 |
 |
 |
|
November 2012 |
I do not know if that song has lost its mystique in that regard and if schools still opt for the existential truths of the lyrics. What I can say to you, those of you now coming out of your academic shells, is that it is as true today as it has always been. Your journey of many thousands of miles yet for you to travel now begins. It is a long and winding road along life’s journey that you are now embarked upon. I am here in a different capacity from why you are here. While the fires of youthful ambition inspire you to see all life as something to conquer, having travelled the path you now venture upon, I am humbled by the satisfaction I feel that I have been blessed by the Almighty to have done it – not just my way, but His way as well. I have opted for the cultural and spiritual life right alongside the material one we are enjoined to pursue. Today, in recognition of that journey, The University of the West Indies generously confers on me an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree for staying the path I embarked upon since the time I once sat in a similar position as you all are in today – rearing to go, rearing to change the world. I went on to do so in my own little way, making changes whenever there was the need to, if not in my own image, at least to something better. Our role in life, as Robert Kennedy has said, is “To seek newer, richer worlds,” Too often we see the young and bright amongst us, children who top the SEA, CXC, CAPE and are shining stars like you today, disappear like a blown bulb, never to hear about them again. I exhort you to rise and shine; to be the ones who will carry the torch of a new generation; who will not be contented with just a job, and an SUV and a fancy house, but who will aspire to be like VS Naipaul, Brian Lara, Trevor Mc Donald, the next Dr Eric Williams, Dr Rudranath Capildeo and of course, the next Kamla Persad-Bissessar. I have two degrees in engineering and although it is my field of endeavour in a professional and career sense, I am only a small dot in that sphere, as there are hundreds of engineers who hold down jobs at the highest level in their respective areas. The University of the West Indies honours me today not because as an engineer I have shaken up the world, or have created anything that I could patent and sell to the world and make the rich-list of Forbes magazine, but because I have pursued a life outside of engineering. I have been a cultural activist for what you could call an entire lifetime. Ever since I was a young man I have taken an active interest in culture, from my high school days, through college and university. I have been giving my services voluntarily in the propagation of culture now for upwards of fifty years and I continue to do so to this day. The Divali Nagar, for example, with which I have been associated since its inception in 1986, is now world famous and is widely regarded as an annual pilgrimage site for celebrants of one of the holiest of Hindu occasions and where one can renew his or her faith in their cultural traditions. Robert Kennedy has also said, “Some men see things as they are and ask why, but I dream things that never were and say why not?” When the idea of establishing Divali Nagar was in its embryonic stage, Divali celebrations in this country were still very much a private affair, confined to the Hindu home or the village mandir. Those of us responsible for establishing Divali Nagar believed the occasion was sufficiently significant to be more than a one-day celebration for the adherents of the Hindu religion. The immediate impact was overwhelming. The crowds on the opening night of the first Nagar was so huge that it is still believed that it remains unmatched in our 26-year history. We belong to a country that is unique for lots of reasons. We have two Nobel Prize winners for literature – one who was born here and lives elsewhere, and another who was born elsewhere and but claims here as his home. The point about the success of these two internationally acclaimed gentlemen is that while we are a population of just over a million people, India, for example with its billion population has won the Nobel Prize for literature just once, courtesy the genius of Rabindranath Tagore one hundred years ago. Many people who get their academic degrees are content to be just what their certificates say they have graduated in. Those who go on to be movers and shakers see their degrees as the foundation block to greater things, greater dreams. There is an irony in this though, as many of the world’s glitterati are unlettered in that sense. We just have to think of Bill Gates. Gates was a dropout of Harvard University, but today has more influence on all mankind across the globe than any one person, via his Microsoft. What you have to tell yourself, now that you are armed with your credentials, is if Bill Gates without his certificate could so influence life, why can’t I do something to nudge the community or the world to move forward just an inch, to make it a better place, not for myself alone, but for others? We do not lack for example or inspiration. Recently we won Gold at the 2012 Olympics. Keshorn Walcott proved that not only is he gifted, but that if you could dream big, if you can make the best use of what you have been blessed with, greatness is achievable. On the other hand, one could be blessed with the greatest of skills and talents and if it is not maximized, if it is squandered, it could all be reduced to dust in the wind. History is replete with unfulfilled talent and those destined for greatness but who took the wrong turn and achieved notoriety instead. Your duty is to guard against such. The straight and narrow path is the one to follow. What I urge is that each one of you, in your own way, should aim to become the best in your chosen profession. But in addition, I would further urge that you should consider also a life outside of your profession, take up an idea that would help improve the community we live in and give it your best shot. The renowned Hindu, Swami Vivekananda, whose 150th birth anniversary will be celebrated next year, made this stirring plea: “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea, be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone. That is the way to success.” In other words, develop a passion for something and apply yourself wholeheartedly towards that mission with total dedication and pointed focus, once that idea or mission is to improve the world we live in. This address was delivered on October 25 to the graduating classes of the Faculties of Engineering and Law. |
A long time after the Carpenters sang their seventies mega hit “We’ve only just begun,” it became déjà vu you might say, to hear that song being played as the theme for graduates not just here in Trinidad and Tobago but all over the world.