University to Universality – A Work Shop on Character and Nation Building

 

Sri Sathya Sai Youth Conference – Hyderabad
Oct 25, 2009.

 

Executive Summary:

With the infinite grace and inspiration of Bhagawan the youth members of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Hyd have taken up the task of bringing together like-minded students from various city colleges for National development. At the same time, in the process, develop into individuals with a strong character. More than 20 colleges were visited; 4000+ students were addressed in a period of 2 months. A common platform for the interested students to meet and exchange ideas was the workshop conducted in Ravindra Bharathi Auditorium on Oct 25, 2009, titled “University to Universality – A Character and Nation Building Workshop”, which was attended by more than 1100 students.

Objective:

The objective of the program is multi-fold. Primary being:

  • To create a platform for like minded people to meet and participate in creative, constructive Nation development work.
  • Lay a strong foundation of “Daiva Preethi-Paapa Bheeti-Sanga Neethi” – love for God, fear of sin, and righteousness in the society

    • Step1: Invitation : Key aspects of this phase include
     
  • Approaching authorities of eminent educational institutions in Hyderabad and gain appointment for making presentations to their respective college students.
  • Student Interface : A core presentation team comprising of eloquent speakers from youth team interacted with students as per the appointments provided by College authorities. Authorities of some colleges were so impressed with value add provided by Sai Youth, that they had provided 6 to 7 appointments on 5 consecutive days!
    •   Content of the presentation addressed the below topics broadly.
     
  • Overview of the current global issues – global warming, terrorism, recession etc.
  • Overview of local problems – access to healthcare , hunger, insensitive citizens, traffic etc.
  • Introduction to SSS org – Overview about organization & its global presence.
  • Seva Project taken up by Sai youth in the city in addressing the local problems.
  • The benefits we derive in participating in Service – development of competencies which are helpful in professional & personal spheres of life.
  • Bhagawan as our source of inspiration.
  • Clarion Call to all the students to take channelize their energies to bring about positive change in the society, more importantly ones own life.

    • Enrollment of the students: Students were communicated about the phases of our interaction with them. They were asked to volunteer for enrolling themselves for a youth workshop which was would be conducted on 25th of October,09
    Name of the college # of students addressed # of students enrolled
    Vasavi College of Engineering 640 175
    St Augustine PG College 160 115
    Krishnamurthy Institute of Technology 510 138
    Sai Sudhir College 112 70
    Swami Vivekananda Institute of Technology 165 102
    Arjun College Of Tech & Sciences 100 63
    Avanti Degree College 150 53
    St. Vincent PG College 100 38
    OU - NSS 300 127
    Bhavan's Vivekananda college 200 71
    Aurora Enginnering College 80 31
    Siva Shivani Inst of Mgmt 85 30
    Vidya Dayini College of IT 50 12
    Army College of Dental Sciences 200 23
    Rai Business School 25 9
    Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology 15 15
    Srinidhi College 320 81
    Geetanjali College 250 38
    Osmania University Engineering College 240 108
    Mathrushri Engeneering College 300 102
    Institute of Company Secretaries 300 130
    Total 4302 1531
    Step2: Reflection :
    25th Oct,09 was most awaited moment for scores of students who signed up for this event with great enthusiasm. Workshop titled ‘ University to Universality’ was set up in Ravindra Bharathi Auditorium, a very popular venue in the city.

    By 10 Am auditorium was brimming with students who enrolled from various colleges. Program began by offering prayers to our Dear Lord. Followed by eminent speakers interacting with Students for next 3 hours. Below is the broad outline of what each of the speakers spoke.
    Address by Mr. Kota Shiva Kumar (Alumni from Sri Sathya Sai University , CEO of InSAI consultants): Sri Siva Kumar enthused students by providing students with some pragmatic solutions to some complex questions which are faced by students on day to day basis. He also spoke about the importance of having the right goals in life and more importantly having the conviction, perseverance to realize them.
    Address by Dr. Pathabhi Ram (Eminent Psychologist , counselor & motivational speaker): Dr. Pathabhiram emphasized on the aspect of self confidence and its role in shaping ones own personality . His interaction was full of real life examples of some accomplished personalities and understanding the values which were roots of their success.

    Address by Mr. Sai Gollapudi (Former Head of Nokia R&D Dept, Currently Research Scholar in the field of Cognitive Sciences): Sri Sai made students embark on a short journey of introspection and self reflection, making them realize the importance of building holistic personality as a professional with right values , as a responsible son to parents, most importantly as a citizen with true patriotic spirit.

    Address by Dr. Anil Kumar ( Director of Naryanahrudayalaya) : Dr. Anil gave an overview about how the projects run by Bhagawan carry true spirit of Love & Compassion. Some astounding details about Swami’s Superspeciality Hospitals, Water projects and Educational institutions were provided.

    Address by Mr. Balachandra (Company Secretary to a mutli national firm & very active Sevadal): Sri Balachandra addressed the students and urged them to take that important next step of experiencing the aspect of Selfless service and witnessing the splendor of Puttaparthi.
    This program was also interspersed with music and drama. Drama was portrayed by Sai Youth which carried message, ‘one gains fullness of Life in doing something concrete for the country’. This drama received standing ovation from the audience whose eyes were filled with tears of joy and patriotism.

    As conclusive remarks, students were asked to express their willingness in participating in the seva projects taken up by the organization. Response received from the student community was astounding. More than 600 students expressed interest to take part in further activities with the Sai Organisation.
    Step3 : Experience: This phase perhaps acts as the hinge for the overall experience of any youth who is participating in all the phases. Sai Youth from Hyderabad are designing engagement plan for all the enrolled youth. Through participation in various Service activities, students are in the phase of experiential learning.

    This step is still in design phase. Some preliminary thoughts are to engage students in
  • Addressing the issue of dilapidated Government schools.
  • Making them part of services delivered in SSSVIP villages.


    • Step 4: Witness This phase aims at taking the interested students to Puttaparthi. Giving them an opportunity to witness the projects in action. Of course most importantly have Divine Darshan of our beloved Bhagawan. A 2 day workshop will also be designed, where in Students will get to share their perspectives after going through 4 key phases of the experience.

    Step 5: Practice - This phase will be formal enrollment of the willing students into the organization as Sevadal. It is also important to note that, main intent of the whole experience is not enrollment into the organization as Sevadal. It is to ensure that students of current generation get exposed to perspectives which are more universal and thus build in them the conviction to Serve others and lead a righteous life.

    Video of the Oct 25 Program is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ReVuO9bOJE