an open mind."
"One has to be taught how to learn to learn -- learning to reflect, learning to introspect and learning to apply," he said.
President of the Hyderabad (Sindh) National Collegiate Board (to which KC College belongs) and construction magnet Niranjan Hiranadnani said the college has taken several steps to become a global player.