"IGNITED MINDS OF THE YOUTH ARE THE GREATEST RESOURCE FOR THE NATION"

Ignited mind of the

Youth is the most powerful resource 

On the earth, above the earth and under the earth

 I am indeed delighted to participate in the public lecture organized by Bhandarnayake Centre for International Studies (BCIS) in Colombo. When I see large number youth and the distinguished citizens of Sri Lanka, I would like to share my thoughts on the topic “Ignited minds of the youth are the greatest resource for the nation”.

Youth Power

          I would like to put forth that ignited minds of the youth is the most powerful resource on the earth, above the earth and under the earth. I am convinced that the youth power, if properly directed and led, could bring about transformational changes in humanity for its progress, meeting its challenges and bring prosperity and peace. Let us now consider two major problems the world faces: one is, out of 7 billion people, about three billion people live below poverty line, 50% of the population do not have access to safe drinking water, above all many do not have access to quality education. What can the youth of the world contribute to face the situation? Can every one of the educated spread literacy at least to five in their life? Can the youth spread the message of water conservation? Can the youth come with “out of box solutions” for solving water scarcity? 

I normally administer ten point oath to the youth of my country conveys that the youth can make difference to the society where they are living in the areas of literacy, environment, social justice, minimizing rural urban divide, and work for the national development, while working hard for an individual goal. I insist that small aim is a crime. I see the youth development has multiple dimensions: The youth working hard improving his knowledge with a career goal, can serve the family, can serve the society, can serve the nation to which he or she belongs and can serve the humanity as a whole. All are complimentary. 

I realize how the contributions of the youth in the past have continuously enriched the world of today in many fields. When I am with you, I would like to recall the inspiring advice to the youth by Swami Vivekananda, "how has all the knowledge in the world been gained but by the concentration of the power of the mind? The world is ready to give up its secret if we only know, how to knock, how to give it the necessary glow. The strength and force of the glow come through concentration. There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point that is the secret”. Dear young friends, this thought has indeed influenced many and I would suggest that the education system must develop this faith among our youth and the youth to practice this faith of the confidence in all their actions.  

Unique You

Dear friends, Look up, what do you see, the light, the electric bulbs.  Immediately, our thoughts go to the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, for his unique contribution towards the invention of electric bulb and his electrical lighting system. When you hear the sound of aero plane going over your house, whom do you think of?  Wright Brothers proved that man could fly of course at heavy risk and cost. Whom does the telephone remind you of? Of course, Alexander Graham Bell. When everybody considered a sea travel as an experience or a voyage, a unique person questioned during his sea travel from United Kingdom to India.  He was pondering on why the horizon where the sky and sea meet looks blue? His research resulted in the phenomena of scattering of light.  Of course, Sir CV Raman was awarded Nobel Prize.  India is fortunate, the world is fortunate to have had a millennium leader of 20th century, that is Father of the Nation “Mahatma Gandhi” who got us the freedom and also he became a great leader for South Africa’s movement against apartheid. As President, Abraham Lincoln rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy. Lincoln is remembered for this great action throughout the world.

Inventions and discoveries have emanated from creative minds that have been constantly working and imagining the outcome in the mind.  With imagining and constant effort, all the forces of the universe work for that inspired mind, thereby leading to inventions and discoveries. The question is: are you willing to become a unique personality. Let me share an experience. 

Friends, I have, so far, met 12 million youth in a decade’s time. I learnt, “every youth wants to be unique, that is, YOU!  But the world all around you, is doing its best, day and night, to make you just “everybody else”.  At home, dear young friends, you are asked by your parents to be like neighbours’ children for scoring good marks. When you go to school, your teacher says “why not you become like the first five rankers in the class”. Wherever you go, they are saying “you have to be somebody else or everybody else”. 

The challenge, my young friends, is that you have to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can ever imagine to fight; and never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place, that is, a UNIQUE YOU!  Friends what will be your tools to fight this battle, what are they: have a great aim in life, continuously acquire the knowledge, work hard and persevere to realize the great achievement.

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.”

-         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 in Sri Lanka, 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 you would like to walk on the Moon and Mars or anything you want to be.  I would like to assert that “No youth today need to fear about the future”. How? The ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource on the earth, under the earth and above the earth.

Now friends, let me talk you about characteristics of knowledge society and creative leadership.

The knowledge society in 21st century

The world in the 21st century will be a knowledge based society with multiple opportunities. I was studying a book, “Empires of the Mind” by Denis Waitley. This book gives what type of the new world which we are facing now? What was yesterday and what is today. I have modified certain points of the author to suit our conditions. I have also added a third line which is pertinent to the action required by the management institutions.

It specially says that “what worked yesterday, won’t work today”.  

1.     Yesterday – natural resources defined power

Today - knowledge is power

Institutions will be the powerhouse for knowledge

2.     Yesterday - Hierarchy was the model

Today- synergy is the mandate

Institutions will be enabler of intersection of multiple faculties towards mission goals

3.     Yesterday – leaders commanded and controlled

Today – leaders empower and coach

Potential Leaders will be empowered through exposure to the needs of sustainable development

4.     Yesterday - shareholders came first

Today – customers come first

Education should inculcate sensitivity to “customer” needs

5.     Yesterday - employees took order

Today – teams make decision

Institutions can inject team spirit

6.     Yesterday - seniority signified status

Today – creativity drive status

Institutions is the breeding environment for creativity

7.     Yesterday – production determined availability

Today – Competitiveness is the key       

Competitiveness is powered by research and university has to have the motto of “teaching-research-teaching”

8.     Yesterday - value was extra

Today – value is everything

Value based education has to be introduced as a part of the curriculum, at least for one hour every week

9.     Yesterday – everyone was a competitor

Today – everyone is a customer

During education industrial and entrepreneurship training is essential

  10.   Yesterday - profits were earned through expediency

Today – Work with integrity and succeed with integrity.

Home, organizations and educational places should become learning places

 I am sure,  all the members present here will keep these aspects of 21st century in mind which will facilitate the Youth of Sri Lanka to evolve the learning process for meeting the demands of the 10 components of knowledge society.  For that what is needed is the creative leadership. Creative leadership means, exercising the vision to change the traditional role from the commander to the coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator and from one who demands respect to one who facilitates self-respect. For accelerated societal transformation, we need the large number of creative leaders. I am sure, the education system in Sri Lanka is geared up for the generation of large number of creative leaders needed in different disciplines required for national economic development.

The national economic development to be sustainable needs inclusive development of both urban and rural sector. Sri Lanka has over 15,000 villages which need inclusive and integrated development comparable to urban cities in Sri Lanka. They need knowledge transmission, infrastructural provision – such as storage, processing and fast transportation. These areas can be serviced in an integrated way through PURA – Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Area. PURA envisages – provision of physical, electronic and knowledge connectivities, leading to economic connectivity in a rural complex using rural skill and competence and raw materials. I have proposed this system of PURA numbering 7000 for inclusive development of India having 600,000 villages with 700 million people living there. For Sri Lanka, for a rural population of over 15 million, I would suggest creation of 150 PURA complexes. For Sri Lanka, these 150 PURA complexes distributed certain number as Coastal PURA, Hill PURA, and Plain PURA, depending upon the terrain and the local core-competence. In PURA, main thrust area is capacity building in farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, tourists promoters and workers of small-medium scale industries.  In India, this system of PURA has been accepted by the government as an integrated economic development system for rural development.

 I am progressing in addition to sustainable economic development, it is also essential to ethics and value system of citizens.

Every youth needs to have an ethics to acquire the quality of creative leadership.  If the nation needs creative leadership in all its domain, the nation has to have national ethics.

National Ethics for Sustained Growth

We need to have National ethics for sustained growth and peace. Where from it starts?

*       Nation has to have ethics in all its tasks, for sustained economic prosperity and peace.

*      If nation is to have ethics; society has to promote ethics and value system.

*      If society is to have ethics and value system, families should adhere to ethics and value system;

*      If families have to get evolved with ethics and value system, parenthood should have inbuilt ethics.

*      Parental ethics come from great learning, value based education and creation of clean environment that leads to righteousness in the heart.

Conclusion

Friends, finally let me now discuss about a very important area which is significant to our quest in evolving an economically developed nation, we also have many challenges to overcome. They include; promotion of morally upright society which is will promote clean environment and above all, building a compassionate society. All this can come out of a youth movement which I have started in my country called “What can I give?” Let me give some examples:

·        Can I be an Environment Giver, thereby giving a clean environment and conserve the planet and its habitat from degradation?  (billion trees for billion people; today we can decide, each one of us will plant five trees and nurture)

·        Can I be a Care giver, and providing care to those needy, those who are sick and those who are lonely in their pains?  (Visit a hospital and give happiness to the patients who are not visited by anybody. You can offer flowers, fruits and cheerfulness of the youth)

·        Can I be a Rural Reform giver, leading to the transformation of my village and rural India through programme PURA?   

Now I would like to administer an oath for the youth, as I have done for over more than 12 million youth in my country.  Are you ready to repeat with me?

Oath for the Sri Lanka Youth

1.   I will have a goal and work hard to achieve that goal. I realize that small aim is a crime.

2.   I will always be righteous in the heart which leads to beauty in the character; beauty in the character brings harmony in the home, harmony in the home leads to order in the nation and order in the nation leads to peace in the world.

3.   I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity.

4.   I will be a good member of my family, a good member of the society, a good member of the nation and a good member of the world. 

5.   I will always protect and enhance the dignity of every human life.

6.   I will always try to save or better someone's life, without any discrimination of caste, creed, language religion or state. Wherever I am, a thought will always come to my mind. That is “What can I give?”

7.   I will always remember that “Let not my winged days, be spent in vain”.

8.   I will always work for Clean Green Energy and Clean planet Earth. 

9.   As a youth of Sri Lanka, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my tasks and enjoy the success of others.

10.  All my knowledge and work will be towards bringing glory to Sri Lanka.   

May God bless you.