Mumbai , Mar 10 2010
“Giving gives happiness”
“Knowledge makes you great”
I am delighted to address and interact with the Students of JB Petit High School for Girls. My greetings to all of you, Dear friends, while I am with you, I would like to recall the pioneering achievements of Mr. Premchand Roychand, Mary Prescott and Mr. Jehangirji Bomanji Petit who were responsible for creating the school and ensuring that the school was open to all the Indian girls even in times of financial troubles. The nation is grateful to these great souls for their visionary action in facilitating the knowledge empowerment of Indian women through education. While scanning various news items about the school on the internet, I found that the JB Petit School has won the Under-14 School Football competition. I congratulate the team members and the school. Today, I would like to talk on the topic “Giving gives happiness”.
Criteria for achievement for youth
How does achievement come? There are four proven steps; having an aim in life before 20 years of age, acquiring knowledge continuously, hard work towards the aim and perseverance to defeat the problem and succeed. In this connection let me recall famous verses of 13th century Persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi:
Wings to Fly
“You were born with potential.
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideas and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.
You are not meant for crawling,
So don’t, you have wings.
Learn to use them to fly.”
- By Jalaluddin Rumi, 13th Century Persian Sufi Poet
My message to you, young friends, is that education gives you wings to fly. Achievement comes out of fire in our sub-conscious mind that “I will win”. So, each one of you assembled here and elsewhere, will have “Wings of Fire”. The Wing of Fire will indeed lead to knowledge which will make you to fly as a Doctor, or an Engineer, or a scientist, or a teacher, or a political leader, or a bureaucrat or a diplomat or anything you want to be. You all, from JB Petit High School; can do it.
Friends, knowledge makes you great. Now you know the importance of knowledge. When you leave your schools, a great friend is accompanying you. Who is that friend? That friend is - knowledge. Now, I am going to give the knowledge equation.
Knowledge = Creativity + Righteousness + Courage
Creativity
“Learning gives creativity
Creativity leads to thinking
Thinking provides knowledge
Knowledge makes you great”.
The next component of knowledge is righteousness. Righteousness is described in a divine hymn.
Righteousness
Where there is righteousness in the heart
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
There is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home.
There is an order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
There is peace in the world.
Now the question is: How do we inculcate the righteousness in the heart. In my opinion, there are three sources which can build a youth with righteousness in the heart. One is mother, second is father in a spiritual environment and the third and the most important is the teacher, particularly primary school teacher.
The third component is courage, which is defined as follows:
Courage
Courage to think different,
Courage to invent,
Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
Courage to discover the impossible,
Courage to combat the problems and succeed, are the unique qualities of the youth.
As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all the missions.
Wherefrom you will acquire knowledge? Home, good books, teachers and teaching environment, coming into contact with good human beings, teaching websites in internet. When the schools teach the students to use the knowledge with creativity, righteousness and courage, nation will have large number of empowered and enlightened citizens, which is vital for the growth of the individual, growth of the family, growth of nation and promotion of peace in the world.
By - Dr. APJ Kalam
Compiled by - www.necareerguidance.com
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