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| St Joseph's College graduating class of 2015. Photo: DIPR |
I’m sure you read about St Joseph ’s College graduation day ceremony
held recently. Reports of the event made the front page of all the papers since
it was addressed by Governor PB Acharya.
According to the reports, the governor, in his address,
emphasised on skill development and said the central government has earmarked
30,000 crores for skill based education in universities with the idea to equip
students with skills so that they become assets to the country and not liabilities.
The governor is also reported to have said that ‘education with skills is crucial in today’s world’ while regretting that state universities were creating ‘educated unemployed youths’ instead of equipping them with skills. He stressed that education plays a very important role in taking any state or country forward.
Nothing wrong with what he said. In fact, his message is sound
and wise. And before I move on, let’s be clear that this is not a criticism of
the governor or of the college. From all that I’ve heard and know, there’s not
a bad thing I can say about either.
The graduation programme caught my attention because it is a
perfect example of what I was trying to say in my piece on chief guests. I had shared the idea that it would be
so much more worthwhile if inspiring figures and achievers in the community are
invited to share their stories, experiences, values and advice, especially in
programmes involving students and youth, rather than having our usual chief
guest ‘candidates’ who have nothing new to share.
While there was nothing wrong with what the governor said, I
find it rather sad that the 209 graduating students (according to the reports) dispersed
into the real world with something so dull and uninspiring.
There are many milestones in a person’s life, and college
graduation is one of the major ones. It is a time when you have to make serious
decisions about your career and your life in general. If there is any time that
you can really do with some inspirational talk that will motivate and make you
think, it is during this phase of your life.
Now, let’s take Steve Jobs’ commencement address to
Stanford's 2005 graduating class. That was an inspiring speech if ever there
was one. It not only connected deeply with the students, but has inspired
millions of people around the world. It continues to do so with over 22 million
views on YouTube and counting. I love it and I go to it time and again.
That speech is so iconic that there's a text of it hidden in
the software of every Macintosh computer, if you know how to find it.
Steve Jobs told the students three stories from his life. The first was about connecting the dots.
He talked about his adoption as a baby, dropping out of
college and taking calligraphy classes which he said had no hope of any
practical application in his life. But 10 years later, when the first Macintosh
computer was being designed, it all came back to him. The Mac became the first
computer with beautiful typography.
“…..you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only
connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow
connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny,
life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all
the difference in my life.”
The second story was about love and loss.
Here he
talks about getting fired from his own company, going through a dark phase when
he didn’t know what to do for a few months and then starting over again.
“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't
lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I
loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for
your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of
your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is
great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you
haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.”
The third story was about death and life.
He spoke
about being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the inevitability of death.
“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone
else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of
other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your
own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and
intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything
else is secondary.”
And that’s what I’m talking about. How lucky were those
graduating students to hear such beautiful, inspiring advice as they look
forward to building their careers, their lives!