What’s your dream for your country and the world?

At the 53rd annual convocation ceremony of the IIT Bombay, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi shared stories of his struggle and victories while urging young graduates to have a bigger goal for their country and the world at large.

Please do take the time to read the transcript of Mr. Satyarthi’s inspiring convocation address at Rediff.com

For those who may not have the time to read the entire convocation address, some excerpts are reproduced below:

You all have big dreams for yourselves.

When I visit universities and colleges, and I ask students where they see themselves five years down the line.

They want to become CEOs of the company or the inventor of a new technology.
When I ask them their dream for India in the next 10 years, they sometimes fail to answer.
They give vague answers and have no concrete thoughts about what they want for India.

When I ask students ‘What dream do you have for the world in next 10 years and what would be your contribution?’, again most of them have failed to answer.

This is a serious question.

Let us start thinking with a different level of self-confidence.

Let us also start dreaming for our country and then for the entire world.
I am here to share some of the principles or practices I have lived on and experimented in my own life.
‘Follow your heart and the mind will follow you’
‘Be the excellent version of you’
‘Obstacles are the best time to explore opportunities’
Leaders are not born, they are inside you. Why are you looking for fake heroes outside when you have a hero inside you?

Each one of you has a hero inside you. Take it out and use it for the betterment of your fraternity, country and the whole world.

When I go to institutes, I tell students, let us receive our degrees with a three-dimensional goal.

First is Dream. Dream big, bigger, biggest.
If you dream for yourself, not for your friends or country, you will never be satisfied in your life.
You can never live in peace, you can never be the happiest person or enjoy that happiness.
Even if you fulfil your dreams, you can’t be happy.
Break that narrow shell and dream for others, dream for the world.
Dream big and dream for a better world.

The second is Discover. Discover the enormous potential of your heart, mind, soul and body.
Discover the opportunities surrounding you. We are not just poor and illiterate.
We belong to a country that has produced big leaders.
India has all the ingredients, it is in our DNA to become and lead the world from a moral field.
We have given Mahatma, Buddha, Mahavir and Guru Nanak Dev to the world.
We are the land of these great people.
We have all the ingredients in our soil, water and our behaviour that we can rule the world.
Wherever you go, remember that you come from a country that has great values.
Learn and see the global opportunities.

The third is Do.
If you keep dreaming and don’t act, it won’t help.
So, dream, discover and do. All of you can discover and do big things and one day, we restore our pride which we have preserved since thousands of years and we can bring enlightenment and prosperity to the whole world.

What’s your dream for your country and the world?