The Chief Guest for the function was none other than the legendary Mr. T.N.Seshan, former Chief Election Commissioner of India. His address to the gathering was nothing short of brilliant. Encapsulating the history of India in a couple of minutes, he touched upon the vast material wealth that India possessed and emphasized that the real wealth of India lay in the people-65% of whom were the youth and the future of the country. He exhorted the audience to ‘believe in any God, but follow the path of God in all their actions’ stressing upon “Dharma”, a Sanskrit word that has no equivalent in any language, the closest being “righteousness”. He prevailed upon the students to honor their ‘Mata, Pita, Guru, Daivam’ in that order, wherever they went in life and however great they became. He commented that we Indians should appreciate and value the great democracy that is India, yet be aware of the flaws in this whole process.
The cultural program that followed was entertainment at its best-classical dance and the patriotic tear jerker number originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar-‘Yeh mere watan ke logon’ followed by more Indi pop and Western dances and a couple of Rock bands performing to a cheering crowd. The Prize Distribution recognized achievers in the field of academics and co-curricular activities.The grand finale was provided by a rocking performance by the heavy metal band-Bhumi. It was fantasy on another plane-the gathered crowd just couldn’t have enough!
