(i) Nothing is impossible: Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends, Good morning, I wish to say a few words on the topic “Nothing is Impossible”. Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Impossible is the word found only in a fool’s dictionary”. Conquering Everest was deemed impossible. In the 1920’s and 1930’s mountain climbers aborted their efforts. The brittle snow beyond the altitude of 28000 ft. made even Hillary doubtful for a while of the possibility of conquering Everest. But persisting on their daring adventure, Hillary and Tenzing scaled the Everest. When the whole world is appreciating many daring adventures of able-bodied men, a differently abled lady namely Arunima Sinha has created history by conquering Everest. She was a volleyball player who was pushed from a running train in an attempted robbery.
One of her legs had to be amputated below the knee. Using a prosthetic leg, under the Inspirational guidance of Bachendri Pal, the first Indian lady to conquer Everest, she climbed Everest on 21st May 2013. The most admirable thing about her is that she has climbed six difficult mountain peak of the world viz Everest in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Kosciuszko in Australia, Aconcagua in Argentina and Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia. She completed her final summit of Mount Vinson in Antarctica on 4th January 2019. She is running a charitable foundation namely Arunima foundation. She wants to open a free sports academy for the poor and differently abled children. She wrote a book “Bom again on the mountain” which was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2014. She was awarded Padma Sri, the fourth highest award of India in 2015. Dear friends, we must never accept small defeats in life. We must leam lessons and believe that we can succeed and it is possible to achieve excellence against all the odds.
(ii) Where there is a will there is a way: Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends, Good morning, I wish to say a few words on the topic “Where there is a will there is a way”.
There are numerous examples to quote from where the will has made people create history. ‘ All of us know Mother Teresa won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1999. But the beginnings of her work were met with many insults and humiliating experiences. She was moved by poverty, sickness, suffering in old age which she encountered amidst the poorest of the poor in the streets of Calcutta. Her heart went out for street children who could not go to school.She wanted to give them a home and food. The financial position of her organisation was not healthy enough. She willed to adopt orphaned children and provide them with food, shelter and education.
If she had only thought about financial disabilities and not taken the necessary steps, she wouldn’t be the person we know her to be today. Similarly, Thomas Alva Edison [. had only three months of formal schooling, and he was partially deaf too. But that never made his mother give up on him. She took the responsibility of teaching and training him. She persuaded and encouraged him even though she never knew what he would become in future. Hence, dear friends when times of trial come, or when you face mockery by people surrounding you, never give up hope. Always remember this, “Where There is a Will There is a Way”.
(iii) Together we can achieve more: Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends, Good morning, I wish to say a few words on the topic “Together we can achieve more”. There are so many social and environmental issues that have been curbed by the coming together of like-minded people.
For example, The Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network, a voluntary group comprising students, have been working in the beaches of Chennai since 1987, trying to conserve Olive Ridley, and create awareness about the endangered sea turtles. The steps they had taken have given them pleasant rewards. Many hatchlings can be seen running towards the sea thanks to the efforts made ‘ by these volunteers.
There is Arun Krishnamurthy, who initiated the campaign of cleaning various lakes across India. Arun along with the organisation has been successful in cleaning at least 39 lakes in the country. As a result, Arun was presented with the prestigious Rolex Awards for enterprise in the year 2012 at Geneva. He was the youngest to win this award. He couldn’t have achieved it without the support of his organisation. These are only a few examples that show that “Together we can achieve more”.
