Knowlege will be driving force for change: Seshasayee

Mumbai, Feb 4: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president R Seshasayee has emphasised the importance of knowledge, saying it would be the force that would drive change.

Addressing the third Young Indians national summit here on Friday last, he spoke about 'young India' making the most of a booming knowledge economy. India itself has taken the centre stage in the global scenario and the change would be driven by youngsters, who had the ability to think ''out of the box, he said.

He urged the country's youth to do away ''with tolerance of failure'' and be more demanding in terms of quality.

''It takes an individual to make the first move and a small group to begin a movement that can well change the world,'' he said.

Referring to knowledge guru C K Prahalad's book 'Competing for the Future', he said its lessons were relevant in the current context.

Elaborating on a statement by President A P J Kalam, wherein he suggested that the best way of doing something positive for the country was to strive to be the best in whatever one was doing, Mr Seshasayee said knowledge should be transformed into an idea, in turn to innovation and finally to enterprise.

''If you have a bright idea, you will find money available to support the enterprise,'' he added.

Promoted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Young Indians ''Yi'' is a group consisting of young Indian entrepreneurs, owner-managers and professionals from various walks of life, with the broad objectives of creating a better future for the Indian youth of today as well as to create leaders for the country of tomorrow.

The event has happened after almost a hundred years on when on September 11, 1906, about 3,000 Indians had gathered to listen to 37-year-old barrister Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi at the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg. He passionately asked them to Challenge the Status Quo and resist their colonial oppressors by adopting non-violent means and that was the day he initiated ''Satyagraha'', one of India's greatest gifts to the world till date, a CII release said.

''Yi has been able to bring together young Indians from all across the nation and garner strength, develop focus and most importantly undertake a holistic approach to nation building with a 'We-can We-will' approach,'' 3rd Young Indians National Summit chairperson Bhairavi Jani said.

CII Western Region chairman Farhad Forbes said it was ''a rare privilege'' to be amidst the vast sea of inspired and committed youth, who came together to question the prevailing, accepted mediocrity and boldly stand up to what they feel should be India's future.

He said the discussion during the event should be on various facets of the theme 'Challenging the Status Quo', which touches the lives of a billion people everyday.

CII Young Indians' national chairman Narayan Sethuramon said India was a ''land of opportunities''.

He said ''excellence'' should be at personal, professional and social levels.

Speaking of the ethos of 'satyagraha', he said it was relevant in today's scenario and exhorted the youth to participate in the process of national development.

CII Young Indians' national vice chairman Rajan Navani explained the meaning of the theme 'Challenging the Status Quo'.

''Everyday as we pass through the roads of our cities or the lanes of our villages, we see people with no clothes, no food, no roof, no education, no employment, no health care, and most importantly no hope! And we think to ourselves that they have 'no future','' he said, adding, should this status quo continued, then we, as Indians, will have 'no future'.

UNI