Four people, four hours, but a plethora of values to be cherished for an entire lifetime! On the evening of February 7th, the Tag Auditorium in CEG was filled with eager minds waiting to be inspired by the hour-long talks of four eminent personalities. In perfect accordance with its tagline, Conclave ’17 was truly a convergence of great minds.
The first speech for the day was given by Mr H. Ramakrishnan, CEO of SS Music. Afflicted by polio in his childhood, his way up the ladder of life was not a bed of roses. Speaking of his struggles, he mentioned that he was an ardent believer in destiny. Right from the age of seven, he had wanted to become a newscaster, with Melvile de Mellow as his role model. Further, Mr Ramakrishnan also spoke of his love and passion for Carnatic music and Konnakkol in particular. At the end of his speech, he quoted the famous Hindi poet, Kabir Das, and advised students to live life in such a way that they are satisfied and happy when they die.
Next came the ‘Green Man of India’, Mr Abdul Ghani – a social activist who has planted around 40 lakh trees. The very first advice he gave to the students was to convert this age of ‘Garb-age’ to ‘Green-age’. Mentioning the decline of the green belt in Chennai, Mr Ghani cited the cleanliness of Singapore as an example to highlight the importance of the attitude of people in making our city clean and green. In his conclusion, he made everyone swear on oath that they would give back to Mother Earth, as much as they had taken.
This was followed by a talk by Ms Swarnalakshmi Ravi, the young and bold Prime Minister of the National Children’s Parliament. Citing the struggles of the Olympic gold medallist and figure-skater Scott Hamilton, the 16-year-old fighter for children’s rights strongly emphasised the importance of problem solving skills and attitude in one’s life. She also mentioned how the Children’s Parliament strives to provide a better world for children from all walks of life. She finally concluded that the youth are not tomorrow’s, but today’s citizens.
Subsequently, the audience was addressed by Dr Seema Rao, India’s first woman commando trainer. In her speech, she shared her life story of becoming a commando by the sheer motivation of her spouse. It was he who had taught her martial arts for the purpose of self-defence. Once she became a pro at it and learned to defend herself from drunkards, she went on to become a commando. Her journey as a commando certainly wasn’t smooth. Suffering from amnesia and fractured bones at certain junctures in her life, Dr Rao had to undergo lots of struggles to reach her current position. She encouraged the listeners to step forward and face any difficulty in life with bravery.
Thus ended a four-hour long event, which barely seemed to last four minutes. Altogether, Conclave ‘17 was a grand success, with the students being truly motivated and edified by the speeches of all four personalities.
