Kerala - Kochi   

Master defeatist spirit: Kalam

KOCHI: The former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam called upon the youth to destroy the defeatist spirit that is preventing many people from attaining success in life. “One has to master the defeatist spirit.”

Speaking after launching the ‘each one, teach one’ programme launched by the alumni association of MET Public School, Perumbavoor, on Monday night, he said that Indian youth need to be armed with more confidence, in order to “ignite their minds”.

“No other country has as many youth as India has. Youth constitute 54 per cent of the Indian population. Each person must remember that he or she is entitled to a rightful place on earth,” Mr. Kalam said.

Lonappan Nambadan, MP, and Baselios Thomas I Metropolitan were among those who spoke.

The nation has to have ethics in all its tasks for sustained economic prosperity and peace, Mr. Kalam said.

He was speaking at the Excellence in Leadership Rajagiri Lecture series 2008.

“If the nation is to have ethics, society has to promote ethics and value system. If society is to have ethics and value system, families should adhere to ethics and value system. If families have to get evolved with ethics and value system, parenthood should have inbuilt ethics,” he said.

The parental ethics come from great learning, value-based education and creation of clean environment that leads to righteousness in the heart, he said.

Augustine Thottakara, Provincial, Sacred Heart Province, presided. Fr. Jose Alex, director, welcomed the gathering.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

High Court quashes government order
International meet on biodiversity
Bus operators to stage dharna
Kalam proposes blueprint for development
New Vice-Chancellor takes charge
Directive to CBI in Abhaya case
Tharoor: quality of translations a major issue
CMFRI fete concludes
Master defeatist spirit: Kalam
Dharna held
New VC backs Cusat upgrade
Kalam’s charter for doctors
In Kochi Today

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu