IIT Ropar’s ‘Pookie professor’ celebrates graduates with Gen Z vibes on convocation day

The institute’s 14th convocation ceremony took the internet by storm, as it had all the ingredients of fun that made it an occasion to remember

The graduating class of 2025 at IIT Ropar’s 14th convocation were in for a pleasant surprise as the director Prof Rajeev Ahuja, agreed to play along with the youthful mood. Breaking the mould of traditional convocation ceremonies that are usually solemn affairs, Prof Ahuja agreed to multiple requests from the Gen Z graduates to strike cool poses. It was a rare show of camaraderie which made the participants and parents sit up.It all began with a student pulling out black sunglasses as he strode onto the stage to receive his degree. Prof Ahuja agreed to wear the sunglasses, and instead of being flustered, posed for the shutterbugs. What was meant to be a regular photo soon turned viral as he engaged in dabbing (a dance move) and Korean finger heart, matching his students’ Gen Z vibes. Another student tried gymnastic moves, one taught the professor fist bump, earning the director the sobriquet of ‘pookie professor’ as the convocation took the internet by storm.Speaking to Education Times, Prof Ahuja, who is on leave from Uppsala University in Sweden and serving a 5-year tenure as director of IIT Ropar, underlined the relevance of the convocation ceremony as the culmination of students’ hard work that demands celebration. “During my stint as an academic at Uppsala University, I realised the celebratory mood during the convocation day. The entire village would turn up to celebrate graduation ceremonies and even PhD examinations. I tried to emulate the same as we awarded 720 degrees, out of which 350 students were from BTech, 114 from PhD, while the rest were from MSc and tech-driven fields,” he said.The BTech students, who were full of energy and brimming with ideas, were particularly keen to engage in what seemed like full-on entertainment. “This was their day, and I was game for it. The master’s and PhD students, on the other hand, were a serious lot,” said Prof Ahuja. As an alumnus of University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee), Prof Ahuja can barely remember his convocation day. “Many of these occasions turn out to be an exercise in boredom, we chose to take the road less travelled,” he added. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here.