One who
achieves a grade is a graduate. Today is your graduation day. You’re formally
entrusted with the grades you have achieved during the course of your training
programme here at Christ University. You are now graduates. This is a
tremendous achievement from many perspectives.
It is an
achievement by you. We believe that you have acquired the required experience,
sufficient knowledge, and the capacity to make good judgement. This was what we
aimed at while giving training to you here.
It is an achievement
by your parents. They have brought you to the best educational institution.
They applied their muscles and toiled for you while you were muscling with the
books. They prayed for you while you were buried with your assignments and
tests. They spent their precious time worrying about you while you
systematically invested your time and energy to reach this glory.
It is an
achievement for your nation. You are from different parts of the world. You become
another fortunate son or daughter of your nation by adding yourself to the
skilled force of your nation.
As
graduates when you step out of your alma mater, we entrust you with a prophetic
mission that was well presented in our core values. You were trained to be
human beings whose ultimate goal is the fullness in God, knowing the truth and
leading a virtuous life. We do want you to be real guiding lights. It should be
not like, as the most famous European humanist of the 16th century
Erasmus puts it, in regione caecorum rex est luscus. Become true beacons of light. We want you to
work as positive catalysts in the world.
For some of you, study was cakewalk. Some
of you never worked any way near to your potential. For some it was real
struggle. It was fight against all odds. The sweetness of your achievement
depends on the way in which you reached this day.
Let me take your attention to two persons
and a sports team which became viral in the social media recently.
Srinivasa Ramanujan
An immensely talented Mathematician of
our Land was Srinivasa Ramanujan. The recent movie, The Man Who Know Infinity,
is based on his life. He independently
compiled nearly 3,900 mathematical results. Humble to the core, he
attributed all his works to the divine assistance. He died at a young age of 32.
He was not a graduate in Indian terms. But he was one of the youngest Fellows of
Royal Society. Although he was highly gifted, a good trainer like GH Hardy was
needed to make him an effective contributor. If you are ready to be trained,
your effectiveness is unimaginable.
Anant Ambani
An immensely rich young man is Anant
Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. As
a teenager he was often presented as the side effect of wealth as he was hugely
obese. Reaching 21, his inspirational mother transformed him to a good looking
handsome young man. He walked 21 km a day, practiced yoga, followed a strict
low-carb, zero-sugar diet, i.e., avoided any kind of processed foods, such as,
breads, pastas, cereals, sweets, soft drinks etc., concentrating instead on
proteins and healthy fats. Finally, he shed 108 kgs in 18 months. It’s like a
fairytale. But it’s not a myth. It happened just recently. Some of you have
worked like this to achieve your graduation. Hardwork counts.
Leicester City
Until the second half of 2015, very few
in the world had heard about Leicester City football team. It was placed last
in the English Premier League. But on 7 May, 2016 they became the Champions
with three games left in the league. In one of the toughest leagues in the
world with 38 games, at the time of winning the title they lost only 3 games.
The story of Leicester City as a team is a case study material. There are many
players in English Premier League who has salary more than the total salary of
all members of the Leicester City Team. The Team is owned by an Asian. The
Coach never won a major title. Then, how this has happened? Educationalist John Dunford, lists five reasons for the great success of the
team as follows:
1. Hardwork, 2.Teamwork, 3. Right Decisions, 4. Support of the Leadership and 5. Evidence-based policies.
If you have achieved the real goal
you set years ago, do not be complacent. The world needs you.
If you have not achieved the real
goal, do not lose hope. Still you have not lost time. The world needs you.
If you have underperformed while
achieving your goal, do not regret unncesserily. Start today. Perform well. The
world needs you.
