Jaitley’s mantra to students: Think off track to fast-track success in life
People who are coming up with unconventional ideas and are thinking off track, they are the ones who probably will find that space for excellence and get on to a fast track in life much ahead of the others ARUN JAITLEY, Union finance minister
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley stressed on “unconventional ideas” and “off-track” thinking to take the fast track to success in today’s times, while addressing students at the 81st Founder’sDayof TheDoonSchool in the capital on Saturday evening.
Jaitley said India has now become “far more aspirational and impatient” than ever and that only those who “think differently” can break new ground.
“Mediocrity is going to leave you somewhere lost in the crowd at the bottom. People who are coming up with unconventional ideas and are thinking off track, they are the ones who probably will find that space for excellence and get on to a fast track in life much ahead of the others,” the senior BJP leader said in his keynote speech as the chief guest.
Alluding to a flurry of ingenious startup enterprises in India of late, he said the entrepreneurs behind them are a “crazy bunch of people or disruptors” who dared to venture away from the normal, settled path.
On the trend of a large number of Indian students and professionals moving to foreign shores, he said it could be attributed to a “demographic differential” which has been created over the years.
“Since our population still hasn’t stabilized, we have many more people than we can absorb or subsume into our economy. Therefore, the movement of individuals (to countries with stable population) as an economic necessity and also as an economic resource is bound to take place,” Jaitley said.
He mentioned how key improvements were being made in sectors like highways, airports, public delivery systems and power by the Modi government. “But what we really have to improve still is the quality of rural India, especially the most vulnerable section like the tribals,” he said, exhorting students to contribute their own bit to nation-building once they pass out of their “great institution”.
During the Founder’s Day function, chairman of the Board of Governors of The Doon School, Gautam Thapar, shed light on the developments taking place in the school while headmaster Matthew Raggett spoke about the achievements of the Doscos.
The audience comprised a large number of present and former students including their families, teachers and guests. Priyanka Gandhi, whose son studies in the school, was also present among the audience.