As a pre-cursor to Saarang 2011 and to give a boost to the Saarang MUN, the LecDems team organized a Pre-Saarang lecture by Dr.Shashi Tharoor. It was held on 19 January in the SAC and saw a very good turnout despite a short-notice preponement (“advancement”) by nearly an hour.
A very gifted writer and a well known public figure, Dr Tharoor said that circumstances play a paramount role in deciding the course of the mind. He urged the audience to do what conscience told them to do, to stand by their principles and to believe in the strength of their convictions.
As a student of St Stephens and then of Tufts university, Dr. Tharoor had learnt a number of life lessons which he shared with the audience. His early career as a part of the United Nations played a monumental role in shaping his personality. He stated that failures are indeed stepping stones to success, admitting that the former, despite hitting him hard, always remained the best teachers he ever had.
He reached the audience on a personal level by relating his experiences with the UN High Commission for Refugees and the moving stories of refugees from the various parts of the globe that instigated him to believe that all his efforts were indeed rewarding. Dr. Tharoor was kind enough to field a variety of questions from the students.
Dr Tharoor encouraged students to join public forums, youth politics and the like in order to voice out their opinions on various current issues as the future of India was indeed in the hands of today’s youth and hence it was their duty to make an earnest attempt to take India to various meridians of development.
The talented writer cum politician also shared his interesting experiences with media which were quite humorous. He referred to various instances in the past when the media had all its attention on what he did or said. He gave his views on the popular social networking sites, WikiLeaks and the like.
He concluded by saying that the greatest barrier to success was the fear of failure. He revealed that one would discover one’s worth only by trying and not by giving up. He encouraged the audience to put aside the fear of failure and to persevere in all their endeavours.
