"I am just a regular student,” stated 23-year-old Farzan Byramji of Kanpur who was awarded the President’s Gold Medal by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur on July 3, 2023 for the highest cumulative performance index (CPI) amongst all streams of engineering and science on his completing the dual degree, bachelor and masters, in computer science and engineering.
Parsiana queried him as to what it felt like to be one of the handful, if not the only Parsi in the Institute. "I don’t think it felt any different… We did not talk much about it… Everyone was very nice… We did not discuss anything like that.” Byramji was "unsure” if there were any other community members in the student body.
From l: Adil, Farzan and Keshmira Byramji
Byramji’s father, Adil told Parsiana that at the convocation, "the dress code was not the usual cap and gown, but cream kurta, white pyjama and colored sash.” An alumnus of the Sheiling House School, Kanpur, Farzan intends to do his masters in theoretical computer science in an overseas university. "Too early to say which,” he told us. Adil and Keshmira Byramji also have a younger son, Zubin.
A total of 2,127 students were conferred degrees during the 56th convocation. Chief guest, founder and chairman emeritus of software giant Infosys, N. R. Narayana Murthy "called upon graduating students to rise above affiliations and embrace the role of Indians first,” noted the Hindustan Times (HT) of July 4. The entrepreneur had completed his masters in technology in the Institute in 1969.
"All the graduating students could get their digital degrees through the Institute’s in-house technology application… which makes the degree certificates unforgeable, globally verifiable, selectively disclosable and sensitive to user content,” noted HT.