KMC Hospital Felicitates Meritorious Children of Employees
Mangaluru: The KMC Hospital organized a felicitation programme for the meritorious children of its employees at the hospital auditorium, Attavar here, on June 23.
The programme began with an invocation. Medical superintendent of KMC Hospitals, Dr Anand Venugopal welcomed the gathering. The meritorious children of the employees were felicitated by the guests on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, Vice-Chancellor of MAHE Manipal Dr Vinod Bhat said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be part of this wonderful event, recognizing and awarding meritorious students of the board examinations. The students have done well for themselves. They have made their parents proud and brought laurels to the schools they represent and are truly worthy of the recognition that they have been bestowed with today. It has taken a lot of efforts, long hours of study, some element of sacrifice from both the students and their parents. But it does not end here.”
He further spoke about the need to improve, saying, “The true education begins now. The future demands that you put in the same, if not more effort in trying to achieve higher goals. So far you have been very regular in classes, taking notes from teachers and studying at home helped by your parents. But very soon you’ll find that you have to adopt different methods of study. You’ll have to study along with your friends and colleagues. There are group projects requiring a team effort. You’ll have to use reference books in the library and several other sources which are available on the internet. All this will contribute to the body of knowledge that you are accumulating in your further studies. This only brings forth one fine point, i.e., the level of concentration and commitment that you’ll have to provide in the next part of the journey.”
Recalling his school days in Kendra Vidyalaya, he spoke about a good friend of his, when they studied in 6th, 7th and 8th together. “In classes 6th and 7th, I used to get the first rank in my class of 30 students. But in 8th, I dropped to 2nd rank. My friend overtook me and by a larger margin at that. Even today, I cannot fathom how he managed to do that. He was gifted, talented, exceptional, hardworking, diligent and he continues to be modest, humble and very simple even today,” said Dr Bhat.
“Back in 9th standard, he had said that he would be in the top 10 rank in the 11th standard board exams, he would write the National Science Talent Exam and be in the top 10 in the country based on which he would get direct admission to a 5 year integrated MS in Physics in Delhi, after which he’d do his PhD either in Russia or America, and then win a Nobel Prize. This was a conversation between two boys of fourteen years. He got 7th rank in the country in the 11th standard board exams. In the NSTE, he stood 9th in the country. He managed to get admission in IIT for the 5-year course and became a distinguished alumnus of IIT-Delhi. He went on to do his PhD in California Berkeley and he became the first Asian to head the department of astrophysics in Pasadena. He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize 5 years back,” said Dr Bhat about Dr Srinivas Kulkarni, adding “He has contributed so much to astrophysics. He has made India proud. He was exceptional, gifted, talented, a prodigious student, he also had qualities that ought to be acquired by each student. And those are – the power of concentration, working hard, lateral thinking, learning from every source, and yet remaining simple and honest. These are things that I wish to see in students and the high achievers of tomorrow.”
He further said that some of us put pressure on ourselves. He said that parents sometimes compare their children with others and this is not right. “Every student is unique. Every achievement is unique. All of you are different and have to remain different. Don’t put undue pressure on yourselves. You will have days of good times. There will be times when everything seems to go wrong. Don’t lose heart. Continue to stay focused. Continue to work hard. Continue to put in your best foot forward. And then you’ll realize that things will change, and there is sunshine again,” he added.
Pro-Chancellor of MAHE Dr Poornima Baliga, Pro-Chancellor Dr V Surendra Shetty, Dean of KMC Dr V Prabhu and Dean of MCODS Dr Dillip G Nayak were also present. Dr Gagan compered the programme and delivered the vote of thanks.