The
following is an edited version of a speech I delivered this morning to an
assembly of about 2000 students.
We are at the
threshold of a new academic session. A new beginning. Life is full of new
beginnings and old endings. Every day is a new beginning which ends with an old
sunset. Today, however, is a special day. This day marks the beginning of a new
session that will last a whole year.
Every new
beginning comes with a whole lot of promises. Every new beginning comes with an
offer of magic, of magical transformations. You are all potential magicians.
You love magic and you would love to be magicians too. The fact is that each one
of you is a potential magician.
Magic is a way
of looking at life, a different way of looking at things. Perspective, that’s
what it is. Perspective is a way of seeing reality. I’m sure some of you are
familiar with the famous saying about the two men who looked out from the same
window. Two men looked out from the same window. One saw mud and the other saw
stars. One looked at the soil below; the other looked at the sky above. Both
looked out from the same window but saw different things. That’s the difference
made by perspective. Perspective is the magic of life. Perspective makes the
entire difference to your life.
Many of you
are Harry Potter fans. Let me paraphrase Harry’s teacher Dumbledore. “It’s not
your ability that matters, Harry, as much as your perspective.” It’s not your
ability that matters as much as your perspective. It doesn’t mean your ability
is not important. It means how you use your abilities creates the magic.
You possess
the magic within you. Go ahead and unfold that magic. Be the wizard. Be the
winner. Every marvel from the Taj Mahal to the Karakoram Highway, all those
skyscrapers and flyovers are all creations of individuals like you and me. But
with one difference. Those individuals chose to discover the magic within them.
Discover the magic within you. Create all the marvels you can dream of. I wish you a year full of magic ahead.
Grt sir,very energetic....
ReplyDeleteGood message, fantastic !!
DeleteThank you.
DeleteA new beginning with a new perspective - reflective, magical, down to earth targeting the stars- the students have a wonderful teacher to lead them up the stairs of life! My hats off to you Sir
ReplyDeleteObliged. I learn from my students too.
DeletePerhaps I needed your this speech most this evening. Though my student life is very much behind me but I guess as a student of school of life I needed the dosage of your words seriously today. Perspective is the thing!
ReplyDeleteHappy to be of service.
Delete