I am indeed delighted to be here with you. I always enjoy interactions with student community. When I am in the midst of the young, I thought of sharing some of my experiences.

Indomitable spirit

Sir CV Raman looked at the sea and the sky, and questioned why the sea should be blue? This led to the birth of Raman Effect, he found the blue of the sea was due to the molecular scattering of light and was not a case of reflection of the sky in water as most people imagined. He got the Nobel Price for Raman Effect. Sir CV Raman led teaching and research in Physics and created great scientific leaders and also the birth of Raman Research Institute, Bangalore. I would like to quote Sir CV Raman, at the age of 82, while addressing young graduates. The message is still reverberating in my mind: "I would like to tell the young men and women before me not to lose hope and courage. Success can only come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you. I can assert without fear of contradiction that the quality of the Indian mind is equal to the quality of any Teutonic, Nordic or Anglo-Saxon mind. What we lack is perhaps courage, what we lack is perhaps driving force which takes one anywhere. We have, I think, developed an inferiority complex. I think what is needed in India today is the destruction of that defeatist spirit. We need a spirit of victory, a spirit that will carry us to our rightful place under the sun, a spirit which will recognise that we, as inheritors of a proud civilization, are entitled to a rightful place on this planet. If that indomitable spirit were to arise, nothing can hold us from achieving our rightful destiny."

Those were the words from the Nobel laureate scientist of India. You would see the bridge of science and society. Friends, I request all who are responsible for the young, all who are creators of the young, for the children's growth, allow them to dream. Dream transforms into thoughts and thoughts result into actions.

The ignited minds of the young are the most powerful resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth. This makes me recall two Thirukkurals by Saint Thiruvallur :

Aakkam Atarvinayac Cellum acaivila

Ukka mudaiya nulai .

Success and wealth will seek out their way, and reach the person who has an inflexible will and systematic diligence. Good fortune will search out for the man who has an indomitable spirit as well as an unremitting zeal.

Ulluvathellam uyarvullal matratu

Tallinum tellamai nirttu

Think ever of rising higher. Let it be your only thought. Even if your object be not attained, the thought itself will have raised you.

These two kurals are of immense value to the student community. They should take the message and practice them in all their activities. Teachers should cultivate and imbibe this spirit among the student community.

Bird story and my profession

When I think of my school days, I am reminded of an incident which took place when I was studying in 5th class at the age of 10. I had a teacher, Shri Siva Subramania Iyer. He was one of the very good teachers in our school. All of us loved to attend his class and hear him. One day he was teaching about bird's flight. He drew a diagram of a bird on the blackboard depicting the wings, tail and the body structure with the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and fly. He also explained to us how they change direction while flying. Nearly 25 minutes he gave the lecture with various information such as lift, drag, how the birds fly in a formation of 10, 20 or 30 etc. At the end of the class, he wanted to know whether we understood how the birds fly. I said, I did not understand how the birds fly. When I said this, he asked the other students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they did not understand. Our teacher was a real teacher and very good teacher. He did not get upset by our response.

In view of this, my teacher said that he would take all of us to the sea shore. That evening the whole class was in the sea shore. We enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the rocks in the pleasant evening. Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in formation in 10 to 20 numbers, we have seen the marvelous formation of birds with a purpose and we were all amazed. And we were simply looking at the formation. He showed the birds and asked us to see when the birds fly, what it looked like. We saw the wings being flapped. He asked us to look at the tail portion with the combination of flapping wing and twisting tail. We noticed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction they wanted. Then he asked us a question, where the engine is and how it is powered. Bird is powered by its own life and the motivation what it wants. All these things were explained to us within 15 minutes. We all understood the whole bird dynamics with practical example. How nice it was? Our teacher was a great teacher; he could give as a theoretical lesson coupled with live practical example. This is real teaching. I am sure many of the teachers in schools and colleges will follow this example.

For me, it was not merely an understanding of how a bird flies. The bird's flight entered into me and created a feeling on the seashore of Rameswaram. From that day evening, I thought that my future study has to be with reference to flight and flight sciences. I am telling this because my teacher teaching and the event that I witnessed decided my future career. Then one evening after the classes, I asked the teacher, "Sir, please tell me, how to progress further in learning flight sciences." He patiently explained to me that I should complete 8th class, and then go to high school, and then I should go to college that may lead to education of flight. If I do all these things I might do something connected with flight sciences. This advice and the bird flying exercise given by my teacher really gave me a goal and a mission for my life. When I went to college, I took Physics. When I went to engineering in Madras Institute of Technology, I took Aeronautical Engineering.

Thus my life was transformed as a rocket engineer, aerospace engineer and technologist. That one incident of my teacher teaching the lesson, showing the visual live example proved to be a turning point in my life which eventually shaped my profession.

Enlightened Citizens

In every country, the national development, which is a collective process, has to be accomplished through the constructive efforts of enlightened citizens, who practice righteousness in all their activities. The evolution of enlightened human beings is indeed a big challenge for the world community. I was asking myself, what will be the components of such a mission? There are three components to that. The first component is education with value system, second religions graduating into spiritual forces to bring universal brotherhood and the third is poverty eradication by attaining economic prosperity through a national vision. And it has to be done in every country in an integrated way with link to the world.

Righteousness

Recently, I heard a hymn in the divine campus which I would like to share with you. The name of the hymn is 'Peace in the World':

Where there is righteousness in the heart

There is a 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 a order in the nation.

When there is order in the nation,

There is peace in the world.

Friends, we can see a beautiful connectivity between heart, character, nation and the world. How to inject righteousness in the human heart? This is indeed the purpose of human creation - that is divinity. We are going through a complex situation as many of us are completely at war with ourselves, with society and with nation. At every instant there is a war in our mind, whether we should go in one direction or another. Whenever there is a dilemma, we must seek the wisdom from the Almighty to lead us to the path of righteousness through education with value system.

Conclusion

Through my visits to States, I have gained first hand knowledge about the aspirations of the people. I am able to interact with the common people and know their problems and challenges. I am also able to know about the core competence of each State and how it can be used for the development of the state itself. Whereever I went the people and students have given me one message that they want to live in a prosperous, peaceful, happy and secure India.

The second important aspect of my visit is to bring the religions graduating to spirituality and promotion of civilisational heritage.

Students should fix a goal in their life, concentrate to combat and overcome the hurdles and achieve excellence. They must imbibe moral values. They should aspire to become entrepreneurs. During holidays students can teach poor and underprivileged children and create a mission for them. They can plant trees and contribute towards improving ecological balance. These activities will collectively lead towards development and prosperity.

I wish you all students and the teaching community success in giving the nation empowered, learned young with integrity. It is indeed a big mission. God bless you.

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