IIT-H gold medallist surprises mother with birthday poster at convocation

An IIT-Hyderabad gold medallist created a touching moment at the institute’s convocation by displaying a poster wishing his mother a happy birthday before receiving his medal. Panaganti Gunashekhar Reddy, who lost his father last year, moved the audience and dignitaries with the gesture.

Sangareddy: Showing his love for his mother, an Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) graduating student displayed a poster wishing his mother a ‘Happy Birthday Amma’ during the 15th convocation ceremony held at the institute’s campus on Saturday.

Panaganti Gunashekhar Reddy (M.Tech), who won the institute gold medal for excellence in academics and co-curricular activities in post graduation, displayed the poster before receiving the gold medal. He surprised his mother Dharma Geetha and other kin, who were present in the auditorium, with his gesture. 

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The guests on the dais Bharatanatyam exponent Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, Chairman of Board of Studies BVR Mohan Reddy, Director of IIT-H Prof BS Murty, and faculty were thrilled by the gesture and appreciated the young man for showing his love to his mother in a unique way.

Since his mother loves classical dance, he requested Dr Padma Subrahmanyam sign an autograph on the poster which he presented to his mother sitting off the dais. She turned emotional by the gesture, and hugged and kissed her son while the entire auditorium watched them in awe. Speaking to Telangana Today, Gunashekhar Reddy said that his mother was feeling lonely after his father passed away last November due to a cardiac arrest.

The family, which hails from Nagaram in Suryapet district, has settled down in Hyderabad two decades ago. Dharma Geetha was working as head of the department of Commerce at Saint Paul’s College. He recalled how his mother supported him throughout his student life and stood as a backbone to the family making many sacrifices. The family was on cloud nine after he bagged Rs 50 lakh per annum package in a prestigious company in Japan. Since his only sister has settled down in the USA, Reddy wanted to take his mother with him. However, Reddy finally wanted to shift to India and build his startup ‘cyberfarms’ into a big company.