IIMC Student Council President Kapidhwaja Pratap Singh addressed the student body and the administration on the occasion of India’s 60th Republic Day. What follows in a transcript of the speech. All of us here at Jokatimes wish you a happy Republic Day! Do spare a moment to remember the values on which the nation was founded.

Honorable Director of the institute, faculty, officers and staff, our esteemed guests and my dear friends,

I express my greetings to everyone on this occasion of India’s 60th republic day.  We, as a republic, have come a long way in the last 59 years. We have a long list of achievements accomplished since 26th Jan 1950 and even a longer list of things to be done. We are all aware of it. I would not waste your time by going into those details. What I want to speak about is “what is expected of us students 59 years after the formation of the republic”. 

We are privileged to have found a place in this premier institute of the country and getting a heavily subsidized education whereas, there are lakhs and lakhs of people waiting outside the walls. We are proud of our accomplishment and so should we. The nation adores us, the nation feels proud of us and the nation expects their children to be like us. But, the nation also expects something from us.  

We are all known for our business acumen and our problem solving abilities. We are going to be the business leaders of tomorrow. But, is this all we need to be?

What we also need is to be thought leaders for others, to be opinion centers of the country.

In the month of September 2008, we were all shocked by the news of Lehmann brothers collapsing and American economy going into economic depression. But we missed the news of 50 lakhs people displaced in the worst ever flood in north Bihar, the news of communal outburst in Orissa and the likes. It is true that the Lehmann collapse is very detrimental to our careers, but I don’t think the other news were so insignificant that we didn’t even give a second thought. 

The recent blasts in Mumbai will be remembered for so many reasons. But one reason that I feel worth mentioning here is- it made the people living in posh localities of South Mumbai realize that their expensive ACs and  marbled bungalows were not strong enough to isolate from the ground realities the nation was facing. 

We will have to consider these factors when we do the DCFs or SWOT analysis of our careers, our business and our lives. This is because a major part of the investments in building our careers have come from this nation. The opportunity costs of these investments are very high. How does the country manage to provide this; -by cutting down drought relief money of a Vidarbha farmer, by cutting down the medical facilities at a government hospital in a village or by simply letting a few more thousand people die out of hunger.

I do not mean that we should leave the corporate and join social service, but what we must do is try and repay the debt that we owe to this nation and to its people.  

What do we need to do?

Get aware of the ground realities, start identifying the ways in which we can repay the debt and be a thought leader for others to follow.

Let us all Accept the challenge and make her a better republic!

Happy republic day!

Jai Hind!

for Jokatimes
Abhishek Nagaraj 

1. Sunil Natraj Says:
   January 26th, 2009 at 1:13 am

   I think the address was simply brilliant. Its great to see such that he is walking the same path that Deepak and Harsh have walked.

   All the best KP!

2. debtosh Says:
   January 26th, 2009 at 1:46 am

   Simple yet thought provoking!

3. Paras Says:
   January 26th, 2009 at 4:21 am

   Commands respect and nothing else! I hope most of us are able to follow these wonderful thoughts of our Pressi.

4. Kaushik Saha Says:
   January 26th, 2009 at 6:29 am

   Well, at the risk of getting a lot of brickbats, I must say that this is not the first time I am hearing this kind of a speech – I have heard several leaders of the students body make such speeches in the past

   Then there are the usual responses – wow, awesome, thought-provoking, well done chap etc etc. then it is conveniently forgotten. However hard it may sound, the fact remains that the thought remains provoked only till the next assignment, exam, girlfriend or gizmo as the case may be.

   I think it is high time that we actually get out of the empty rhetoric and start doing something on the ground. I never boast or brag about these things, but i have working with in West Midnapore district of West bengal for 7 years now on educational and sanitary drives.

   I dont expect each of us to go out of the way and start philanthropy, but if each of us can make small contributions, monetary or otherwise to some cause, it would be a job well done

   Deepak Dhamija has shown us that it can be done, so have many others. For example, go through the following link to see how contributions can be made:

   http://specials.rediff.com/news/2009/jan/22sld1-miracle-in-tamil-nadu-village.htm

   Jai Hind

5. Aayush Shrivastava Says:
   January 27th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

   Wonderful to say the least. Good work!!

6. shailendra singh Says:
   January 28th, 2009 at 2:53 am

   it was a wonderful and well researched speech. it is quit significant and applicable to all of us . well done and keep it up . you are simply a brilliant manager. all the best for your all future endavour.

7. shailendra singh Says:
   January 28th, 2009 at 2:55 am

   i find the speech was quit significant in todays life. we all need to think about and rise to occasion . god bless you.