KLCF Holds Vishwa Konkani Student Scholarships Award Ceremony – 2016
Mangaluru: The Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation (KLCF) and the Vishwa Konkani Student Scholarship Fund (VKSSF), World Konkani Centre (WKC) jointly organised the ‘Vishwa Konkani Student Scholarships Award Ceremony – 2016’ at T V Raman Pai Convention Hall here, on August 19.
The programme began with an invocation. President of WKC, Basti Vaman Shenoy welcomed the gathering.
Delivering the keynote address, T V Mohandas Pai said, “After silicon valley, Bengaluru is the IT industry where 15 lakh people have been employed. In 1997 Deshpande had worked very hard to bring the IT sector to Bengaluru. Grace Pinto has educated over 3 lakh students. Grace is a great social worker and an inspiring figure. People from the Konkani community are inspiring us through their service. Their sacrifice, commitment and integrity is an inspiration for all of us. Our students should think of what the world will be in the next 15 to 20 years. Technological advances will automate tasks, and many may lose their jobs. Last year China installed 50,000 robots and in the coming year, they will install 5 lakh robots. We need to move forward and work in this field. We also need a higher level of skills.
Now having a Degree, is a basic education if you need skills you need to to think for the next 30 years and study M Tech or Ph.D. We also need to have a problem-solving attitude. Whoever goes to other countries for higher education having a problem-solving attitude, innovation and technology, they will succeed. The top 1% become richer, 40% stay where they are and the middle class are squeezed and they are losing jobs. We are in the age of Disruption and Rapid Change. We will see a rapid change and progress in 15 years which we have not seen in the last 50 years. This is been driven by technology. Make the world your stage, be mobile, be prepared to work anywhere, be educated and study well, be innovative, be mobile, be problem solvers, be creative because the world belongs to this kind of people. Life will become more competitive. India is progressing and we will have 10 trillion $ economy by 2030 and this economy require leaders, people with great passion innovators and people who can break barriers and make things happen because the world belongs to such people.
While concluding he said, “We have to be a globally dominant community. Our youth should take up their education seriously and bring fame to the Konkani community. We love our language Konkani, because it teaches to be united, Don’t forget Konkani, teach your children Konkani and continue your culture and tradition. Don’t become Englishmen, eat Dali Tove and Kane curry. As a community become richer, identity becomes more important. In our country, we are a small minority, we don’t have political power but we should have economic power, intellectual power, and leadership power. The true wealth of a community is the knowledge capital. People can take away your wealth but no one can take away your knowledge, be in the knowledge economy. As a community, we have to help our brethren. You must have big dreams, to make it a reality you should work hard. Konkani language should be nurtured.”
Medium and Large-scale Industries Minister R V Deshpande said, “Our youth should think that the world has become more competitive and a small village.” He congratulated the Vishwa Konkani for awarding the students Scholarship to pursue their studies.
Speaking on the occasion , Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said, “Mohandas Pai is a great personality and students are lucky to have a great mentor like him, students under his guidance will surely have good future”.
He further said that if you can develop your own mother tongue it will help you to shape your life in a perfect manner. Local languages should be promoted but one should not forget his/her own mother tongue. In India, we have many languages, many dialects and we have the English language as the global language, Hindi as our national language and our own local languages which we cannot find in other countries. Knowing a language will not be the gateway for success but developing your own personality around your native language is definitely reaching towards success. You must think about our own language and develop your own personality and promote your own identity. If you forget your own mother tongue, you forget your roots, you become rootless and you will not succeed in your life.
He also said that Vishwa Konkani Kendra has become the center of attraction to the world and people from all over the world come here. Promote Konkani and be successful. We must think of using our talents for the betterment of humanity. Develop your humanity by using knowledge which you acquired. Change yourself with the change. Adding qualification is not the success story but your ability to deliver skills, people will not ask about your qualification but they ask for your ability.
Chairman of Ryan’s International Schools Grace Madam also spoke on the occasion. Minister Suresh Prabhu’s wife journalist Uma Prabhu and others were also present.