People do business with people they trust, said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, who shared his first hand experience regarding trust at the convocation of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K).

“My last learning is from the student days in IIT, when we were always short of money and under debt. Food at the mess was as good as it can be. We relied heavily on the hostel canteen.

“A samosa at that time cost us 35 paise and a bottle of Thums Up 2 rupees and 25 paise. The canteen was managed by a person called Lala. Lala was loved by everyone. He would serve us till late in night and very generously gave us credit,” he said.

The Governor, who is a graduate in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT-K (1989 batch), underscored that even outside hostel, students got credit from the juice vendor, the shops in shopping centre, etc.

Trust factor & credit

“This may not be surprising. Lala knew us, recognising us as hostelers. Other vendors too recognised us as students from the campus.

“What was surprising though was that we got credit even from some shopkeepers in Kanpur, who did not know us at all. Why did these shopkeepers give credit to us? It is because of their trust in the IIT students,” Malhotra said.

The Governor observed that people do business with people they trust. He emphasised that trust is the foundation on which any relationship is built, whether it is marriage, friendship, or at workplace — between the CEO and the employees, or between a company and its consumers.

Trust & Leadership

Malhotra underscored that it is trust in a person that makes him a leader; it is trust which makes people follow a leader.

“Integrity and ethics are paramount to develop trust. It is not easy to gain trust. To earn trust, a leader must have the courage to take difficult decisions. He must act in the interest of the employees and other stakeholders.

“He must be willing to accept responsibility. He must lead by example. He must possess the humility to learn from his mistakes. He must be just, transparent and respectful. Trust takes time to build. But it is easy to lose trust,” he said.

The Governor observed that to be a successful person, a successful leader, graduating students, try to gain trust and having gained it, preserve trust.

Please don’t think you have arrived

Malhotra cautioned the young graduates that the moment they think they have arrived, they will stagnate. Further, the moment they believe they know everything, they will stop growing.

“Many of you would have got your dream jobs. Others, who plan to pursue further studies, would get them soon. With a degree from a prestigious institute and a good job in hand, please don’t think that you have arrived.

“This is just the beginning, only the first step. The degree has only laid a solid foundation and will take you thus far. You will need to build from here,” he said.

He impressed upon the students that they will need to learn when they change sectors, move across organisations within a sector, take up different roles within an organisation and even within the same role in an organisation.

“Technology is advancing at a lightning speed. What you learnt yesterday would be outdated tomorrow as new ideas and tools emerge daily,” Malhotra said.

Walking down memory lane, the Governor said: ”The steel trunk which carried my belongings to IIT and which my loving wife has preserved till date is still with me. I still have my Wilson tennis racket, with which I religiously played every evening at the clay courts on campus.

“IIT-K has a special place in my heart. This convocation ceremony is even more special as I did not attend our convocation ceremony; in fact, we did not have a proper convocation ceremony, perhaps the only batch not to have it. So, it’s an honour to be back here after 36 long years in a new and privileged role and be a part of the convocation ceremony today.”

Published on June 23, 2025